Alberton looks to 2020

ALBERTON Football Netball League has conceded to being a six team competition in 2019.
A meeting on November 22 saw teams elect not to disband the league, but rather look to the future and plan for an improved 2020.
League president Barry Stride said teams were disappointed with the outcome but had accepted there was nothing more to be done.
“We will have Seniors, Reserves and Thirds, and we are working on a concept for the U16s,” he said.
“There are still a few clubs that are not happy with our situation, but we agree there’s nothing left for us to do. We need to make sure Foster and Toora aren’t dumped into another league and work towards keeping all six teams together.”
By 2020, Mr Stride said the league hopes to add more teams to the existing six to continue playing as Alberton.
Plan B is for all six teams to join another league with a second division competition.
Mr Stride said the league would have another meeting with AFL Gippsland and AFL Victoria, but the date was to be confirmed.
This meeting will focus on solutions for the future, as well as highlighting the damage inflicted on the small country towns and the lack of sponsorship.
“It comes down to the fact that the way the Alberton league has been treated is disgraceful. I sympathise with our six clubs,” he said.
“No one has sat down and considered the damage of these small towns. Footy, netball, cricket, tennis and so on is their lifeblood.
“We have a board meeting on Wednesday, which will determine the date for our annual general meeting. At the annual general meeting, we will hopefully plan for a draw and how many games we will play this season.
“For now, every door has been shut and every loophole closed.”
Mr Stride said despite the hardships, positives were shining through at each club.
“It is encouraging to see MDU recently having 29 people at their training, which is more than they got last season. Toora has signed on new players and Tarwin just recruited a couple of young blokes to coach the U18s, so all teams will have Thirds this season,” he said.
“There was a positive tone to the meeting. It was certainly a positive to discuss interleague. I am a strong supporter of interleague. Our players take on teams from far superior leagues and have beaten them. It’s something for players to strive for and attracts more U18 players because it is an opportunity for them to show their wares to scouts.
“There’s still a fair bit of bitterness, and rightly so. This powerful league of 12 has been decimated and we can’t walk away from a 130 year history. It is good to see some positives coming out, though.”

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Posted by Tayla Kershaw on Nov 27 2018. Filed under Sport. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry