By Colin MacGillivray

Of all the music that onlookers might expect to hear emanating from an under-17 football change room, strains of pop superstar Taylor Swift would likely be low on the list.

But it is exactly what patrons at Dock Lake Reserve heard on Saturday as a combined side of juniors from Taylors Lake and Swifts, who have dubbed themselves the Taylor Swifts, prepared to run onto the ground for their first game.

While the sides’ combination was a hasty marriage of convenience, announced only two weeks before round one, the Taylor Swifts got their season off to a flying start with a 19.6 (120) to 14.6 (90) win against Edenhope-Apsley.

Presidents of both clubs hailed the union a success.

“The boys seemed to gel after the second quarter and started coming together as a team. They hadn’t trained together before the game,” Swifts president Peta Folkes said.

“Our boys are a little bit older. We have a few who are top age, and they took the younger Taylors Lake players under their wing a bit. They introduced themselves and were patting them on the back.”

Taylors Lake president Stuart Hall agreed his club’s juniors had ‘hit it off with the Swifts boys’. “I think there were a lot of happy boys and parents who perhaps didn’t know two weeks ago where or if they were going to be playing,” he said.

Taylor Swifts was born when Taylors Lake, which in the past has struggled for junior player numbers, began approaching other clubs to gauge interest in a combined side.

While none of the clubs the Lakers approached accepted their offer, Horsham District Football Netball League administrators notified Swifts, who were struggling to adapt to the AFL’s new three-year age catchments.

“We’d been hit hard with the new age ruling. Otherwise we probably would have been able to play by relying on 14-year-olds coming up to play for us,” Mrs Folkes said.

“We took it to the players and the parents and asked if they wanted to join with Taylors Lake so they could field a team every week. They were rather excited about it.

“I think the name excited them more than anything.”

Mr Hall said the clubs were still working through the logistics of operating a joint side.

The Taylor Swifts will wear Lakers uniforms at Dock Lake home games and Baggies jumpers at North Park, while coaches Liam Scott and Ryan Gebert will alternate between head coach and assistant depending on home ground. The team belted out the Taylors Lake song after Saturday’s win, although Folkes admitted the Swifts players needed the assistance of a plaque containing the lyrics hung in the clubrooms.

“After the game we all went to the rooms and I thought, ‘geez, the kids are going to have to learn two songs now’,” she said.

Mr Hall said Taylor Swifts was a good way to keep players with longstanding club connections.

“Our under-17 best-and-fairest award is named the John Kelly Trophy, and John’s son Jack is in the team. We would have been very sad if they had to leave due to not fielding a team,” he said.

“I think the team will end up having two best-and-fairest awards – one from Lakers and one from Swifts. That was a bit of history we didn’t want to lose.

“There are plenty of other families who have been around Taylors Lake for a long time who didn’t want to leave, but probably thought they had to for their kids’ footballing futures. 

“Now they don’t have to, so at this stage everyone is happy.”

While both clubs are learning as they go, each was thrilled with Taylor Swifts’ first-up win. 

And with other clubs struggling to adapt to the new AFL age requirements, Mr Hall said he expected more teams to explore combined junior sides.

“We’re the first, but I don’t think we’ll be the only clubs to do this. We’re glad we went first and we’ve found a partner that we seem to match up well with,” Mr Hall said.

“We felt we had to be realistic. We’ve had under-17 teams on and off over the years, and we gave it our best shot, but we much prefer having what we’ve got now rather than having to withdraw, which was looking likely.

“You could say it was a case of putting practicality before pride. We’ve got no regrets.”

Mrs Folkes backed Mr Hall’s sentiments.

“You’ve got to put your differences aside, because at the end of the day you’re doing it for the kids,” she said.

“The more that we keep kids involved in and wanting to play footy, the better off that not only our clubs, but all clubs will be.”

RELATED: Frustration surrounds junior footy as age requirements tighten

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