Hope grows for soccer return

Frank Wilcox Dsc 5704  TBW Newsgroup
ON TRACK: South East Women's Football Association president Frank Wilcox is hopeful a 2020 season will be played, with positive signs the competition will be given the green light. Picture: JAMES MURPHY

Frank Wilcox Dsc 5704 TBW Newsgroup
ON TRACK: South East Women’s Football Association president Frank Wilcox is hopeful a 2020 season will be played, with positive signs the competition will be given the green light. Picture: JAMES MURPHY

WHILE doubt still surrounds many Limestone Coast sporting competitions, the South East Women’s Football Association appears in a strong position to play in 2020.

The latest news from Football SA stated a total of 80 people can be on each pitch, which is a near-perfect scenario for SEWFA, as it has the luxury of multiple grounds out at Blue Lake Sports Park

“We are lucky here where we have two pitches and a couple of junior pitches which we use,” SEWFA president Frank Wilcox said.

“It was supposed to be 80 people per venue.

“I have got onto FSA, saying this (BLSP) is a public park, we cannot control 80 people per venue.

“The government has since come back and said it is 80 people per pitch, which solves our problem completely.”

Despite those positive signs, a league meeting will be held tonight to discuss the actions moving forward.

Wilcox said border restrictions will hinder the competition somewhat, but should not prevent a season going ahead.

“We lose Portland – I do not think they will be able to get across the border – which is a terrible shame,” he said.

“I just hope they do not move to another association.”

The pre-season Pink Ribbon Cup will also be a casualty this year, as Wilcox stated the annual breast cancer fundraiser will not be feasible with the social distancing restrictions still in place.

However, all going to plan the Limestone Coast’s women soccer players will be able to hit the park for a premiership season, albeit in shortened format to account for time restrictions.

“We are in the same boat as the boys – if we have enough girls that are training and have enough teams and everything else, then yes we’ll play – if not we will give it a miss this year,” he said.

“I seriously think we will start playing and we will have some games.”

Wilcox is hopeful for a mid-July start to the season, but erred on the side of caution when making that proposal.

“I would personally like to see it somewhere around mid July – if we are much later then it gets a little bit awkward towards the end of the season, clashing with cricket and that sort of thing,” he said.

“If we keep it around the middle of July we can finish around the same time as we do normally.

“We will only have two full rounds, which is a shame, but at least we will get soccer in.”

Tonight’s meeting will run in the usual SEWFA manner, with Wilcox and a representative from each club present to make a decision on how the association will proceed.

However, it looks promising a season will go ahead, with the added bonus of some women’s games able to be played at men’s grounds adding further flexibility.

“The girls this year are integrating with the boys much more, so some of the girls games will actually be played at the men’s clubs on a Saturday like they did last year, which will be wonderful,” Wilcox said.

All things considered, it is difficult to mount a case against a season, but the final call is yet to be made and if the past few months have proven anything, it is that nothing is set in stone.