The decision was handed down at a meeting on Wednesday night after teams were asked to nominate what teams they would field.

Only the Horsham Demons, Ararat and Stawell teams said they would be able to field teams in the division.

The division had the bare minimum number of teams in the 2016 season but Nhill and the Horsham Saints could not commit a side this year.

Wimmera-Mallee netball manager Nikki Ervin said she was disappointed to see the competition fold.

“The by-law states that there must be five or more teams for a competition to go ahead,” she said.

“It was disappointing, but there isn’t a whole lot we can do. There just wasn’t enough numbers to see the competition go ahead.”

Horsham Demons junior netball director Amanda Worthy said the club was extremely disappointed when it heard the results of the vote.

“These are 14 and 15-year-old girls potentially missing out on playing the sport they love,” she said. “We currently have 17 girls trying out for our under-15s so that was going to be perfect for two teams with nine in a squad.”

Despite the division folding this season, the club has decided it will continue to train all the players. 

“These girls are very important to our club and we don’t want to lose them,” Worthy said.

“We’ll enter the team in the Lanes and Games night netball competition.

“So they will still be playing, it just won’t be in the Wimmera association.

“We will also reach out to Stawell and Ararat to try to organise scratch matches during the season.”

Stawell Warriors president Debbie Bach said the club felt bitterly for the juniors who would not get an opportunity to play.

“The Stawell Football and Netball Club ise proud to have been one of the main instigators of the 15 and under B competition, which has run now for 15 years. We are extremely disappointed the competition has ceased,” she said.

“The most important thing is that they continue to play and we wish them well if they decide on another path.”

Ararat Rats netball director Brendan Scott said the club would work to try and accommodate as many players as possible.

“Potentially it does make it a bit more difficult having to fit more players onto one team,” he said.

“We were hoping to field a team in the B section, so no doubt some of the girls will be disappointed.

“It was something that was always going to be difficult to try and deal with given a few of the smaller teams were unable to field teams last year.”

Ervin said he hoped it would only be a one-year hiatus for the division.

“At this stage it is only in recess for this year,” she said.

“Hopefully it will be back again next year with some more numbers.”

Worthy said she understood numbers could often fluctuate, especially in the smaller towns, and also hoped the competition would be back again in 2018.

“Clubs now have plenty of time to see if they can find a way to make it work,” she said.

“The competition is very important for us because it allows more girls the opportunity to play.”