Waiting game as Southern Football League clubs rally in tough times due to coronavirus pandemic
Uncertainty surrounds whether any sporting associations will see action on the field this year, including the SFL. Club officials outline how they will cope with football closures for the next few months.
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Southern Football League clubs say keeping safe and healthy and looking out for each other are the most important issues as they face uncertainty whether the SFL will kick off this season because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Several clubs said it was too early to say how their finances would hold up, while others are spending a lot of time communicating, mainly through online platforms.
The Messenger spoke to club presidents about what the next few months could look like for their clubs.
ALDINGA: Danny Wilde: “At the moment we are just in a holding pattern. Having the clubroom closed will minimise some costs and reduce some of our expenditure. Coaches are starting to give individual programs to our players to keep their fitness. We may have to look at rate relief from council but at this stage that is down the track.’’
CHRISTIES BEACH: Paul Daly: “We are just putting things on pause at the moment and not making any hasty decisions. The players just want to get out there (to play) but our main aim is to just to look out for each other. We are looking at coming up with training programs individually and to keep guys conditioned because if they aren’t and if games go ahead in June that could risk a few injuries. If we can get football back up it will show we are back up and running.’’
COVE: Tony Kernahan: “The most important thing out of all of this is to make sure everyone stays healthy, mental health is the key. But even if we do get back to playing it may not be that easy. A lot of our players are tradies and if they can’t find work they may not stick around waiting to see if football goes ahead. They will have to work so they may not be able to keep playing football. I believe the SFL has stopped all transfers so that is a good thing. The main thing is for all of us to look after ourselves and families. Footy in some ways is a secondary thing.’’
FLAGSTAFF HILL: Neil Williams: “It is hard to say at this stage what the impact would be to us if the season goes ahead or not. We were lucky that we collected members’ fees at the start of the season and I think we will be okay financially. We are encouraging coaches to keep in contact with the players. But we have to take this current situation really seriously. It feels like so much has happened in a week.’’
HAPPY VALLEY: Mike Flett: “This is certainly unknown territory. We just don’t know what will happen next but the important thing is to look after each other, the mental health side of things. We are urging people to help support our sponsors who might be going through tough times. We have just outlaid about $10,000 for footies but now we can’t kick them. It’s hard to raise money when you aren’t there.’’
MORPHETT VALE: Michelle Glazbrook: “We have been working hard keeping our communication open via social media to our players and supporters. In particular we have a number of young people who we could call vulnerable that we are constantly reaching out to make sure they are OK. We are using a number of online tools from the SANFL for our players for training tips and just games in general to keep them occupied. We have a program which will be starting online next week called Emu Watch where different players will put up a video showing others what they have been getting up to. Being a sports complex we actually control our own footy club so will make sure all of our stock is safe and make sure everyone is safe.’’
NOARLUNGA: Mark Anderson: “Obviously everything is out of bounds at the club so we are working on other ways of communicating. This virus is very serious and we support the measures taken by the Government to shut down certain places. At a local level our finances could be hit hard and maybe we will have to look at some sort of rate relief. Most of our money comes from the canteen, gate and boozer (bar). Even our major sponsor, the Old Noarlunga Hotel, has to close – we can’t even help them at the moment by going in and buying meals.’’
PORT NOARLUNGA: Phil Wood (football vice-president): “We are a multi-sport facility with football, cricket, netball, tennis and gridiron. At the moment we have enough money in the bank from our footy registrations. But everything is on hold, that money is frozen until we know what is going on. We have a strong sponsor and a strong social media presence so we get out messages out that way. We just want to make sure everyone is okay.’’
REYNELLA: Dave Denyer: “We just hope everyone sticks together. It is too early to say one way or the other about finances but we are keen to make sure the community sticks together. We have to beat this thing (virus). While sport is important our health is the most important. We have private pages set up on Facebook for our coaches, players and members. At the end of all of this we will come out stronger.
SFL president Craig Warman said nothing had changed from the league’s end where matches would be on hold until at least May 31.