Yarra Junior Football League confirms mid-July start date

The 11,000-player strong Yarra Junior Football League has become the first major footy comp to confirm it will play this year, and has even zoned in on a season starting date. Here’s all the details.

The Yarra Junior Football League takes on the Eastern Football League in a junior rep game.

The Yarra Junior Football League has become the first major football body to confirm a definite return to the field with the announcement this afternoon that its 2020 season will start in mid-July.

This will coincide with the date when Victoria’s chief medical officer deems it possible for up to 100 people to gather outdoors and is subject to State Government approval.

The season plan is for 12 home-and-away games with two weeks of finals and a conclusion set for Sunday, October 11. While no start date is set in stone, July 12 is firming as the first bounce.

The YJFL is Australia’s largest junior football competition for both girls and boys, with some 11,000 players, more than 430 umpires and 3000 adult volunteers taking part each week. It has 32 clubs and 550 teams throughout Melbourne’s east and north.

The league has long been one of the great recruiting grounds for AFL talent with more than 10 per cent of current AFL players and 5 per cent of current AFLW players hailing from the league.

League chief executive Tim Murray said the league was excited to bring a bit of hope to people.

“We’ve been working really hard on this, well it feels like forever, but we believe there’s some light at the end of the tunnel,” he said. “The State Government has set the direction quite clearly and we want the world to know that we are coming back.”

Murray said July 12 remained an approximate start date with three hurdles still to clear.

“One, we need permission to return to contact at training. Two, we need permission to run a competition and, three, how many people can gather at a game,” he said.

“We could work with 100, we’d prefer not to. Obviously, 500 is better because then more people can come to watch a game. But we can work with 100.

“I think if we asked players, you can only have one parent watching or not play, I think I know what they’d say.”

Noah Anderson and Matt Rowell played in an under-15s premiership together at Boroondara Hawks. Last year they were the AFL’s top two draft picks. Picture: Supplied

Murray said the league had been flooded with calls of support and they’d received a number of new registrations this week.

In the league’s announcement this afternoon, Murray said a detailed COVID-19 management plan would be implemented and actioned by all clubs and teams when the season starts.

“All 32 sporting clubs and over 550 teams that compete in the competition will be trained

in COVID-19 management, and appropriate social distancing guidelines of the day will be

practiced,” he said

“The YJFL operates in nine different local government areas around Melbourne and we

have been delighted with their support. We have firm agreements with these councils and

we will be ready to start.

“Our clubs can access grounds for training as soon as each council approves their plan,

and some have already started. We have already provided expert training for our clubs’

COVID-19 safety officers last Thursday and they are completing the necessary

certification currently.

“The YJFL plays a critical role in giving young boys and girls a chance to play and umpire

AFL, and that’s why we are taking all necessary steps to start playing as soon as possible.

It’s crucial for our players’ mental health that we send them a strong message: ‘Footy is

coming back!’

“We also believe we have a significant role in bringing communities and families together.

We support the concept of having 500 people attending, as our games are very popular

with families, including grandparents.

“If that’s not possible we will live-stream most of the finals games on Facebook, so those that can’t attend will hopefully be able to watch from home.

“The YJFL has taken the view that we have to let our community know when we expect to

play. We are planning for games to start in around 40 days by which time we expect more

easing of COVID-19 type restrictions, which will mean things will hopefully return to some

normality.”

MORE FOOTY NEWS

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Girls footy is a big part of the Yarra Junior Football League

League president Jeff Hooper shared the optimism.

“My message for our parents and kids is that we have everything we need from the government to be positive about a return to footy sometime in approximately mid-July,” he said. “The exact timing is hard, but it’s time to focus on how good it is to be playing footy again.

“Junior football clubs provide critical support for our young people, who have been so affected by recent events.

“We need to get these young people back together, into their support networks, being physically active – they tell us how much they want footy to start again.”

Yarra Junior Football League honour roll:

Current AFL players: Matthew Rowell, Noah Anderson, Jordan De Goey, Darcy Moore, Christian Petracca, Jack Viney, Andrew Gaff, Dan Hannebery, Ed Richards, Isaac Quaynor, Nick Larkey, Kane Lambert, Toby Greene, Patrick Naish, Nick Coffield, Callum Brown, Dan

Houston, Jack Silvagni, Jack Billings, Jason Catsagna, Jack Macrae, Todd Viney,

Matthew Kreuzer.

Current AFLW players: Katie Lynch, Rebecca Privitelli, Sarah Sansonetti, Katherine Smith, Deanna Berry, Jess Dal Pos, Tilly Lucas-Rodd, Daisy Bateman, Madeline Guerin, Sarah Perkins, Louise Stephenson and Eleanor Brown. Eight YJFL girls were drafted last year, including Rosie Dillon, Nicola Xenos, Sarah Sansonetti, Emily Harley, Nell Morris Dalton, Rebecca Privitelli, Kristal Petrevski and Gemma Lagioia.

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