HEAD of AFL Victoria, Brad Scott, has cleared up some misconceptions about local, country and junior football restrictions.<\/p>\n
Starting with junior football, rumours have been spread that only one parent can attend their child\u2019s game.<\/p>\n
Scott says that is categorically false.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s actually not true that only one parent can go to junior footy games. Both parents can go, grandparents can go, junior footy for all intents and purposes is pretty much back to normal,\u201d the former North Melbourne coach told SEN Breakfast.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re really excited that footy is back and junior footy certainly won\u2019t be impacted because it\u2019s unusual that at a junior footy game that you\u2019re going to have crowds over 1000 people so junior footy is pretty much back to normal which is exciting.<\/p>\n
\u201cKids will be back high-fiving at footy games, parents will be able to go to the footy, junior football is pretty close to being back to normal, but it is a fluid environment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another issue that has leagues and clubs worried is the cap on crowds at 1000 people.<\/p>\n
Scott said that the cap is 1000, but teams and clubs can apply for that to be increased if they can meet the same COVID restrictions that apply across the state.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe 1000 crowd cap is a bit misleading because that basically says that 1000 people can gather without any significant crowd management protocols in place other than government guidelines that everyone is well aware of,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we\u2019re talking about is community footy, and country footy in particular where there can be big crowds, can have crowds of 5000 or 10,000, but if they do have crowds of that size (they have to meet protocols).<\/p>\n
\u201cI think rational people understand that you\u2019ve got to have management protocols in place to manage a crowd that size.<\/p>\n
\u201cAFL Victoria is working with leagues and country commissions to assist where we can make sure that those protocols are in place. So, if there\u2019s a country footy game that\u2019s expecting a crowd of 5000 people, that can go ahead, its\u2019 really important that everyone understands that.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s no different to anywhere else in a public space. The onus is largely on the community to do the right things\u2026 it\u2019s not going to be on clubs to individually police individuals to make sure they\u2019re socially distanced, it\u2019s going to be up to clubs to make sure they\u2019ve got protocols in place such as QR codes, which we\u2019re all well accustomed to, appropriate signage around the grounds and making sure people are aware of the protocols.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s no different to when you go to a shopping centre. Those shopping centres are expected to have appropriate signage, sanitation stations, so it\u2019s really no different.\u201d<\/p>\n
Scott also added that a \u201ccommon sense\u201d rule applies and there is no strict cap of exactly 1000 people.<\/p>\n
He adds that they\u2019re working hard to ensure all clubs can financially deal with what\u2019s being asked of them.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve created signage packs for all our packs, we sent that out to all and when you think about the enormity of that task, you\u2019ve got basically 12,000 clubs in Victoria and over 90 leagues so it\u2019s a pretty significant investment we\u2019ve made in supporting clubs to do that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome of the discussion around \u2018it\u2019s going to cripple country clubs\u2019, we\u2019re going to support country clubs and fingers crossed things keep going in the direction they\u2019re going.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019ll be over onerous, but we\u2019re working really closely with the state government to explain to them some of the challenges small community clubs face in this space and they\u2019re built on the support of volunteers and make sure the task they\u2019re set is not overly onerous, but we\u2019re confident we can get it done.\u201d<\/p>\n