Related
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
AFL Wimmera Mallee representatives will meet with Horsham District and Wimmera football and netball clubs individually to discuss potential competition reform.
The meetings follow a future directions session involving clubs earlier this year, to review the state of football and netball in the region.
The meeting was a chance for club representatives to discuss their concerns and ideas to ensure the future sustainability of the leagues and competitions.
Issues raised included the competitiveness of the leagues, junior player numbers, and the burden on volunteers.
AFL Wimmera Mallee released a survey to clubs as part of the review process.
AFL Wimmera Mallee general manager Bruce Petering said all 20 clubs from across both leagues had now responded to surveys.
“We have been putting the data together and this review survey has given us an indication of where the clubs are thinking and what they’re looking at,” he said.
“All clubs have now returned at least one survey and some have returned multiple. I think we are up to about 70 replies at the moment, so that is really good.”
Data from those surveys will go to a working party, which will meet on November 27 to discuss the results.
The party will comprise AFL Wimmera Mallee commissioners, board members from both leagues, and independent community members.
Following the meeting, Petering said the board would start meeting face-to-face with clubs to gather more opinions and information about the future of the two leagues.
“The immediate step is to get in front of clubs and speak to them directly,” he said.
Petering said the board would take a ‘bottom-up’ approach to gathering the information required to move the leagues forward.
“We don’t want to be directing people as to what we think should happen, we want to know what they think should happen and then we will mould that information and put together some recommendations,” he said.
“We want to talk to every club. Then we will start looking at solutions to the problems people see.”
Mr Petering said he expected the final recommendations to be delivered by the middle of next year.
“Recommendations would be handed down around June or July next year, with the intention of implementing them in the 2019 season,” he said.
“There is a fair bit of work to do in the meantime.”