STAFF WRITERS

 

AFL Gippsland hosted a meeting on June 18 alongside the North Gippsland and Mid Gippsland Football-Netball Leagues to discuss the future of the leagues and potential changes to the current structures and compositions.

The meeting focused on the current state of the leagues, and potential scenarios for the future.

During the meeting, league executives had the opportunity to discuss the current club composition and playing numbers, as well as the potential repercussions of maintaining the status quo.

Discussions also centred around potential future structures and composition options for the leagues, repercussions for football and netball and the process for admission and transfer of clubs and teams.

Clubs seeking to transfer leagues will firstly need the approval of the destination leagues existing member clubs and the source league must agree with the transfer request. If this is to occur, it would be between August 1 and October 31. Should the member clubs not approve the transfer then the club stays in the existing league. Should the source league appeal the acceptance of a club transferring, then AFL Victoria would be asked to make a determination based on submissions from affected parties.

One of the key topics of conversation at the meeting was the underage competitions within the leagues, with the goal of fostering the development of young talent and ensuring the long-term success of the leagues.

All clubs across both leagues will be consulted widely over the following weeks with plans to engage in meaningful dialogue with all parties a key part of the project.

Critically, leagues and clubs will be leading the project with the support of AFL Gippsland. Local people, making local decisions is the key focus of the Futures Project.

Following the meeting, attendees now have a clearer understanding of the next steps in the process and are equipped with the information needed to make informed decisions about the futures of North Gippsland and Mid Gippsland FNLs.

The Express has been told that North Gippsland’s Gormandale Football-Netball Club is set to have a club committee meeting tonight (June 19) regarding the situation.

More to come.