Victorian Amateur Football Association clubs tell league to leave system alone, as regionalisation proposal is put on backburner
“IF IT ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” That’s the general consensus from Victorian Amateur Football Association clubs after the league asked for feedback on its proposed regionalisation of Divisions 1 to 4.
Local Sport
Don't miss out on the headlines from Local Sport . Followed categories will be added to My News.
CLUBS have given a proposed change to the Victorian Amateur Football Association structure a resounding thumbs down.
A document covering the proposed implementation of divisions based on geography was sent to club secretaries and presidents late last year.
Several positives were listed, including minimising travel, assisting recruiting efforts, increasing local rivalries and better scheduling for finals.
But Point Cook administrator Dan Lennon said travel concerns were not warranted.
“We knew full well what we were getting into the VAFA for, and travel has never been an issue for us,” Lennon said.
“The bus trips create a good club culture and we get to play against sides we’ve never played before.
“Plus when we looked at it, we’re from a new building club that finished seventh in Division 4 last year. Do we really want to be playing against Division 3 clubs?”
Under the proposal, the current Division 1 to Division 4 system would scrapped for four regionalised divisions — Division 1 South-Central, Division 1 North-Central, Division 2 South-Central and Division 2 North-Central.
Old Paradians president Mike Jolley said there were not enough benefits to warrant a change.
“I’ve been involved a long, long time in amateur football — I’m 62,” Jolley said.
“Travel wasn’t an issue then and it probably isn’t one now. Most of the guys are used to the fact they have to travel. We’d rather prefer to see the status quo.”
NOBS-St Pats president Tim Purdey agreed.
“The great thing about the Ammos is the evenness of the competition, so you don’t get mismatches occurring,” Purdey said.
“You might get quite stronger teams playing against weaker teams because of their geographical locations (under the proposal). There needs to be something more insurmountable (than travel concerns).
“I spoke to the powers that be at the Ammos, and their main concern was with the reserves competition — people leaving to go early. But to me, that’s not a strong reason for something that could undermine the integrity of the competition.”
Northern Blues president Phil Crockford said the current system rewarded success and helped clubs find their level.
“One problem is two (would) go up and two go down, you could have mixture of north and south anyway — you may not play against the best teams,” Crockford said.
“(The current system) is not compromised.”
Richmond Central president Rowan Pizzey said his club was “strongly against” the idea.
“Being a very central team, they (the VAFA) can put us in whatever division they wanted,” Pizzey said.
“We’re a club on the rise — we’ve gone from Division 4 to Division 2 in the last three years. There is not very strong value in the proposal.”
If approved, the proposal would not be introduced until 2017 at the earliest.
‘Tight timeline’ for two footy leagues facing change
A single competition, divisions, mergers all on table for football-netball clubs in two leagues in northern Victoria. See the latest.
From the G to Bacchus Marsh: Another Lalor brother chases glory
Hot on the heels of his brother Sam lighting up the MCG for Richmond, another member of the Lalor family is chasing some glory of his own this weekend. Here’s how he can do it.