EFL CEO – Phil Murton
At the recent senior club Presidents Meetings, the other key item on the agenda along with the Community Club Sustainability Program was Under 19s.
This year our numbers are down on the previous few years as we have some clubs who would normally field an under 19 team unable to do so, including three of last year’s premiers, East Ringwood, Ringwood and Coldstream.
While disappointing, we don’t look at one year as a trend and there’s a need to consider the historical numbers, as in my discussions with people it appears there is a common view of an under 18 utopia of yesteryear where every club had an under 18 side, which couldn’t be further from the truth.
Up until the mid-2000’s, due to low numbers we had a combined Division Three and Four under 18’s, with only about 70% of senior clubs being able to field an under 18 team. This has increased to 85-90% throughout the late 2000’s and 2010’s, so the last ten years has seen our best historic results.
The move to under 17 and under 19 came after much consultation and research and has resulted in a net increase of 15 teams per year across these age groups which has been maintained since its introduction. A survey of junior clubs in 2014 showed strong continued support for the retention of under 17’s and the numbers show we have more under 17s boys playing now than we ever have, in an environment most people agree is the most appropriate one- Sunday junior footy.
One area of the competition where it has had a positive impact is our northern based clubs aligned with Yarra JFL junior clubs. Prior to the change they fielded under 18 teams only 63% of the time, but since the change this has increased to 88%, with all teams fielding sides in the last two years.
What we do know, however, is that in all competitions and across all sports, it’s getting harder to engage players in these age groups so we need to consider how we structure the competitions into the future.
Some feedback from clubs and players relates to early game times and the expected level of commitment. Some proposals recently put to clubs for consideration include changing the time allocation for under 19s and reserves games to allow for a 30 minute later start at 10.10am, and the possibility of scheduling some under 19 games after the seniors as the last game on the day. In this example, the seniors and reserves would start an hour earlier and the 19s would play the “feature game” with reduced quarter lengths in a “fast footy” version of the game that would still finish before the sun sets. This wouldn’t be done every week but possibly a few rounds per year, particularly early in the season, and could coincide with club events to engage the under 19s parents and families. Both proposals were well received by clubs and we plan to test during the second half of this year.
What is also evident is the need for clubs to put the same effort into their under 19 coach appointment and player communication during October, November and December as they do their senior sides. While training might not be at the same level as the senior group pre-Xmas, coaches and team managers starting communicating with players as early as possible, and players knowing the team is organized, has proven successful.
The other monkey in the room is whether or not the competitions should be graded, as is done with our junior competition, rather than being aligned with senior teams. While clubs have consistently expressed their desire to keep the status quo and we generally like to have club support for decisions we make, evidence is starting to mount of the benefits of grading. Teams getting regularly beaten by 20 plus goals does nothing for anyone and it is no doubt that likely heavy defeats limits clubs who have low numbers ability to initially get, and then keep, a team together.
The results from Football Geelong’s under 18.5 Colts competition, where they changed to a graded system a few years ago, demonstrate that on key measures such as team numbers, player retention and competition equality, the change has been hugely beneficial and fully embraced by once skeptical clubs.
The Geelong example, is proven with the fixture produced for our under 19 competitions where not every side fields an under 19 team, shows aligning under 19 teams with the seniors and reserves teams can be still achieved for about 90% of home games. The feedback from clubs in Geelong is the benefits of grading far outweigh any issues borne by fixturing compromises.
There’s no doubt engaging this age group of players will continue to be a challenge and that we must question whether what has worked in the past will continue to work into the future.
It’s an area that is often discussed and debated and one where the league will continue to search for the best practice in consultation with our clubs.
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