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Thanks Hank.
You, Squeak, and I are on the same page. That's three of us from the whole WRFL Big Footy Forum.
I guarantee that such an initiative will work once it has kicked off and will then continue to grow.
BUT somebody's got to do the hard yards and kick it off. I'm happy to contribute, however, if, as there appears to be so much ‘I don’t give a big rat’s arse’ and let ‘someone else’ do it then the WRFL will fall in a heap and schools will enjoy a soccer competition. There will be a shortage of juniors, fewer potential footballers and the WRFL will slide into being a note on a page.
If that is the attitude of the local football fraternity it appears they are all telling each other to do what the Ukranians told the Russians to do on Snake Island. It is time for Western clubs to stop disliking each other and work together to ensure that the competition has an established foundation.
I agree with everything in your post Hank. Your feelings are genuine but not insurmountable and will take some time – small steps. I have formulated an agenda that will be presented to the WRFL hierarchy (and clubs) should they be interested.
Having women as the majority of teachers in primary schools is not an encumbrance. They don’t need to be upfront with an AFL competition as there are a lot of Dads and Grandfathers who have children and grandchildren attending. In the Hobsons Bay competition, schools work with each other and grandfathers make up at least half of the coaching. It’s not a hard task but an enjoyable one.
Just to be clear, I'm not a massive fan of school footy (an an elitest format) like the private schools already do at high school age, and I hate that the AFL have let the school footy system take precedence over the U18 Talent league.
It genuinely disadvantages kids from low socio-economic areas how may not get the chance (even via scholarship) to join such programs, then not see the same amount of opportunity, nor get looked at in a similar light as the kids that go through the private school boy system.
At a primary school level, participation is the key and an opening to bring kids into footy, but if the schools take control, then local leagues like the WRFL, who get little support from AFL Vic will be left to go to ruin