The Central Victorian Football League Women's competition continues to grow with the addition of an eighth team for the upcoming 2021 season.
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The Bendigo Thunder is making a return to the league after being one of the first teams in the competition's inaugural 2018 season.
In addition, Kerang is making its league debut after missing out on the 2020 CVFLW season due to the pandemic.
AFL Central Victoria football operations manager Nathan Williams said all of the league's eight teams were eager to return to action.
"It was disappointing we couldn't have a season last year, but everything is now in place to come back bigger and stronger," he said.
"Kerang are looking forward to finally being able to get out on the field for a CVFLW season and of course the Bendigo Thunder are returning.
"There will be two extra teams on the 2021 fixture in comparison to when the competition was last held in 2019."
The competition includes Bendigo Thunder, Kerang, Eaglehawk, North Bendigo, Kyneton, Kangaroo Flat, Strathfieldsaye and reigning premiers Golden Square (2019).
The 14 round fixture has been released and at this stage the season is scheduled to begin on Sunday April 11 with finals commencing on August 1.
According to Williams, after the impact COVID-19 had on community sport in 2020, plenty had been learned on how to approach operations for the 2021 CVFLW season.
"Juniors were in action last year for a few weeks and even though it was only for a brief period of time we gained plenty of experience on how we approach worst case scenarios in the future for all of our leagues," he said.
"At the same time we will be led and will adhere to all recommendations handed down from the state government and AFL Victoria.
"We will continually work with clubs, and over the next few days we are meeting with team delegates to see how everything is tracking ahead of the season."
Overall, Williams and the team at AFL CV were thrilled by the prospect of community sport returning in the coming weeks.
"Football is such a major part of central Victorian sports culture and there's nothing we want to see more than players back on the ground doing what they love," he said.
CVFLW Round 1 Fixture
- North Bendigo v Kyneton at Atkins Street
- Eaglehawk v Kangaroo Flat at Canterbury Park
- Strathfieldsaye v Kerang at Tannery Lane
- Bendigo Thunder v Golden Square at Wade Street
- All matches begin at 2.30pm
Semi finals begin on Sunday August 1, preliminary finals on Sunday August 8 and the grand final will be contested on Sunday August 15.
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