FOOTBALL

BY BLAKE METCALF-HOLT

 

LAST week, all Gippsland senior and junior football leagues met with AFL Gippsland and representatives of AFL Victoria to discuss the future of the game in the region.

The meeting was held on Tuesday, May 19 at Lowanna College, Newborough, and included all Gippsland umpire associations and Netball Victoria, alongside local football-netball league presidents.

A Gippsland Charter was revealed, deriving from a whole state football charter, blueprinting a potential 10-year plan with further input from all concerned and present.

Three steps were outlined as a timeline for the charter’s success, beginning with a “Lay of the Land” report between now and February 2027, where consultation will take place with everyone involved across Gippsland.

That includes engaging with clubs, leagues, volunteers, coaches and umpires to better understand the opportunities, challenges and priorities needed to shape the direction of the sport in the region.

Throughout the rest of next year, agreements will begin to be made around the priorities for clubs and leagues, whether that be competition structures or further supports in certain areas.

From 2028 onward, working groups will be formed and eventual implementation will be seen – small or large.

AFL Gippsland Regional Manager, Tim Cotter told the Express that everyone present for the meeting was “keen to plan for the future.”

“Every league, every association is up for supporting us to support them,” he said.

AFL Gippsland will undertake a massive engagement process across Gippsland over the next two years to grasp the levels of support and improvements required.

Cotter said the head of leagues meeting wasn’t out of the ordinary, serving as one of five scheduled throughout the year.

“The overwhelming tone in the room was that Gippsland footy and netball has a strong future, but we need to plan for that future together,” he told ABC Gippsland breakfast radio.

“We want to hear what’s working and what’s not, and then create a plan over the coming decade to make sure football stays in a really strong position in Gippsland.”

Some suggest that the issues country football face are apparent and ever-present over many years, questioning why it’s taken until now to begin this process where action won’t come into affect until the end of the decade.

“AFL Gippsland facilitate discussion but drop the ball on facilitating action. It’s left to clubs to hash it out in a constant battle of self-interest that goes around in circles with no governance,” an anonymous football club president said.

Alternatively, Mid Gippsland Football-Netball League President John Schelling called the head of leagues meeting “informative” and “collaborative” in an effort to plan for the future.

“(It’s) a positive move. However, the focus should always be on clubs rather than leagues and that will be the challenge,” he said.

Schelling provided an open-ended response when asked if Mid Gippsland would support any transition of competition.

“Clubs own leagues and therefore their opinion carries weight,” he said.

Acting Chair of the West Gippsland Football-Netball Competition board, John White informed the South Gippsland Sentinel-Times that only eight questions were able to be asked, mostly in relation to junior participation.

The Gippsland League described it more as an information session regarding what will eventually take place, rather than a meeting to see immediate outcomes.

The overall issue regarding the state of local football seems to be reaching boiling point, with many voicing their views following the Express’ front page story on May 13 (‘Country footy crisis’).

The strength of junior football, the imbalance of competition in nearly every local league, volunteer numbers, and player payments are seen as key points of concern.

As such, the declaration for divisional football, or at least further mergers, has never been stronger, and continues to be vocalised from those in and around football.

Cotter acknowledged the difficulties seen within leagues, as smaller clubs are forced to match up against larger towns with the luxury of full pathways.

“We want teams to be evenly matched, and we want to find opportunities for clubs to have those full pathways from juniors into youth and into senior football,” he said.

Despite the noise, the two AFL entities continued to push the message that growth is being seen across the board in Gippsland.

Recent data reflected positive change in Auskick, Superkick, juniors, youth, seniors, and women and girls, meaning every single corner of football was in the green.

All areas are above baseline targets for participation and trending towards surpassing last year’s numbers.

Coaching and umpiring was also demonstrated to be up.

There is currently 855 football coaches across Gippsland, of which 331 are new, and a further 524 retained from years gone by.

Gippsland has also seen a 4.8 per cent growth amongst the overall umpire cohort, with 94 of the 547 total as recently recruited umpires.

To open the meeting, Head of AFL Victoria, Greg Madigan took the floor to present the Future State Charter, which focusses on building relationships, structures and governance to support the broader football ecosystem.

Priority community projects connected to the charter include the Policy Reference Group, Community Club Sustainability Program (CCSP) Advisory Group, player pathways, continual build-up of women and girls football, and new commercial collaboration.

Other projects to come include facility developments, community umpiring, and forging relationships with Netball Victoria.