Ellinbank Junior Football Club registrations open
Ellinbank Junior Football Club will hold a registration day on Sunday at the Ellinbank Recreation Reserve from 12.30pm.
New players are welcome to join the club, which will field under 10, under 12 and under 14 teams in the Warragul District Junior Football League.
The club will put on a barbecue free of charge, while the parents will take on the children in a football match scheduled for 2pm.
Club volunteers will be on hand to take registrations on the day.
For more information or to register for the 2016 season, phone club secretary Jess Hickin on 0476 079 707.
GL board
Gippsland League is looking to boost the strength of its board of management for next season.
The major league in the region conducts four grades of football and six of netball.
The board is responsible for governance of the league for its member clubs and aims to promote football and netball throughout the region.
This year it also established a women’s team, Gippsland Galaxy that in its inaugural season won the Victorian Women’s Football League eastern division premiership.
To apply interested candidates should email a curriculum vitae and cover note to League chairman Greg Maidment at cobrag08@gmail.com by Friday, November 30.
More information about the role of board members is available at www.gl.vcfl.com.au or by contacting Michelle Redfern at m.a.redfern@bigpond.com.
Umpires join RAC
AFL Gippsland has welcomed South Gippsland Umpires Association into its Regional Administration Centre, allowing for a dedicated umpiring resource for Gippsland.
The SGUA have signed on to the RAC for two years, which follows the successful integration of local umpiring group Gippsland Umpires Association and Sale Umpires Association in season 2015.
Three of the region’s four umpiring groups are now administered from the AFL Gippsland office in Morwell, allowing for a dedicated resource within the AFL Gippsland structure.
AFL Gippsland region general manager Travis Switzer said providing a professional and collaborative administration service was a major reason the RAC was put into place.
“We firmly believe the RAC model is the way forward for football leagues and umpires associations,” he said.
“This year was our first venture into umpire administration and we feel we achieved some very positive results and out lots of things in place to build on next year.
“With three associations now on board it gives us scope to provide a dedicated resource to umpiring within our structure, which we are very excited about.”
SGUA president Graham Laird said the association was first approached by the RAC three years ago, but the time was now right to make a change.
He said he hoped having a majority of the region’s umpire associations in the RAC would benefit umpiring in Gippsland as a whole.
SGUA is the seventh Gippsland football league or umpires association to sign a service agreement with the RAC since its formation less than two years ago.
AFL Victoria will establish a women’s state league competition in 2016.
The move is set to strengthen the pathway to the elite levels for women playing football.
The new competition will be aligned with the Victorian Football League (VFL), featuring 10 clubs, with the six Victorian Women’s Football League (VWFL) Premier Division teams from 2015 – Darebin Falcons, Diamond Creek, Eastern Devils, Melbourne Uni, St Kilda and VU Western Spurs – to be joined by the top four Division 1 sides – Cranbourne, Geelong, Knox and Seaford.
AFL Victoria chief executive Steven Reaper said establishing the state league competition is the starting point for something exciting in women’s football.
“By developing a women’s state league competition from current VWFL clubs we will be able to utilise already established playing squads, grounds and support staff, and it will also assist with player retention,”he said.
“It means the state competition will be able to help develop talent across Melbourne and into some country regions in the future.
“This will be the first step in establishing a professional women’s state league competition in Victoria, but it will take time to mirror all aspects of the men’s league.
“With the AFL national women’s competition on the horizon, we need to provide the best standard competition for these players, and a dedicated state league for women will help set that benchmark, providing a much needed next step in the female talent pathway.”
The VWFL will remain in its current divisional structure with the 10 state league clubs to continue to field their second and third teams in that competition.
The league has seen rapid growth in recent years, jumping from 27 clubs and 34 teams in 2013 to 36 clubs and 50 teams in 2015.