There was new and old ground broken last night at the Sunshine Coast Rugby League's October meeting last night with proposals from Coolum and Kilcoy to enter the league competition for 2008.

The Coolum Juniors put in a bold proposal to enter an under 18 side and a senior team in the Maroochy RSL Cup with a view to have an A grade side in the near future.

Names like Dale Shearer were not only thrown around as potential players but also confirmed sponsors as were FKP and other high profile businesses in the fast growing Coolum area.

Martin Howell from the Coolum Juniors put up a strong case highlighting the playing strength of their juniors.

He said the club was very focused on keeping their young stars at the club, playing for Coolum rather than another Coast senior club or being lost to the game.

They were admitted for next year with some conditions depending on the draw and nominations from other clubs.

At least they will be fielding 18s and C grade side at best an 18s and Reserve Grade playing as the eleventh club, which will signal a new era for Coolum.

A similar case was put up by Kilcoy Yowies President John Macauley is the driving force behind their A grade, Reserves and 18’s proposal to become the 10th Senior Club in the Maroochy RSL Cup.

He was joined by former local stars Russell Kline and Tiony Tripcony who will play an important role with the senior sides and Kilcoy’s relationship with the Stanly Rivers Juniors.

All there highlighted their passion to keep their players in the local area, rather than losing them to other clubs or like Coolum losing ten to the game altogether.

The Yowies have been highly successful in the C Grade Competition and felt it was time to take the next step.

There were some concerns from the southern clubs about player retention and some conditions on entry will apply, but in general they were well accepted by the senior clubs as everyone agreed it is the charter of the league to grow the game.

This will bring senior league back to Kilcoy where it was once a strongholds of the game in the Brisbane Valley.

It was also suggested that Sunshine Coast League should concentrate on promoting the competition to players south of Caboolture who are playing in other local leagues to come and enjoy playing in an expanding and proactive competition.

One that has strong juniors representative calendars and senior clubs that have comprehensive insurance for their seniors players with a minimum loss of income cover of $500 per week with investigations being made into increasing it to $750. 2008 is promising to be one of the biggest ever for the Maroochy RSL Cup.