James Murphy
THE future of football and netball in the region for 2024 and beyond remains a hot topic across the Limestone Coast.
There are no shortage of opinions on the matter, but there also appears to be confusion in regards to whether anything is actually going to happen.
The fact of the matter is change is inevitable, with the only undecided factor being what this change will look like.
SANFL Head of Country Football, Shawn Ford visited the South East this week and shed some light on the work going on behind the scenes.
He said another common misconception was that the change was locked in as a 15-team competition which would merge the Western Border and Mid South Eastern football leagues.
That is not the case.
“Everything is being considered and we are discussing the entire region, not the Western Border and Mid South East in isolation,” Ford said.
A collection of three sub committees has been established, along with a working group which consists of prominent identities from across all three South East football and netball leagues, which includes the Kowree Naracoorte Tatiara league.
“There is still a lot of work to be completed in terms of planning and the development stages of what 2024 will look like” Ford said.
“The working groups have been established and they are working on a strategic plan for the future.”
Each sub committee has representation from all three leagues and will focus on a critical component – league operations, the affect on juniors and the impact on each football and netball club within the leagues.
“The next stage in the process is for the sub committees to discuss alternative models” Ford said.
“What we need the sub committees to do is look at the models as a whole, figure out what will work and what won’t work and then start to fill in the blanks and add the detail to it.
“The sub committee will pull them apart and hand them back up to the working group and then the working group may only have a handful of models to work around.”
Ford expected some back and forth between the groups over the coming months, but a strict deadline has been set for an outcome.
He said the public would be aware of the 2024 format by early September, with clarity ensured before the conclusion of the 2023 season.
“If they can’t come up with a suitable approach for everybody, the default is back to that 15 team competition, which has already been endorsed by the (South Australian Football) commission,” Ford said.
“One way or another there will be change in 2024.
“It will either be a 15-team comp, which has been endorsed and is ready to go, or it will be something that might be a little bit more palatable for everyone in the region.”
Some may still question whether change is necessary but there are three key issues which Ford said were the basis of the investigation.
“The real key issues of junior (numbers), volunteers and equalisation (between teams) need to be addressed,” he said.
“That is what the working group will spend a large majority of its time doing.
“Along with developing a strategic plan to underpin sport in the region for the next 10 years, they need to address the immediate concerns of those three things and also make sure whatever model gets put in place has to have all of those things linked back to it.
“It is not going to be easy, but I am confident we have the right people in place to make those decisions.”
Ford was part of a discussion with the working group last week, which he said was a productive meeting.
“That was the first meeting we had with the working group and was probably one of the most valuable meetings we have had so far to date,” he said.
“It wasn’t so much discussing the models moving forward or what the future of footy looks like, it is what are the key things we need to tick off for the future sustainability of football and netball.”
While there are always going to be those who stand for and against change, Ford said some of the backlash which had landed on league executives was concerning.
“There are a lot of keyboard warriors verbally abusing administrators for assisting in a really important matter for the future of footy and netball in this region,” he said.
“It is a serious concern, volunteers don’t deserve to be abused for contributing positively to their community.
“It raises alarm bells when there are people abusing presidents, vice presidents, secretaries and treasurers for things that have happened 30 or 40 years ago, when the same people in those seats were kids or teenagers.
“They are now only trying to do what is in the best interest of football and netball in this region.”
Some of the backlash follows Casterton Sandford’s bid to join MSEFL, which would have left the WBFL as an unsustainable five-team competition.
In some ways that application has brought about the current investigation, but the groundwork for change has been happening for several years.
“The current situation would not change if Casterton decided to cross the border to explore options in Victoria, or explore options at KNT,” Ford said.
“Western Border won’t operate as a five team competition.”
Ford said it was unfortunate people have blamed WBFL for its current state, when it was the Victorian Country Football League which was responsible for pulling it’s state’s sides from the competition over a decade ago.
“This is an emotion driven conversation at club level and a difficult conversation for people at club and league level to have with players, supporters and administrators,” he said.
“We understand any conversation relating to change is not popular and understand the emotion and anger that derives from those conversations.
“We (SANFL) are not trying to step on anyone’s toes, ruin footy or takeover.
“We have a pretty simple role to play in all of this.
“First and foremost it is about empowering locals to make local decisions which impact local sport.
“We think there are more than enough people in the South East to consider the right solutions – SANFL’s role is to facilitate discussions.
“We will work with any model which is endorsed by the working group and continue to work with the region well into the future to make sure whatever is decided is sustainable and is implemented.”
Another meeting will be held next Wednesday (April 5) and that is when the “real conversations will start”.
With crunch time upon us, Ford said the time for speaking up is now.
“What we are asking for now is for the wider football and netball community to put your thoughts forward to your clubs if you would like an alternative model to be considered,” he said.
“If they are interested in putting some other models forward, by all means do it through their club and then through our Football Operations Coordinator Michael Mourbey.
“If there is an idea that you haven’t discussed with your club, now is the time to do so.”
WORKING GROUP MEMBERS
Chairperson – Tony Irvine; Ben Mules, Adam Merrett, Joel Redman, Peter Allen, Stephen Day, Shane Ploenges, Tony Elletson, Bob Jones.
Junior Sub-Committee: Chairperson – Heath Sims; Graham Dowie, Adam Salmon; Netball representatives – Sara Gray (Mid South Eastern Netball), Jo Gibbs (Western Border Netball).
League Sub-Committee: Chairperson – Tom Zorich; Country Zone Committee – Scott Duncan (ex officio); SANFL Football Operations Coordinator – Michael Mourbey (ex officio); Peter Mitchell, Dennis Muhovics, Michael Summers, Graham Gill, Peter McClellan, Nigel Clarke, Jo Gibbs, Sara Gray.
Senior Club Sub-Committee: Chairperson – Tom Zorich.
Country Zone Committee – Scott Duncan (ex officio).
SANFL Football Operations Coordinator – Michael Mourbey (ex officio).
