FOOTBALL Federation Victoria (FFV) wishes to advise that the Draft Fixtures for the FFV Geelong Region competitions and the Southern Hub MiniRoos leagues for the upcoming 2018 winter season have been released and are now available to view online at: www.ffvgeelong.com.au.

Initial team entry numbers indicate a further increase of team numbers competing in the various FFV Geelong competitions in 2018, especially in the areas of Junior Girls’ and Junior Boys’ competitions.

For the first time in years, there will be three Junior Girls’ competitions (U12s, 14s and 16s), while for the first time ever there will be three divisions of the Boys’ U12 category.

The Senior Women’s competition is likely to grow by a staggering 20%, with a total of 18 teams registered across two divisions – up from last year’s figure of 15 teams!

On the downside, last year’s U17s Boys’ competition, which was to morph into the region’s inaugural U18 division has fallen through due to insufficient number of teams.

This continued growth adds layers of complexity to the fixturing process and creates a number of challenges, especially in relation to ground availability, maximising referee appointments and clash resolution. Therefore, you may note that your Club’s kick off times and venue preferences from team entry have varied in the Draft Fixture Release.

Whilst we have endeavoured to provide a clash free fixture, there may also be instances where clashes (i.e. two teams kicking off at the same time on the same pitch) still exist. We will address those instances specifically in the coming days with relevant clubs.

Regarding Southern Hub MiniRoos competitions, please note that all games have been allocated to a hub venue for each specific date of competition based on the feedback that was provided by clubs. You will notice that all matches have been scheduled to the default time of 9:00am. These times will change in the coming weeks. We ask all Southern Hub hosts to review the fixtures and email in to competitions@ffv.org.au their preferred allocation of games for their club’s weeks during the Southern Hub.

Draft Fixture Feedback

Club officials now have the opportunity to review draft FFV Geelong fixtures and provide any feedback based on internal preferences, pitch allocation, hub requirements, maximising referee appointments or otherwise by writing to competitions@ffv.org.au no later than 9:00am Tuesday 3rd of April. Any request received after this deadline may not be considered prior to the Fixture Update Release on Thursday 5th of April. We remind Clubs that whilst we endeavour to action as many requests to change fixtures as possible, any changes are at the sole discretion of FFV.

Prior to any submission, we ask that Clubs give strong consideration to whether or not they require changes to the current draft fixture and only submit change requests where absolutely necessary.

Late Team Requests

Clubs that wish to request to change leagues, enter or withdraw any teams must do so via submitting the 2018 FFV Geelong Competitions - Late Team Request form (click on: https://form.jotform.co/80642382107856).

This also includes late team requests in Southern Hub MiniRoos competitions.