The Keysborough Eagles, formerly known as the Keysborough Parish of the Resurrection [KPR] and established in the 1980s, last week applied to rejoin the league with two teams and an Auskick program.

Eagles president Carl Juckert said he'd made a formal submission to the league for an under-9 and under-10 team.

"After 20 plus years of developing junior football in the Greater Dandenong area, the club [KPR], like many others in the vicinity, struggled to attract juniors to participate in the learning and playing of Australian rules football.

''In 2000, the club had gone from fielding sides in every age group from under 10s to under 16s, as well as operating a successful Vickick/Auskick program, to three sides, and combined with a decline in its Auskick numbers, 2002 was the club's last year in the DDJFL.

"We've now got about 40 kids for our two teams, plus about 100 kids for our Auskick program this year. The most important thing is giving kids a game of footy."

DDJFL general manager Shaun Connell was cautiously optimistic about the club's inclusion for the 2010 season.

"The KPR/Eagles situation is that once they have formally notified us of their intention of fielding teams in the DDJFL, we will sit down with them and work out which is the best way to go forward within the constraints of our constitution, and the betterment of footy in the area,"

Connell said there were further signs of a resurgence in junior football in Greater Dandenong, with Noble Park looking at a possible increase in team numbers this season, while Parkmore, which battled to field one team last year, is optimistic about adding two sides this season.