GAME ON: Football Stanthorpe commits to season

Sidelined players will finally have a chance to shine.

BACK ON THE PADDOCK: Stanthorpe football players will lace their boots up in mid-August for the modified season.

FOOTBALL: A year without football didn’t bode well for Football Stanthorpe officials who have confirmed a modified season will go ahead in 2020.

Players will return to the field in mid-August for a non-competitive season that will allow players to play in teams of their own choosing, not those selected by the clubs.

The seven-a-side senior competition will be played on half fields, with 20-minute halves and five-minute half times.

Football Stanthorpe president Cameron Gow said it was a unanimous decision by the board and clubs to start the season.

“It’s just to get out and have some fun, which is pretty much what we said we would try and do at the meeting when we initially cancelled the season,” he said.

“This is for the ones that didn’t necessarily want to play a competitive season but wanted to get out on the park.

“The feedback that we’ve gotten as a board and the clubs too, is that there is a keenness in the community wanting to get back to some kind of normal.”

It is expected the senior competition, for players in under 12s up to men’s and ladies, will run for 10 weeks, with a two week break over the September holidays.

Stanthorpe juniors will get their chance to play too, with a three week mini tournament.

Gow said Football Stanthorpe officials were hopeful to keep as much normality in the junior competition as possible.

“For those kids five to 11, we’re looking at having a carnival style tournament,” he said.

“It’s going to be run like the old junior soccer comp, where everyone registers and names are drawn out of a hat to make it as easy as possible. They’ll be given a name for the team and a colour.

“This way, you get to know players from other clubs, like a representative type thing.”

Organisers are hopeful the competition will be as cost-effective as possible, to entice more players to get involved.

With the cancellation of other representative sports in the region, Gow believes the modified game could draw in higher numbers.

“That’s certainly the idea, we’ve had comps in the past and they had some of the league teams nominate,” he said.

“We’ll be sending invites out through the schools to see if there are any kids, primary and secondary, who want to come along.

“It’s a balancing act and we’re not trying to disadvantage anyone, we’re just trying to get some sport going and have some fun.”

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