MT Pleasant has reacted angrily to suggestions the Oatlands District Football Association could fold as clubs merge to join the Southern Regional League.
Southern Football League president Roger Viney said last week there was talk of two ODFA teams joining the Regional League -- one from the East Coast made up of Triabunna and Swansea, the other from the Midlands consisting of Oatlands, Bothwell and Mt Pleasant.
Mt Pleasant coach Darren Kaye said any merger would be a massive blow to the rural community-based club. He said a merger would spell the end of Mt Pleasant, an original ODFA club. But Kaye, in his second year in charge of the club, said Mt Pleasant had no intention of entering a merged team.
"Locals and players wouldn't travel to Hobart because there is no interest,'' Kaye said. "The farmers around the district meet every Saturday when we play footy at the local ground. It is not just the players. It is a family event.
"It is a chance for country people to get together and might be the only chance they get to see each other all week.'' He said the costs of travelling from the central Midlands to Huon would be too much for many supporters.
"Speaking for the older generation, some of them are very devastated at the idea of a merger,'' Kaye said. "You are not only taking footy away, you are taking their lifestyle.''
By: BRETT STUBBS
Last Modified on 23/06/2005 17:29