VAFA General Discussion 2022-2023-2024

[Chief]

Hi all.

Aucklander and I have had a couple of runs through recent posts in this thread and removed a few unsavoury comments.

The usual griping and gossip is par for the course, but some posts go overboard.

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[10571z]

If you think the VAFA will reduce affiliation fees to 25%......I want a bit of what you’re smoking.

Coaches not asking to be paid? Pass the billy over again thanks.

Local councils reducing fees? Who is ordering the pizza?

Apathy amongst latent volunteer dissipating? Okay, stop it now, the room is spinning and I need to go outside.....

I didn’t say it was impossible, but now you put it that way, maybe it is.

These are the real issues.

Huge bills will remain with many revenue streams gone.

How many real estate sponsors will be handing over a cheque?

25% of the outer didn’t want to play.
I heard 50% of the EFL and I’ve talked with contacts at 5 NFNL clubs who also aren’t keen as it would almost certainly end in financial ruin.

Is the player interest overall there? I’m not talking about the 10/15 blokes who would play if we were being invaded by martians, I’m talking about the last 10/15 would happily go without and need to be convinced to play in a normal year.

 

[jdpie]

If you think the VAFA will reduce affiliation fees to 25%......I want a bit of what you’re smoking.

Coaches not asking to be paid? Pass the billy over again thanks.

Local councils reducing fees? Who is ordering the pizza?

Apathy amongst latent volunteer dissipating? Okay, stop it now, the room is spinning and I need to go outside.....

I didn’t say it was impossible, but now you put it that way, maybe it is.

How are we feeling about possible income streams with todays restrictions announced ?
I would suggest, humbly, that your position is based on static thoughts and not reflecting on what is actually happening in the community (in regards to the status of the virus). If the government is easing things ahead of their own timelines is it not reasonable to suggest we are being undersold and over delivered ?
In that context there will be people allowed to attend games, canteens will be open, post game beers allowed with restrictions.
The semi professional leagues are riddled with issues that are not relevant to the VAFA.
Go and ask a coach of any team, outside of the top of the tree Premier clubs, if they will coach out this season for the benefit of the players and broader club community and you might get a wonderfully, positive response.
I am very aware that LGA's are already formulating a reduction or waiver on fees for this year.
The need to feel part of something will promote volunteer commitment.

 

[saj_21]

I am a player/reserves coach in the NFNL. I don’t get paid, I play and coach because I love being with my mates. I messaged the 35 players on my list last week and all but 3 said they would play. The only three that can’t were due to work commitments and disappointed they couldn’t play.

 

[bedford]

Groups of 20 from the following week now with no contact.

 

[saj_21]

Matin Parkula (Vic minister for sport) has tweeted this morning;

June 22nd.
Cafes/restaurants to have up to 50 amongst many other services opening up including gyms, swimming centres, stadiums etc.

 

[bedford]

Matin Parkula (Vic minister for sport) has tweeted this morning;

June 22nd.
Cafes/restaurants to have up to 50 amongst many other services opening up including gyms, swimming centres, stadiums etc.

Must serve food.

 

[nosecondprize]

Matin Parkula (Vic minister for sport) has tweeted this morning;

June 22nd.
Cafes/restaurants to have up to 50 amongst many other services opening up including gyms, swimming centres, stadiums etc.

Yeh 50 people that have to have a 4sq metre distance between them whilst at a cafe or restaurant. How do u police that at a ground or in the change rooms or club rooms. But the thing that makes it impossible is it’s a contact sport. Unless they lift restrictions on contact there’s simply no playing

 

[bedford]

Yeh 50 people that have to have a 4sq metre distance between them whilst at a cafe or restaurant. How do u police that at a ground or in the change rooms or club rooms. But the thing that makes it impossible is it’s a contact sport. Unless they lift restrictions on contact there’s simply no playing

They will playing is weeks away , the present rules only allow training.

 

[jdpie]

Yeh 50 people that have to have a 4sq metre distance between them whilst at a cafe or restaurant. How do u police that at a ground or in the change rooms or club rooms. But the thing that makes it impossible is it’s a contact sport. Unless they lift restrictions on contact there’s simply no playing

Playing contact sport on an AFL ground with probably no more than 7-10 minutes of physical contact for each player is far less likely to serve as a transmissible environment than an office building, cinema, place of worship, restaurant or public transport. If we are now opening cinemas to 50 people on June 22nd we are allowing full contact training and games at or around the same date.
Optimistic football people are not promoting this, the Health Department is and they are pretty bloody conservative in Victoria (as we have seen with a number of positions taken that appeared a little OTT).
Return to footy very quickly will move from a health decision to a financial viability decision.

 

[nosecondprize]

Playing contact sport on an AFL ground with probably no more than 7-10 minutes of physical contact for each player is far less likely to serve as a transmissible environment than an office building, cinema, place of worship, restaurant or public transport. If we are now opening cinemas to 50 people on June 22nd we are allowing full contact training and games at or around the same date.
Optimistic football people are not promoting this, the Health Department is and they are pretty bloody conservative in Victoria (as we have seen with a number of positions taken that appeared a little OTT).
Return to footy very quickly will move from a health decision to a financial viability decision.

Stop comparing local footy to the AFL. The players get tested twice a week, once before contact training and once before a game, so they know when running out to play that not one player or official has it. You can’t do that at local level.

 

[AM]

Stop comparing local footy to the AFL. The players get tested twice a week, once before contact training and once before a game, so they know when running out to play that not one player or official has it. You can’t do that at local level.

Check the AFLVic protocols for community footy. They are very arduous. Really can't see how the VAFA clubs can meet them. The only hope is for them to be modified and in a marked way.

 

[HedgeFund]

Playing contact sport on an AFL ground with probably no more than 7-10 minutes of physical contact for each player is far less likely to serve as a transmissible environment than an office building, cinema, place of worship, restaurant or public transport. If we are now opening cinemas to 50 people on June 22nd we are allowing full contact training and games at or around the same date.
Optimistic football people are not promoting this, the Health Department is and they are pretty bloody conservative in Victoria (as we have seen with a number of positions taken that appeared a little OTT).
Return to footy very quickly will move from a health decision to a financial viability decision.

Disagree. They don’t play full ground press / zone defence at local footy do they?

Any decent defender will be standing 1.5cm, not 1.5m, from an opponent (which will vary throughout the day) for a full 90 minutes.

Unless that coach who is coaching for free let’s them get away with it? (NB: Pretty much every senior coach from Premier C above would be on $15k - $50k for a full season. They might take a 20-30% cut, but won’t give that up completely)

No local footy player will be getting COVID tested before taking the field and they won’t be getting dressed outside the change rooms.

They will all be packed tightly together in a tight space listening to pre-match instructions probably for 10-15 minutes.

As for sponsors, well they don’t magically go back to their revenue/profit forecasts of March in July. They have to find a way to get “back in the black”. Spending money on local footy probably won’t be a focus.

That’s the reality going forward.

Government restrictions are hopefully loosening in relation to gyms after 22-6-2020 allowing 20 people maximum. PROVIDED THEY SOCIAL DISTANCE.

That won’t change for the rest of the year.

 

[bedford]

Check the AFLVic protocols for community footy. They are very arduous. Really can't see how the VAFA clubs can meet them. The only hope is for them to be modified and in a marked way.

My club has already got it all in place . Some clubs don't sook and get on with making it happen.

 

[bedford]

Disagree. They don’t play full ground press / zone defence at local footy do they?

Any decent defender will be standing 1.5cm, not 1.5m, from an opponent (which will vary throughout the day) for a full 90 minutes.

Unless that coach who is coaching for free let’s them get away with it? (NB: Pretty much every senior coach from Premier C above would be on $15k - $50k for a full season. They might take a 20-30% cut, but won’t give that up completely)

No local footy player will be getting COVID tested before taking the field and they won’t be getting dressed outside the change rooms.

They will all be packed tightly together in a tight space listening to pre-match instructions probably for 10-15 minutes.

As for sponsors, well they don’t magically go back to their revenue/profit forecasts of March in July. They have to find a way to get “back in the black”. Spending money on local footy probably won’t be a focus.

That’s the reality going forward.

Government restrictions are hopefully loosening in relation to gyms after 22-6-2020 allowing 20 people maximum. PROVIDED THEY SOCIAL DISTANCE.

That won’t change for the rest of the year.

We have done so well here , they know where cases happen and track it. Maybe have a look at Sweden and then there would be a worry . Just don't understand a bloke like you who has so much experience on and off the ground is so against playing . If your right and they pull the pin the sooner the better and stop dragging people along. Do it in the next month and that's it !

 

[Max Leader]

My club has already got it all in place . Some clubs don't sook and get on with making it happen.

Lets be real, the only real reasons clubs don't want to play is financial.

We had had 100 players commit to train over 4 teams. whilst a scheduling nightmare for training, it can be done. we are running sessions over 6 days with only Friday being the only day the club wont be training.

 

[bedford]

Lets be real, the only real reasons clubs don't want to play is financial.

We had had 100 players commit to train over 4 teams. whilst a scheduling nightmare for training, it can be done. we are running sessions over 6 days with only Friday being the only day the club wont be training.

Correct . Maybe those that don't want to have a crack can have a rest for a season .

 

[Givemetherock]

Jesus there is a few people on here whingeing, throwing out ridiculously inflated comments and saying footy won’t happen but post every couple of hours. Trying to run a campaign or something?

hopefully the government lets us play if it’s safe and viable. If you don’t like it switch off from bigfooty and have a rest in your bubble.

 

[SeaSide]

There should be no issues attached to social distancing should all responsible adults attending games have the government’s COVIDsafe virus tracker app on their cellphones.

For players and officials, no issues in the changerooms.

For supporters, no issues around the ground nor in the canteen.

No app, no changeroom entry.

No app, no canteen entry.

Let’s get on with it!

 

[jdpie]

Disagree. They don’t play full ground press / zone defence at local footy do they?

Any decent defender will be standing 1.5cm, not 1.5m, from an opponent (which will vary throughout the day) for a full 90 minutes.

Unless that coach who is coaching for free let’s them get away with it? (NB: Pretty much every senior coach from Premier C above would be on $15k - $50k for a full season. They might take a 20-30% cut, but won’t give that up completely)

No local footy player will be getting COVID tested before taking the field and they won’t be getting dressed outside the change rooms.

They will all be packed tightly together in a tight space listening to pre-match instructions probably for 10-15 minutes.

As for sponsors, well they don’t magically go back to their revenue/profit forecasts of March in July. They have to find a way to get “back in the black”. Spending money on local footy probably won’t be a focus.

That’s the reality going forward.

Government restrictions are hopefully loosening in relation to gyms after 22-6-2020 allowing 20 people maximum. PROVIDED THEY SOCIAL DISTANCE.

That won’t change for the rest of the year.

Let's agree to disagree. There is a fair amount of scientific evidence (not anecdotal) to support external activities being far less prevalent in transmissions.
You don't want the game to go ahead this year, i do. I hope it does and you the alternate.
The fantastic thing is there is not much longer that we will play the conjecture game.

 

[saj_21]

Right here right now we can't play footy or have contact a training but think forward to what we can have in 6 weeks time by mid july. There is currently 85 active cases in victoria with a population of 6 million people.

 

[workhorse]

Lets be real, the only real reasons clubs don't want to play is financial.

We had had 100 players commit to train over 4 teams. whilst a scheduling nightmare for training, it can be done. we are running sessions over 6 days with only Friday being the only day the club wont be training.

Tbf Maxy it's a bit easier for a club like OI who can split their groups over multiple nights as you describe. I mentioned earlier my club has 6 teams and only has access to our ground on Tuesday and Thursday. Not saying we aren't endeavoring to make it work but just because you've got it sorted out doesn't make it similarly smooth sailing for all other clubs.

I think a massive hurdle that was crossed is not getting enough air time - cricket have allowed us to push into October. We can now start the season as late as August 1st. To me, that is the biggest positive step for local footy in this whole saga. That'll be 5 weeks post-Phase 3 of easing restrictions, should they go ahead as planned. I think this is what will get us over the line!

In saying that, I think people in this thread are still glossing over the financial impact on clubs as a result of the fallout of the virus. As HF said, hard-struck local businesses aren't going to magically become prosperous again because restrictions have eased. For many it will be months and months before they are back to "normal" and in-turn will mean many won't be able to meet financial obligations to clubs in 2020. This won't be every club, but I'd hazard to guess many would be affected in some way. Even a 5-10% drop in sponsorship revenue could really hurt a club if other measures aren't put in place by the league to ease the burden. The big ticket item is affiliation fees/subs. The league has to act on this and be prepared to make sacrifices. All clubs will be making sacrifices - cutting back on medico's, not ordering new apparel this year, cutting back spending on equipment/gear etc. and coaches taking haircuts, and the league needs to come to the party with the affiliation fees. Do we really need all Premier A - C games filmed in 2020? Do Women's Premier really need stats taken and interviews with coaches in 2020?

One other thing I'm interested in people's thoughts - if the VAFA goes ahead while some other metro/country leagues don't, would you allow clearances for players from those leagues to come to VAFA clubs for the shortened 2020 season? To me, I'm absolutely against it and think it would make a mockery of the competition if we had an influx of players from around the city at the last minute. I don't think those respective leagues'/clubs' would want to allow it, anyway, and for those players it's a simple case of bad luck.

 

[Max Leader]

Tbf Maxy it's a bit easier for a club like OI who can split their groups over multiple nights as you describe. I mentioned earlier my club has 6 teams and only has access to our ground on Tuesday and Thursday. Not saying we aren't endeavoring to make it work but just because you've got it sorted out doesn't make it similarly smooth sailing for all other clubs.

I think a massive hurdle that was crossed is not getting enough air time - cricket have allowed us to push into October. We can now start the season as late as August 1st. To me, that is the biggest positive step for local footy in this whole saga. That'll be 5 weeks post-Phase 3 of easing restrictions, should they go ahead as planned. I think this is what will get us over the line!

In saying that, I think people in this thread are still glossing over the financial impact on clubs as a result of the fallout of the virus. As HF said, hard-struck local businesses aren't going to magically become prosperous again because restrictions have eased. For many it will be months and months before they are back to "normal" and in-turn will mean many won't be able to meet financial obligations to clubs in 2020. This won't be every club, but I'd hazard to guess many would be affected in some way. Even a 5-10% drop in sponsorship revenue could really hurt a club if other measures aren't put in place by the league to ease the burden. The big ticket item is affiliation fees/subs. The league has to act on this and be prepared to make sacrifices. All clubs will be making sacrifices - cutting back on medico's, not ordering new apparel this year, cutting back spending on equipment/gear etc. and coaches taking haircuts, and the league needs to come to the party with the affiliation fees. Do we really need all Premier A - C games filmed in 2020? Do Women's Premier really need stats taken and interviews with coaches in 2020?

One other thing I'm interested in people's thoughts - if the VAFA goes ahead while some other metro/country leagues don't, would you allow clearances for players from those leagues to come to VAFA clubs for the shortened 2020 season? To me, I'm absolutely against it and think it would make a mockery of the competition if we had an influx of players from around the city at the last minute. I don't think those respective leagues'/clubs' would want to allow it, anyway, and for those players it's a simple case of bad luck.

Thanks for your considered response.

While i agree that the school have made it easy for access to our oval, significant commitment has had to be given by the players and the coaching staff to get this up and running. Two of our senior coaches have had to remove themselves due to their age. (just being cautious).

With regard to cutting costs, everyone will be in the same boat.

The transfers issue is an easy fix. If a league cancels their season, any transfers out will be a 6 pointer, with no discount for a school, junior club and uni affiliation. This would see most clubs not being able to take anymore than 3 players each. Bear in mind a lot of clubs wont want to bring in some 1 season wonders to their club , as this will have a bearing on team morale.

Its not easy, but financial should not be the reason for as season not to occur.

Max Leader

 

[WithThePeanuts]

My understanding is that clearances will still close June 30.
If other leagues pull the pin before then and the VAFA are pushing ahead, why shouldn’t we allow players to come across? Any player on a contract won’t be granted a clearance from their club anyway so blokes playing Ressies in the EFL could still come across and get a game. Could be a great opportunity for vafa clubs to recruit players back to their clubs. Back our culture to have them stick around.

 

[eth-dog]

I don't think we're in a place where we can begrudge players wanting to come across and play by slapping massive point totals on them.

 

[Orange C]

Problem is for every player that comes across to a club that already has a full list, you're just pushing another player out the bottom, someone misses out either way.

There's no perfect solution, but preference needs to be given to existing players.