INCOMING Ovens and Murray chairman David Sinclair's idea to introduce more grades of football and netball has drawn a positive response from a number of clubs.
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Sinclair's proposal, which he said would counter the “cradle to grave” advantage district clubs had in retaining players, was given the tick of approval by incoming Yarrawonga Pigeons president Scott Jacques.
“It's a great idea, I agree 100 per cent with David’s suggestion,” he said.
“Yarrawonga has been advocating for this for a number of years now.
“Extra grades would make it more attractive for families to spend their weekends with the one club, which is what we're up against with the district clubs.”
Jacques said though the introduction of other grades of netball and football had typically been met with resistance over the years, they had ultimately proven to be valuable additions to the league.
“There was resistance going back as far as the introduction of netball in 1993,” he said.
“If you look at the introduction of the under-16 netball, I don’t think anyone would disagree that it’s been a success.”
If you look at the introduction of the under-16 netball, nobody would disagree it’s been a success.
- Scott Jacques
Myrtleford club president Michael Quirk said the idea was worth looking into, but added that there would be several issues that would need to be dealt with for extra grades to be beneficial.
“Our juniors and seniors are aligned at the moment, but in time would investigate coming closer together,” Quirk said.
“The junior teams play in the Wangaratta and District Junior Football League, so there would be quite a few issues in terms of getting that right for those clubs.
“But overall, it is definitely worth investigating.”
Any plans to add an additional grade to the competition would first need to be approved by AFL Victoria and AFL North East Border.
Sinclair spent 13 years on the O&M board before becoming president.
