The Shepparton District Junior Football League Junior Division kicked off on 7 May after an off season which has seen a number of structural changes implemented for the betterment of the competition overall.
41 teams comprising 22 x U10s and 19 x U12s started the season full of energy and excitement at venues across Shepparton, Mooroopna, Tatura, Nathalia, Numurkah and Stanhope.
The competition will run as U10s and U12s for the first time this year instead of the previous Divisional primary school structure with the AFL Junior Match Policy also adopted, albeit with a couple of local modifications.
This season will also see the debut of four ‘cluster’ teams bringing together school based teams under the one governance banner in a structure focused on pooling resources, providing continuity and decreasing volunteer workload.
SDJFL President Chris Thomas is looking forward to the new structure coming into place.
"After a lot of work over the past nine months with the review and the implementation phase it is great that the football will get underway this weekend" he said.
"The Review last year put a lot of work and study into the structure of this important competition and the Board are pleased with the direction it is now taking."
"We are seeing growth in the number of teams again this year and with age appropriate rules and format we are focused on a football participation that is best suited to these age groups."
"The Youth Division has started really well and it is now time for the U10s and U12s to get out and get started."
SDJFL Board Member and Review Panel member Peter Trevaskis has been monitoring the implementation of the changes.
"The change in age groups and the adoption of the AFL Junior Match Policy is a great outcome for the League and has been well received by the clubs" he said.
"The structure of the clusters is still a bit fluid and each one has been given the opportunity to work at their own speed to set up in the best way for their individual needs."
"Whilst the onfield structure of teams may not change massively in this first year each of the schools in the cluster will be working together to help each other place players in the right age group and to share administrative duties."
Last Modified on 12/05/2016 11:59