Bears out of hibernation

THEY know it won’t be a picnic but the Blayney Bears are determined to return to Group 10 in 2013.

The Bears have no intention of easing their way back into the competition.

They plan on fielding all three grades next year.

A meeting was held on Monday night to gauge interest in the potential return and Blayney representative Lisa Oborn only had only good things to say.

“It’s great. It was phenomenal the feedback we got at the meeting,” Oborn said.

The last time the Bears were seen in Group 10 was in 2010 when they contested the under 18s and first division competitions.

The Bears have not lined up in premier league since 2000 when they finished third.

Oborn is confident the Bears will have the numbers to field all three grades next year.

“We’ve got juniors coming up,” she explained.

“We have some really talented footballers playing union. They want to come back. We also have league players travelling out of Blayney to play for other clubs. Hopefully we’ll attract the majority of them back.”

The meeting established a recruitment committee with the initial purpose of signing a premier league coach.

A key part of the Bears returning to the senior competition is ensuring they give their junior players a pathway.

The junior Bears have grown in  recent years and the people involved want to make sure they can keep playing for Blayney once their junior careers have finished.

The next step in Blayney’s plans is to have an annual general meeting in the coming weeks and establish an executive and a committee.

“Once we get a committee we can go ahead,” Oborn said.

“Hopefully we’ll all be ready in February.”

Oborn expects Blayney to boast strong crowd numbers when the Bears run onto the field again.

“We’ve always had good crowds. That’s what you did on Sundays, you’d go to the footy. I’d say we’ll get those crowds back,” she said.

Anyone interested in being involved with the Blayney Bears should contact Lisa Oborn on 0411 685 136.