BASL boss backs top league restructure

While he acknowledged some clubs would be aggrieved by BASL's decision to run with an eight-team top-flight competition in 2023, league president Aaron Shooter insisted the league was doing what it believes is best for the future of the competition.

At a meeting on January 24, club delegates voted to reduce the Central Victorian League 1 Men's to only eight teams, down from 10 last season.

It has forced one of the league's foundation clubs Golden City, Strathfieldsaye Colts United, La Trobe University and Shepparton into a scramble for the one top-flight vacancy, to be determined via a round robin qualifying tournament.

Following challenges coming out of the COVID period, Shepparton did not field a team in 2022.

La Trobe University, Golden City and Colts respectively filled positions eight, nine and 10 on the ladder.

The BASL underwent a comprehensive restructure last season, to accommodate the differing needs and challenges faced by clubs and to produce a less inconsistent and more club-friendly fixture.

Entry into League 1 was dependent on clubs being able to field both seniors and reserves teams, which some clubs had struggled to do in past seasons.

League 2 was designed for single team entries, or for additional teams where clubs had the capacity to enter teams in addition to their League 1 teams.

Shooter is confident the benefit of the changes to this year's competition would far outweigh the disadvantages.

"I think it will alleviate some of the challenges we've had in previous seasons, but also create opportunities for more clubs and soccer in the future," he said.

"The board believes the structure we put forward is something that will be good for football in the region in the long term, but there will be short-term challenges for those clubs that may not be a part of League 1 this year.

"That will mean they will drop into the next competition and vie for their opportunity to be promoted in future seasons.

"In that regard, there will be some clubs that will be disappointed this season, but we hope it allows them to rebuild and come back when they are in a strong enough position to be a part of div one."

While nothing is set in concrete at this point, Shooter said the aim was to have one club promoted to and relegated from the top-flight each season.

"If the club that wins that lower division can field the two teams required for division one and reserves, they will be promoted," he said.

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Addressing the season ahead, Shooter felt the league was in good shape following years of COVID uncertainty and anticipated the grading round robin would garner plenty of excitement in its own right.

"It's early days and that's why the competition structure had to be determined now. Teams are obviously back out there training," he said.

"Based on the success of the changes we made last year, I think we had a really good season.

"Division one championship was a really strong competition, with no byes, and solved some of the problems.

"This is the next stage in that, which will hopefully allow us to produce a better alignment of clubs and fixtures to keep teams at home together and make for a more full season for players across all divisions."

Sunday, March 12: Shepparton v Golden City; Strathfieldsaye Colts United v La Trobe University.

Sunday, March 19: La Trobe University v Shepparton; Golden City v Strathfieldsaye Colts United.

Sunday, March 26: Golden City v La Trobe University; Shepparton v Strathfieldsaye Colts United.

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