Lockdown extension a ‘massive kick in the guts’ for local football

From marriage break-ups to homeschooling: Two years of uncertainty have taken a toll on coaches, players and volunteers.

Jason Smith says the demands on coaches in the past two years have taken a toll.

The message from local football coach Jason Smith came through not long after Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews announced the state would be staying in lockdown until at least September 23.

For Smith and his Clayton team, it meant a season that had stopped and started like a cheap watch was over.

Keen to run grand finals and award premierships after playing no football in 2020, the Southern Football Netball League was prepared to extend its season until September 24-26.

Clayton finished second on the Division 3 ladder and Smith said the prospect of playing at least one final was a “really big carrot’’ for his players.

But the extension of the lockdown has taken all hope of the Southern league completing the season.

Clayton coach Jason Smith.

In a message to Leader, Smith called it a “massive kick in the guts’’.

He said the importance of local sport hadn’t been discussed widely enough during the Covid restrictions.

Smith said it brought people and communities together.

“It’s vital for mental health, for community spirit. You’ll see some volunteers at clubs, that’s all they’ve got, that social interaction at the local footy,’’ he said.

“Same with so many young guys, having a kick with their mates.

“You could tell a lot of stories about the damage this is doing. As a coach, you talk about controllables. In this case we can’t control anything.’’

Greensborough senior coach Mick Harford.

Smith said the succession of lockdowns had taken a toll on coaches, and many good coaches had stepped aside in the past month.

The demands had become too great.

“These guys have been counsellors, motivators, personal trainers and coaches … for two years,’’ Smith said.

He said it was “deflating for everyone’’ that no finals would be played.

“You talk about mental health and the deterioration of mental health in young men …. playing a final, that was a really big carrot and it was dangled and now it’s gone, fallen by the wayside,’’ he said.

“You’ve got players who have been working really hard, not just for one season, but two seasons – two combined into one, really – and there’s nothing there for them.

“I just don’t see the core of players going around a third time.

“It has taken a toll, on coaches and players. On local sport. It’s been a two-year grind.’’

Smith was appointed coach of Clayton in 2019 and took it to the grand final.

He said the demands in his first season surprised him but the past two years were even more challenging.

“It’s not like the coaches haven’t got other things going on. You’ve got a full-time job if you’re lucky enough to still be working, you’ve got kids and a wife … everything is like an avalanche, it all rolls into one, and you put your heart and soul into it and you get it to a point where you think you’ve made a change at a club …

“I’m not going to lie, it has been really tough with all the different aspects of it, things you never thought you’d have to deal with.

“There have been marriage breakups, you’ve got guys living on their own and don’t have anyone within their 5km radius.’’

Greensborough senior coach Mick Harford said the past two years had seen him act as a counsellor, confidant, motivator and fitness instructor.

“You name it, we’re it,’’ he said.

“Not everyone is skilled in these areas and being asked to do this – by the fact of being a senior football coach for God’s sake is exhausting. Not to mention your own life challenges – work, family, home schooling.’’

He said he believed AFL Victoria should call off local football “and let everyone turn their brains off’’.