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A SLASHING of the salary cap, tighter clearance regulations and increasing the underage level by a year are among some of the suggestions from presidents on how football could look on the other side of the coronavirus shutdown.
The 2020 football-netball season is in severe jeopardy of not going ahead this year, with all leagues in the region currently delayed until at least May 31 at this stage.
Mitiamo president Rob Clohesy says he is bracing for the worst-case scenario of there being no competition this year, with his primary concern focused on what that will mean for those in the community who rely heavily on their dose of Saturday football-netball as a social outlet.
"What's worrying me the most at the moment regarding Mitiamo is because we've got so many elderly statesman up there whose only outing is the footy-netball club on a Saturday, what will it do to their mental health if there is no season," Clohesy said.
"I'll be honest in saying that I don't see how we're going to get a football season in, so that's what I'm preparing for.
"We've already lost two of our major sponsors and that's going to be a major issue going forward, so we've lost that revenue and we're not going to be able to run major events like our ball and goods and services auction, which we rely heavily on.
"Membership is going to dry up, so they are some of the issues we as a club are facing at the moment, so we need to be looking at ways of moving forward beyond this year.
"One of the suggestions I've put forward is the AFL should tighten up clearances. If you have a player signed for this year they can't get a clearance unless they are moving interstate or have a very, very strong reason for wanting one.
"That way you can have some clarity around you know you have your side and don't have to go out and recruit to build your club up again, so that should be one of the first things to happen.
"And not that we would be affected by this because we don't have under-18s, but I think it's worth considering for next year that if there's no season in 2020 should the age limit be increased to under-19s so it can give those players who have missed out on their last year of junior footy the chance to still play it.
"But certainly the main priority for us at the moment is the mental health of our community who rely heavily on that weekend outlet that the club provides."
Mitiamo would have unfurled its 2019 Loddon Valley league premiership flag on Saturday had the season started as originally scheduled.
The Superoos' opponent would have been Newbridge, who president Kristian Shevlin says is in a solid position to navigate its way through the current sporting shutdown.
Like Clohesy, Shevlin says his No.1 concern for the timebeing also surrounds the mental health of the players, supporters and community who are missing out on the social engagement of a club environment.
"Our ethos is we put on a day for the community each weekend to come and have a release, and with that not happening at the moment, it's obviously very tough," Shevlin said.
"The club also runs the Newbridge pub as well and we've had to put off three staff members with it closing down, so you certainly lose that community presence and that's my biggest concern at the moment.
"As a club, we're financially sound and we'll be able to bounce back. We have fantastic sponsors and as much as we rely on them, we've also had other income streams such as naming rights and player sponsors.
"But I'm really feeling for our sponsors at the moment. We have a couple of pubs and local businesses who sponsor us and are all suffering, so that's really tough."
While the revenue coming into clubs such as memberships, match-day funds (canteen, bar, gate), major fundraising functions and sponsorship has dried up, so too has the biggest expense - player payments.
"While we aren't playing we don't have that player payment expense, so we see this as a real opportunity to bank some money and we could potentially come out of it the other end in a better position than you would normally have running through a season," Shevlin said.
At Golden Square, president Brendan Stewart says the toughest part of trying to steer the club through the shutdown is the uncertainty given there is no guarantee there will be a season this year as pandemic restrictions continue to tighten.
The Bendigo league has already indicated a season would most likely only go ahead if at the very least clubs can play each other once (nine rounds) and is exploring the prospect of pushing into October.
"The worries at the moment are obviously far bigger than football," Stewart said.
"But if you're looking from the football perspective the hardest part as a club is the uncertainty about whether we can get our men and women playing football and netball at some stage this year.
"But then there's the bigger picture of how footy may look in 2021 and beyond because the landscape is going to be completely changed given the revenue streams are going to be altered and traditional revenue may stop for a while.
"I would imagine next year could possibly be a case of playing for the love of the game... I could see some clubs going amateur for a year and just trying to get everyone participating and enjoying the game.
I would imagine next year could possibly be a case of playing for the love of the game... I could see some clubs going amateur for a year and just trying to get everyone participating and enjoying the game.
- Golden Square president Brendan Stewart
"We've made no secret of our desire to push the salary cap ($150,000 again this year for BFNL) right down from where it is now and this could potentially fasttrack that, which could be some good that could come out of this."
Eaglehawk president Paul Whitfort also echoed Stewart's sentiments about the financial implications clubs could suffer through the coronavirus crisis creating a discussion around a significant drop of salary caps.
As well as the Bendigo league's $150,000 figure, other AFLCV salary caps for this year are $130,000 for Heathcote District and North Central and $120,000 for Loddon Valley.
AFLCV has already anticipated cuts of $5000 to those salary cap figures in 2021 and 2022.
"We see the talk of there going to be cutbacks at AFL level and that may mean cutbacks for country footy too, such as the salary cap, which may be the feasible thing to do if your major sponsor for next year has had a tough period and may not be able to get back on board to the same capacity and general downturn," Whitfort said.
"I think we need to get the cap back to a comfortable level so you don't need to be stressing all year about trying to raise the money... $120,000 is certainly a whole lot different to trying to raise $150,000 or $160,000 (the initial salary cap in 2016).
"Maybe this is the catalyst to have a look at that and who knows, maybe there's ways out of this that footy could look a bit better."
While 2020 is shrouded in uncertainty - training bans remain in place until further notice - Whitfort remains hopeful there will be a BFNL season in some capacity this year.
"As a club we're in not a bad spot financial wise while we're going through this," Whitfort said.
"There are obviously worries with how it may look for sponsors going forward, but if we don't have a season we won't really have any costs outside of what the council does with winter rates, which they will hopefully waive.
"The hardest part of this is just not knowing what will happen, but that's life at the moment in terms of employment and not being able to see family, which is the bigger issue."
The hardest part of this is just not knowing what will happen, but that's life at the moment in terms of employment and not being able to see family, which is the bigger issue
- Eaglehawk president Paul Whitfort
Maryborough president Brendan Roughead says the Magpies are using this shutdown period as an opportunity to discuss alternative revenue steams.
"Now that we're not tied up with football and netball at the moment we're having a look at what other opportunities there may be in regards to different ways of generating revenue," Roughead said.
"Whether it leads to something or not, we'll have to see, but that's the view we're taking as a committee.
"We're keeping positive through this given the uncertainty. Our players have all got individual training programs and there's plenty of communication among the group. We're doing our best to have all our people ready to go for when the season is ready to go."
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