THE Bendigo Football-Netball League board says all options are on the table in an effort to improve the health of the under-18 competition and to assist clubs in player retention.
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The under-18 competition has been reduced to just eight teams this year following the withdrawals on the eve of the season by Castlemaine and Maryborough due to a lack of numbers.
The under-18s was this week the key focus topic of a BFNL presidents meeting where a number of ideas such as zoning players to clubs based on location, lifting the age group to under-19s, increasing the points value of a transferred junior, making it tougher to be granted a clearance and capping the number of players one club can recruit from another were discussed.
“As a league we’ve really tried to focus on the under-18s, but this is the first time I can remember not having two under-18 teams,” BFNL chair Carol McKinstry said this week.
“We’ve said that everything is on the table and let’s look at club level, competition level and regional level.”
The plight of Maryborough is of particular concern to the BFNL board given the Magpies are not only without an under-18 team for the second year in a row, but aren’t fielding under-16 or under-14 junior sides either.
“This is the second year they haven’t had an under-18s, so it’s really serious,” McKinstry said.
“We spent a lot of time last night talking and their president (Brendan Roughead) was very open and honest and is doing everything possible, but the reality is we probably need some clubs to merge in that area.
“There’s just too many clubs in that area.”
While the Magpies are suffering from a plethora of district clubs around them – 10 from the Maryborough-Castlemaine District league are within 40kms – AFLCV region manager Carol Cathcart says Castlemaine is facing a different challenge in relation to retaining its under-18 players.
“Castlemaine is unique to Maryborough in that Castlemaine has a lot of kids get on a train and come to Bendigo for school,” Cathcart said.
“As soon as you come to school in Bendigo you have mates who are also playing in Bendigo and it’s easy to go to training straight after school because you’re already here.
“Castlemaine has different issues in retaining its players in comparison to Maryborough, which has the district league that probably doesn’t have the same expectations in terms of training.”
Added McKnistry: “We’re hearing from club level under-18 players at Castlemaine and Maryborough are being offered senior games and money elsewhere.
“Our clubs aren’t going to go down the path of paying under-18s and that’s what our clubs are telling us they are competing against.”
As such, the league is keen to see an increase in the points value of a transferred major league junior (currently three) to a district league club in line with the senior structure.
“If you’re a senior or reserves player, if you move from a major league to a district league you get an extra point added,” Cathcart said.
“What the BFNL is asking is can that be looked at for juniors so they have an additional point as well.”
The league cites the example of the turnaround of Kangaroo Flat’s numbers this year as a positive for the under-18 competition.
“We really drilled into how Kangaroo Flat turned it around,” McKinstry said.
“A couple of years ago they struggled to get a team and we had other clubs lending them players.
“Kangaroo Flat defeated Sandhurst in the under-18s two weeks ago… when was the last time that happened?
“It hasn’t just happened overnight, they’ve put a lot of work into it and a lot of resources. They have worked really closely with the schools so they have a good pipeline of players coming through.
“Eaglehawk said the same… they have had to work really hard and the senior and junior club has to be seen as the one entity. It’s not just a quick fix.”
Among the avenues that could be explored by the BFNL is the lifting of the under-18s to under-19s.
“What we saw when Loddon Valley went to under-18s is we started to lose a lot of our players there,” McKinstry said.
“It (under-19s) has worked successfully in the VAFA in terms of keeping kids. A lot of kids were finishing under-18s and weren’t ready to play against men, so they would leave.
“The under-19s is seriously being looked at.”
However, Cathcart points to the North Central league as going older may also have its drawbacks.
“With the under-19s its then looking at is that going to be attractive to the kids,” she said.
“Do they want to play under-19s, or will they see it as I’m an adult, but still playing under-age football.
“If you look at North Central, they have an under-16 and part of the reason is the boys get to play senior football before they go away to university.
“They then become friends with those senior footballers and want to come back to play with them and are immersed into senior football early.
“Older is not necessarily the answer, and I’m not saying younger is either.
“It was also raised that we don’t want to go to under-19s if it’s not going to help Maryborough and Castlemaine because they are the ones who don’t have the players.
“The city clubs are reasonably happy with the under-18s, but there has to be a change for a really valid reason to help Maryborough and Castlemaine, not just because we have to be seen to be doing something.
“There are things at work in every league for a variety of reasons, so it’s not a case of one size fits all.”