A new-look competition is set to bolster the resurgence of junior football in South Gippsland.
The Alberton Junior Football League has been rebranded as the Southern Gippsland Junior Football Competition for 2017 and will feature a youth girls division and junior development academy for the first time.
With participation already on the rise following changes made by the AFL Gippsland-led review into junior football in South Gippsland in 2015, the newly-formed Committee of Management felt the time was right to establish a fresh identity.
“The introduction of under 10s and the move to a more standard age group structure of under 12s and under 14s has made a notable difference to our participation numbers in one year,” Committee of Management chair Noel Burrell said.
“With the change in governance that led to our committee being established it made sense to adopt a new name and image.
“Given we have clubs and participants from across two local government areas we wanted to assume an identity that reflected our competition as a whole which is why we settled on ‘Southern Gippsland’.”
The AJFL’s participation increased from 839 participants in 2015 to 913 in 2016 and while Auskick numbers remained steady – three more participants than 2015 and 10 fewer than the record of 580 set in 2014 – school engagements increased significantly.
A total of 3818 individual school engagements occurred last year, far ahead of 2015’s mark of 2714 and more than double the number made in 2014.
Burrell expected clubs and Auskick programs to see the benefits of that work as soon as this season.
“Increasing the number of children exposed to football at school can only be a positive thing for our clubs,” Burrell said.
“Getting their first experience of footy in a school environment is less daunting for many kids and we’re hopeful it encourages more to join their local club or Auskick centre.”
The other major development is the introduction of a youth girls division and a McDonald’s Junior Academy.
Six clubs have expressed an interest in fielding a youth girls’ team this season and Burrell said it was a great addition to the competition.
“Female footy is growing faster than any other area of the sport and with the AFL Women’s competition starting next year, that interest is only going to increase,” he said.
“Embracing youth girls and providing an opportunity for them to play football will greatly strengthen our competition.
“The establishment of a development academy will ensure young players in our competition have every opportunity to enhance their skills at a higher level and gain access to expert coaching and an approach consistent with the Gippsland Power TAC Cup pathway.”
Last Modified on 01/03/2017 14:45