Leagues permitted to resume training
AFL Victoria has announced that sanctioned training will resume at a community football level from Monday, May 25.
It comes a week after Premier Daniel Andrews relaxed restrictions, which included allowing up to 10 people to gather outside together, which formed the basis of the AFL Victoria guidelines which will see players back out on the park.
The statement released on Saturday said that the safety of all participants was at the forefront of plans to resume community sports in 2020.
Training will resume in groups of up to 10 people. The group of 10 does not include a coach or the minimum number of support staff who are reasonably required to manage the activity. Social distancing must be adhered to at all times as well.
Clubs are advised that their home oval can be split into two zones, allowing two groups of 10 to train at once, providing they do not operate close together at any stage.
AFL Victoria has also outlined an important role that clubs must adhere to, the appointment of a COVID Safety Officer who will be responsible for ensuring the protocols are obeyed and players can return to a prepared and safe environment. They also strongly recommended all participants download the COVID-SAF App to ensure any outbreaks are traced quickly.
EDFL operations manager Ken Moore said that while the announcement allows training to commence, the Ellinbank and District League will be awaiting on more information from AFL Gippsland.
“We are waiting on a few more answers and clear procedures. You can train with 20 on the oval, but for bigger clubs like Longwarry who may have 50 players wanting to train, what are they going to do with the other 30? How many people can be in the club area at once, what are the hygiene matters such as showering facilities that can be used, these are the answers we are waiting on,” he said.
“I think that establishing the COVID Safety Officer is essential first. We need to see procedures in place, we have the processes but the actual procedures on how to implement these restrictions we still need,” he added.
Another issue that faces many leagues around the state relates to a tentative start date after the no football before May 31 extension last month.
“We need a tentative start date, there’s no use really training if there isn’t a chance for games to be played,” Mr Moore said.
Mr Moore also touched on the likelihood of the EDFL not going ahead if crowds were banned.
“The EDFL would be highly unlikely to go ahead if there were no crowds. We have evidence that shows clubs have shown reluctance to play if there are no crowds involved,” he said.
Currently, the EDFL are surveying clubs with a series of questions that will help shape what the season looks like if there was one to go ahead with, providing clubs were happy to.
The latest date that the EDFL season could commence would be August 1, which would see a six round season played, with a threeweek finals series in September, with a grand final date of September 26. That, however, is a last resort option for the league who are aiming for an eight to 10 round season.
Mid Gippsland League publicity officer Rod Popplestone said that coaches have given the league an indication that they would need a two to four week training period in order to start the season, with clubs looking for some more clarification around a number of issues.
“Clubs are seeking clarification around insurance and crowds. If we don’t have crowds, the chances of us going ahead is pretty remote, even if the players do take a pay cut,” Mr Popplestone said.
The Mid Gippsland League are aiming for at least a nine round season, followed by finals and are hoping that if need be, can negotiate with leagues to allow the season to stretch just 1-2 weeks longer.
“Really, we need to be able to be up and going by around mid-July. We hope we can negotiate with cricket clubs for an extra 1-2 weeks if need be, but we hope not to,” Mr Popplestone said.
Various options have been put to clubs around the season, regarding a lightning premiership style season, however they were knocked back with teams wanting to stay together as a club, from seniors through to juniors and netballers.
The West Gippsland and Gippsland leagues were not able to be contacted for comment.
While AFL Victoria have outlined the parameters for a return to training, some leagues such as the EDFL may continue to wait for more clarification surrounding some issues raised by clubs during the shutdown period.
“We will be waiting to hear from head of AFL Gippsland Richard Black, that was our stance, so we’ll wait to hear from him,” Mr Moore said.