Cobras keep waiting for season to kick off

OCEAN Grove’s junior football club committee hasn’t given up hope that some matches will still be played in season 2020, and that months of pre-season planning won’t all be for naught.
The Cobras Junior Football Club this year had more than 380 registered players ready to pull on the boots, including for the first time three standalone junior girls teams in what shaped as a season of many exciting firsts.
New light towers had been installed at the club’s Collendina base to provide much-improved winter training conditions, but as incoming president Dennis Hateley explains, they’ve been unable to flick the switch.
“It was disappointing when it all got cancelled – the new committee had put in so much planning to get things going given the size of the club,’’ he said.
“We started back in November, so to have it all stop on the cusp of the season was a bit deflating, knowing the effort we’d all put in for the kids.
“Growing the girls junior football program under our own banner was an exciting opportunity.’’
The club turned to innovative ways to keep players active and connected during the coronavirus shutdown, launching initiatives such as an online Footy Fit training program, and encouraging players to post their own backyard trick-shot videos online.
Last week, the club conducted the first of several live members’ draws via Facebook as a way to acknowledge sponsors and give families a focus in lieu of the traditional Friday night social catch-ups and Auskick sessions.
July looms as a best-case scenario for the return of matches, with clubs being given the option to play through to the end of October if everything falls into place.
AFL Victoria and AFL Barwon have released details regarding protocols clubs must take to ensure a safe and hygienic and controlled environment is provided for a return to training, which presents significant challenges for groups with such a high number of participants.
“It’s front of mind for us right now, if there is some level of competition it will look different, no doubt – what that is, we just don’t know,” Mr Hateley said. “All I can say is we will follow the guidance with the extra protocols. This will be a challenge for all community sport committees because of the extra work and responsibility on volunteers. But beyond that it’s one of those scenarios. We’re in a pandemic and from an overall perspective, we need to acknowledge that the Cobras family is travelling okay.
“We don’t know the numbers of people who have lost their jobs and it’s hard to know what we can do to support these people as a club, but we are here for families.
“Everyone is looking for normality, but that is not going to be possible this year.’’