Horsham District: League president Rosemary Langley fears for fate of junior grades

Less than a month before country footy starts, leagues are grappling with new minimum age eligibility rules introduced nationally by the AFL. See the latest.

Country footy leagues have been caught off-guard by minimum age eligibility rules introduced “out of the blue” less than a month before the 2024 season starts.

Horsham District league president Rosemary Langley believes all clubs in her league will be affected by the move to three-year age ranges for under-10s to under-19s.

It is one of many leagues in the state where younger players have been allowed to play up in a higher age group to ensure matches go ahead.

The AFL has also mandated a player must be 16 to play at senior level, despite players including Jack Ziebell, Ben Cunnington and Josh Dunkley having gone on to play at the elite level after playing their first senior country game at only 15.

QUERY: Minimum age to play SENIOR footy in 2024 is 16 years as per national policy handbook released in recent days. Who made debut at 15 or younger and had great career? @theweeklytimes@ctryfootyscores

— David Johnston (@david_johnston5) March 19, 2024

“We need that four-year age group with the population demographic we’ve got down here,” Mrs Langley said.

“There could be top-age 14-year-olds playing in the under-17s, which have really struggled the last couple of years.

“This has just come out of the blue.

“It’s not that the kids are not playing, they just aren’t there. We’re always working with our clubs looking outside the square to get kids playing.

“But three weeks before our first game they land this on us.”

The option to apply for an exemption on “exceptional and compelling” grounds to a league still exists.

But Mrs Langley said her league was seeking urgent clarity on the definition of “exceptional and compelling” and how long the process to apply for an exemption would take.

“You can now only apply as an individual,” she said.

“But we’ve been given no explanation as to what compelling and exceptional circumstances are. We’ve got nothing to guide us.

“We’re hearing it’s an insurance thing, but we’re 110 per cent behind the new concussion rules.

“We need to find a way for it to work so we can have as many kids playing as possible.”

Source: 2024 National Community Football Policy Handbook.

The neighbouring Wimmera league also has under-17s and under-14s where a shortage of junior numbers led to a merger of Horsham District club Jeparit-Rainbow and Southern Mallee Giants in the off-season.

But Stawell president Shane Field has concerns for the future of a stand-alone under-13s competition in the town that feeds multiple clubs.

“It probably won’t go ahead this year because of that age limit,” he said.

“It’s an under-13 comp with four teams and we’ve had 60 names put forward for this year, but 25 of them are nine-year-olds.

“They are now too young.

“If it’s to do with concussion, all these kids wear helmets anyway.”

The Omeo District league in Gippsland has under-16s only and last year gained an exemption for players as young as eight to play.

The Weekly Times has contacted AFL Victoria for comment.