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THE AFL Central Victoria commission has posed four questions as the starting point to shaping the future structure of football-netball competitions in the region.
The commission last Sunday invited clubs from the Bendigo, Heathcote District and Loddon Valley leagues to La Trobe University with a view of gaining feedback on how they envisage the way forward over the next three to five years.
Of the 28 clubs in the three leagues, 26 attended, where the four questions used as the starting point for discussions were:
1. What are the biggest challenges your club faces in the next three to five years:
a - volunteers.
b - player numbers (junior, senior).
c - financial.
d - facilities.
2. What does you club look like in five years:
a - seniors, reserves and thirds.
b - seniors, reserves, thirds and fourths.
c - seniors, thirds.
d - seniors, reserves.
3. What does your league look like in five years?
a - ideal league size (number of clubs).
b - geographic size.
c - league offerings (seniors, reserves, thirds age groups, etc).
6 - what do you see as the biggest threat to your league?
4. Would you agree to the commission approaching clubs outside our region to join our leagues?
Sunday's meeting came at a time when three clubs - Marong, Maiden Gully YCW and Cohuna Kangas - are looking to switch leagues and join Heathcote District, while the Loddon Valley league is this year being run without an under-18 competition due to a lack of numbers.
Marong, Maiden Gully YCW (both from the LVFNL) and Cohuna Kangas (from the Central Murray) will all get the opportunity next week to present to the HDFNL clubs as part of their bid to secure a new home.
Putting the future structure of football-netball in the region under the spotlight picks up from three years ago when a mooted competition structure review involving the Bendigo, Heathcote District, Loddon Valley and North Central leagues was put on hold during COVID in 2020.
That proposal, which featured four "sectional" competitions, womens and juniors, followed a 2019 review into underage competitions in the region, which stated: "Many clubs expressed concern with the current structure of football within the region."
"It was a really positive day on Sunday from our end," AFL Central Victoria regional manager Craig Armstead said on Wednesday.
"We had great attendance with only two clubs that had good reasons why they couldn't make it as apologies.
"The format of the day was the commission put four questions to the clubs and broke off into the leagues to discuss them and then brought all the ideas together to discuss at the end.
"I think it would be fair to say that there was no obvious consistency in terms of responses, there was variations from the clubs and across the leagues.
"What we'll do now is the commission will take all the information on board, collate it and then we will catch up with all the clubs again in the next few months for a debrief and then give them a bit more direction as to what the commission has taken out of it and get some more input from clubs as to what it may look like moving forward.
"I think the fact we had such a high attendance among the clubs on Sunday shows there is a high interest in the topic and there was a lot of engagement, which we've interpreted as strong interest from clubs in ways to change and improve over the next three to five years.
"The feedback we got from the clubs on the day and since then is they found it really valuable and worthwhile."
State of play in the three leagues:
BENDIGO
1. Sandhurst
Record: 12-1-1, 206.9%
2. Golden Square
Record: 12-2, 238.9%
3. Eaglehawk
Record: 9-4-1, 195.7%
4. South Bendigo
Record: 8-6, 131.9%
5. Strathfieldsaye
Record: 8-6, 131.3%
.....
6. Kyneton
Record: 7-7, 83.8%
7. Gisborne
Record: 6-8, 125.2%
8. Kangaroo Flat
Record: 5-9, 63.9%
9. Castlemaine
Record: 2-12, 41.4%
10. Maryborough
Record: 0-14, 21.2%
This weekend:
Gisborne v Golden Square, Maryborough v Sandhurst, Strathfieldsaye v South Bendigo, Castlemaine v Kyneton, Eaglehawk v Kangaroo Flat.
HEATHCOTE DISTRICT
1. Heathcote
Record: 11-2, 145.9%
2. White Hills
Record: 10-3, 146.6%
3. North Bendigo
Record: 10-3, 135.4%
4. Mount Pleasant
Record: 8-6, 149.0%
5. LBU
Record: 7-6, 106.4%
.....
6. Leitchville-Gunbower
Record: 7-7, 89.7%
7. Colbinabbin
Record: 3-10-1, 84.5%
8. Elmore
Record: 2-10-1, 65.0%
9. Huntly
Record: 1-12, 42.0%
This weekend:
Mount Pleasant v Elmore, North Bendigo v White Hills, Huntly v Leitchville-Gunbower, LBU v Heathcote. Colbinabbin bye.
LODDON VALLEY
1. Marong
Record: 14-0, 589.6%
2. Pyramid Hill
Record: 12-2, 180.6%
3. Bears Lagoon-Serpentine
Record: 10-4, 115.1%
4. Inglewood
Record: 8-6, 107.7%
5. Bridgewater
Record: 7-8, 85.0%
.....
6. Mitiamo
Record: 4-10, 58.3%
7. Newbridge
Record: 4-11, 48.9%
8. Calivil United
Record: 3-11, 56.6%
9. Maiden Gully YCW
Record: 2-12, 51.0%
This weekend:
Inglewood v Pyramid Hill, Maiden Gully YCW v Calivil United, Mitiamo v BL-Serpentine, Marong v Bridgewater. Newbridge bye.
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