Junior football minimum age ruling: Horsham District league tops up with juniors from Wimmera clubs
Horsham District clubs facing a shortage of junior players have been given a one-week reprieve. See what’s happening.
Horsham District league teams are taking advantage of the neighbouring Wimmera league starting a week later to shore up numbers for teams, feeling the squeeze from new AFL minimum age to play rules.
Laharum under-14s coach Dale Dridan was resigned to his team forfeiting the first round on Saturday when six exemptions for players outside the recently mandated three-year age gap were knocked back.
But with four players being permitted in from Wimmera league clubs for a one-off game he has been able to scrape together a team.
Mr Dridan said the shortage of players won’t be really felt until the following Saturday.
“Every other club is in the same boat,” he said.
“I think we’re discouraging the kids who are more than qualified to play under-14 football on skill level, confidence and all those things that are needed to tick the box.
“But we’re making them go back to play under-11s against eight-year-old kids who are still trying to find their feet.
“This rule works perfectly in Melbourne, Geelong, Ballarat, where the populations are huge.
“But for grassroots areas like ours out here it doesn’t work.
“Long-term it’s a club killer.”
The Horsham District league believes the impact will ultimately be felt hardest at the under-17 level where two clubs, Taylors Lake and Swifts, have already merged their two junior teams.
Mr Dridan said there needed to be more consultation on the changes.
“This was dropped on us three weeks ago,” he said.
“Out here we didn’t know it was coming. We had no idea.
“Personally it should have been flagged that this is coming and let’s have a discussion about bringing it in next year.”
Meanwhile, the Omeo District league has ticked off more than 50 exemptions to ensure its three under-16 matches can go ahead on Saturday.
“WE’RE JUST VOLUNTEERS”
A Stawell junior competition for under-13 players that has been in existence for more than 50 years has cancelled its season due to new AFL minimum age to play rules.
The competition that runs on a Friday night, and has been a feeder competition to senior clubs in the area, has been left with only 30 registered players for its four teams.
Three-year age ranges have been brought for all junior age groups this year, and the only way a player can gain an exemption to play up in a higher age group is if “compelling and exceptional” reasons can be proven and ticked off by the league.
President Andrew Dunn said he wasn’t prepared to sign off on the legal risk of exempting players under the age of 10 playing in the competition.
“They did make an exemption form,” he said.
“But that exemption form is us signing to say a kid has got the ability and size to play.
“Unfortunately most of the kids we would be exempting don’t have either.
“Information we keep receiving is it keeps coming back on us.
“None of us want to take that risk.
“We’re just volunteers.”
Mr Dunn said the players most affected are ones aged 12 who have decided to play for the first time.
“They don’t have the confidence yet to go and play under-14s at Stawell, Swifts or out at Navarre,” he said.
“I spoke to one parent and their child is probably not going to play footy now.”
OMEO DISTRICT “ACCEPTS RISK”
The Omeo and District league’s only junior competition has been saved for 2024.
In a move agreed to by AFL Victoria, the six-team small league will “accept the risk” of players, some under the age of 10, being granted permission to play in its under-16 competition that starts on Saturday.
More than 50 applications for exemption will be processed in the lead-up to round one by addressing the “exceptional and compelling” reasons required for an exemption and to satisfy insurers.
If the AFL policy of not allowing players to participate in a junior competition outside the three-year gap was strictly enforced there would be no under-16s, putting at risk the entire competition that only has one other grade, seniors, which already plays at 16-a-side due to the small populations in the competing clubs.
The league made up of Omeo-Benambra, Swifts Creek, Bruthen, Buchan, Lindenow South and Swan Reach have a combined 100-plus less junior players compared to 2019.
“The Omeo District league is very grateful for the work done by AFL Gippsland regional manager Tim Cotter and AFL Victoria’s John O’Donohue for supporting the league and enabling our junior competition to continue,” ODFNL secretary Rod Twining said.
Every player outside the three-year gap of 14 to 16 years of age is required to complete a form provided by AFL Victoria, devised to adhere to the AFL National Community Football Policy Handbook.
AFL Victoria community football manager John O’Donohue said, provided the process outlined in the policy to apply exemptions was followed, the insurers would extend cover and the league was compliant with the regulations.
“This is occurring across several regional leagues,” he said.
“The benefit in this position is every player is assessed and therefore the level of risk and exposure is reduced.
“When it is managed on a blanket approach, which has been the case previously, the exposure is increased.”
EARLIER COVERAGE
The 131-year-old Omeo District league is at risk of falling over only days from the start of the season due to tougher enforcement of minimum age rules for junior players.
It only has seniors and under-16s and relies on players aged less than 10 to ensure teams can take the field in its only junior grade.
But this season the AFL is toughening its stance on three-year age ranges for all junior grades unless it can be proven “compelling and exceptional” reasons exist why a player should play up in a higher age group.
It coincides with tougher rules on concussion this year.
Lindenow South president Mick Harrington said a league’s survival wasn’t one of the reasons a player could successfully apply for an exemption.
“It will kill our junior competition, it will kill our footy clubs and it will literally kill our small towns,” he said.
“We’ve had bushfires, Covid, more bushfires, floods, the shutdown of the timber industry, amalgamations of schools.
“What else can we take?
“It screams of the old city ivory tower designing its square peg and then expecting to force it into the round hole in the country.”
Last year, the league had an exemption from AFL Victoria for players as young as eight to play.
Tighter enforcement of the rules by the AFL is also being felt on the other side of the state.
Horsham District league clubs Taylors Lake and Swifts have merged their under-17s teams.
“The population we’ve got out here means we just need that four year gap, not three,” league president Rosemary Langley said
“It wouldn’t be perfect, but it would alleviate a lot of problems.”
She said other clubs were scrambling to get exemptions ticked off ahead of the season start on Saturday.
“Just the lateness of it all is what has got us,” she said.
“If we had known this time last year, or through the middle of the year that it was going to change, we could have worked with it.”
The Omeo District league clubs met on Monday and Mr Harrington said some were prepared to “go rogue”.
“There is an unwritten code of conduct that the older players look after the younger ones,” he said.
“We’ve got five days to come up with a whole new competition, new coaches, new volunteers and try and find 10 permit players for each team.
“Clubs could just go rogue and play the games anyway.
“But if something bad happens they won’t be covered by insurance and neither will the league and everyone is open to legal action.”
AFL Victoria confirmed exceptional and compelling circumstances include a player’s football development interests including their physical capacity, experience, skill level and social maturity.
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