Division footy will never work in country footy. Where's mitiamo find netballers and junior footballers if they make the top divisionWith all the discussion regarding which clubs could fit into which leagues, I’ve had some thoughts on a complete overhaul.
Whilst I post this in the Bendigo forum, as it’s the most active, it could be applied to other regions of the state.
Apologies about formatting, the dot points have been lost as I pasted into the forum
Divisional Football / Netball League Proposal
Option A:
30 Clubs – Three 10 Club divisions
18 match H&A Season
Full Competition Byes at Easter, Kings Birthday and Middle Weekend of School Holidays
Final 5 – 4 week finals series. Grand Finals on AFL Preliminary Final Weekend
Promotion / Relegation based on Club Championship*
Option B:
32 Clubs – Four 8 Club divisions
14 match H&A season
Full Competition Byes at Easter, Kings Birthday and Middle Weekend of School Holidays
Final 4 – 3 week finals series. Grand Finals on AFL Semi Final Weekend
Cup Competition
Open draw
Round 1 all teams per club at same venue
Round 2 onward, teams follow winning Senior Football / A Grade Netball open draw. All teams for a particular club will be at same venue, may be neutral.
Cup completion to be weeks 3, 6,13,16 & 22 of season
Cup Finals on AFL Preliminary Final Weekend
Promotion / Relegation based on Club Championship*
*Promotion / Relegation
Home & Away season only to be included in Club Championship Rankings
4 points per win Senior Football
4 points per win A Grade Netball
2 Points per win Reserves Football
2 Points per win B Grade Netball
Draws – half win points of the grade of Football / Netball
Club with highest ranking in division to be promoted if club wishes to be
Club with lowest ranking to be relegated if champion club from lower division chooses to be promoted
Club to be promoted to inform league within 14 days of conclusion of H&A Season of their intention.
Lower Grades
Football
U19 / U18 / U17 to be determined by the league as a whole. Age group to be aligned with Netball
All clubs in all divisions to endeavour to field teams in this grade, including “Cup” competition under Option B.
Underage competition does not contribute to Club Championship for promotion / relegation.
Lower age groups to be run as geographically based separate competition. No “Cup” competition. Align Age Groups & Clubs with netball
Netball
All clubs to endeavour to field C/D/E grades and underage aligning with football underage grade including “Cup” competition under Option B.
C/D/E and underage netball does not contribute to Club Championship for promotion / relegation.
Lower age groups to be run as geographically based separate competition. No “Cup” competition. Align Age Groups with football
Womens Football
All clubs to be encouraged to field womens teams under a “one club” philosophy
Womens competition to be separate league until such time that all clubs field teams
Upon sufficient teams in the league, the competition will align with existing Football / Netball divisional structure
Womens teams to contribute to club championship rankings as per mens Senior football and A Grade netball
Salary Cap / Player Points
Salary Cap to be applied equally across all clubs in all divisions
For the purposes of player transfers, Division 1 to be considered a Premier Community Competition
Plenty of good points though