Upper Murray survives challenges to launch 2021 football, netball season
The league will launch its 2021 season this weekend having dealt with more challenges than just the coronavirus pandemic.
THE Upper Murray Football League will launch its 2021 season this weekend following 18 months involving more challenges than just the coronavirus pandemic.
Since the last time the league played a match – — the 2019 grand final when Bullioh defeated Cudgewa — Border Walwa went into recess, the region was hit by fires, and a proposed merge of the remaining five clubs into one to compete in the Tallangatta and District league was rejected.
League president Gordon Nicholas said while some may have felt that proposal was the only way to go, others may be keen “to get in and prove these people wrong”.
“COVID could’ve highlighted to a point if you don’t have football, you’ve got a dead community throughout the winter,” he said.
“It may well make people realise that we need to work hard to keep our league going. Who knows what the long-distance future may be, but certainly in the short term we’re willing to rally and survive.”
Cudgewa has dealt with several tragedies in the past 18 months, including last summer’s bushfires which burnt out the football ground and some infrastructure.
“Everyone’s very, very happy that it’s about to happen. We’ve got lot of interest and there’s a fair buzz about the place,” club president Greg Hillier said.
“For some people the only outlet is the football. They come down on Thursday for a beer and barbecue, and Saturday for a game. For some people it’s the only time they get off the property. We think that is terribly important and sadly missed last year.”
Bullioh applied unsuccessfully to join the Tallangatta league on its own after the 2019 season, but also rejected the merger proposal.
President Peter Dean said the club would have to work hard to attract players out of Albury-Wodonga, like many local football clubs, but clubs were like people’s families.
“We would like to keep our club going, but ageing volunteers, lack of population, and economics, it doesn’t look good for the long term, but every club in the league will fight to keep their club alive,” he said. “We think we can keep the league going for a good number of years.”
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