Junior footy set for return

THERE will be some community football in the region this year as juniors from the Central Highlands Football League will return to the park this Saturday.

Set for a nine-week regular season and then two rounds of finals, the comp will feature under 18s, 15s and 12s from all but two of the CHFL clubs.

League president Doug Hobson said it had been a process to get the season started.

“It’s been a matter of waiting and working through AFL Victoria and the State government to give us the go ahead,” he said.

“Once we got our okays and had our seniors decide not to run we looked toward our junior competition. Virtually everybody in the league was in favour of doings something with juniors.”

Support for running the junior season was in part drawn out of a desire to provide community sport at some level this year and into the future.

However, that push has been tempered by participant safety and being mindful of the ongoing pandemic.

“It’s our job to get football up and running if possible but also to do it in a safe manner,” Mr Hobson said.

“As much as we are still in a serious situation, there is no guarantee we’re not going to still be in this same position next year.

“The coming years are going to be a challenge to keep everybody involved and interested. By getting some sort of sport up for juniors we see that as pathway to keep them interested and follow on in coming years.”

As part of the start-up the league has put in place several protocols to be COVID-safe.

They include cleaning of change rooms, benches and coaches’ boxes between games, while access to change rooms will be limited, and there’s no spectators on the grounds during quarter and half-time breaks or before and before or after games – so no kick to kick.

Players, family members and spectators will also be discouraged from staying at the grounds once their game has finished.

Mr Hobson acknowledged that the CHFL would be a test case and all eyes would be on the league. He also said organisers wouldn’t be afraid to pull the pin if needs be.

“We’re across things as best we can and we expect to make things better as the weeks go on, but there will be a fair bit of scrutiny on us for what we’re doing, and rightfully so,” he said.

“We realise things in Melbourne aren’t getting a lot better and we’re watching that and being mindful if we do have to possibly shut down.”

All but two of the CHFL clubs will be putting sides out on the track, with Buninyong and under 18 and 15 defending champs Gordon deciding not to take part. Carngham Linton will also not be fielding under 15 and 12 teams.

“We’re mindful of where they are, and respectful of their decision,” Mr Hobson said. “Their committees [Buninyong and Gordon] thought it wasn’t for them at this stage.”

Check out and download the full CHFL fixture here.