Premier Division coach’s plan for crowds
Suburban football’s return is hinging on what crowds will be allowed at matches. Here’s how one EFNL Premier Division coach believes clubs can achieve crowds and accelerate a return to action.
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Norwood coach Marty Pask has weighed in on the local football return debate, saying he believes getting crowds to matches could be achievable while also acknowledging social distancing guidelines.
A local football return looks set to hinge on whether crowds are allowed under government restrictions, and the Premier Division coach raised the comparison of shoppers recently flocking to major malls as opposed to supporters spreading out at a footy ground.
“It’s a very interesting debate where people are now saying, if you can go to a shopping centre where people are walking over each other and/or congregating in the one area, whereas we’ve got a football oval, we’re outdoors and we’ve got an opportunity to space it as wide as we want,” Pask said.
“I think it’s an important step in society at the moment where a lot of people are looking to get outdoors, get active, get healthy, get moving.
“One of those components to it is supporting local communities, and I guess like we have seen with retail and people getting out and supporting their local shops and shopping centres, the same would apply with people caring and wanting to support their local community clubs.”
Pask said every individual had a social responsibility to make the easing of restrictions work, and crowds at local football would be no different.
“If it’s responsible and it’s done the right way, you’re outdoors, is there an opportunity for the government to give us clear direction on spacing around an oval? There would arguably be less than 500 people attending local footy or community sport,” he said.
“A lot of this falls onto individual footy clubs and whether they’ve got the preparedness to do this, but from my dealings with local footy and local competitions over the last 10 years, there would be a lot of people putting their hand up to ensure that you can space out the appropriate section of an oval to potentially get people in one area.
“There would be an ability I would think from most clubs to be able to do that and want to do that, to try and drive the local economy and support your footy club.”
While there was a “preparedness and eagerness to play” among coaches according to Pask, the protocols for club volunteers remained a major hurdle.
“The only negative to all this is, what happens if we get one club that has a situation with COVID-19?,” he said.
“We survive on volunteers … we can sit here and we can talk about spacing out grounds which sound great on paper, but the hardest thing is going to be when we do get to this and say we do get the green-light, how do we actually police this?”
The EFNL’s top tier is typically driven by wins and losses, but to Pask, the current climate would be bigger than the scoreboard should we see a return.
“It’s not just going to be about winning,” he said.
“The most important thing is just to be out there again and enjoying playing football. I think this is probably the one and only time you would probably say as a footy club that the scoreboard is not necessarily the most important thing.
“It’s about people being at a club, seeing each other again, readjusting and ensuring the club is there from 2021 and beyond.”
The second-year Norwood mentor said his club will support the EFNL’s direction but player health and wellbeing remained the No. 1 priority.
“Whatever the league and the government decides, we’re obviously going to support, but it’d be nice to think that every option’s been exhausted.
“I know from a personal perspective, it’d just do wonderful things for young men’s structure in life, and mental and physical health.”
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