A stand-alone Over 35 men’s competition will be introduced for the 2014 Football Bundaberg season, which will also see the return of the Under 16 (Youth) and Under 19 (Colts) divisions.

Football Bundaberg has now finalised the format for its 2014 season in conjunction with the clubs and is confident the new divisions will improve the experience for players.

The Over 35 men’s division, open to players born in 1978 or earlier, will be played on Friday nights as a nine-a-side competition with 30 minute halves on the smaller field 4.

The player fees for this division have been set about $100 below those for the regular senior divisions to attract retired players back to the code to play in a more relaxed atmosphere.

The other advantage of establishing a separate Over 35 competition is that the restrictions previously in place for division 3 can be removed.

In particular, the limits on backpackers, players aged under 18 and those who have played more than two games in division 1 will be removed.

The format for the competitions in the upper junior age groups also has been modified for the 2014 season.

The under 12, 13 and 14 divisions will continue to cater for single age groups with the ability for players to play up one age division where required to form teams or to make up the numbers on any given weekend.

The previous under 15 and 17 competitions have been discontinued and replaced with under 16 and under 19 competitions.

The under 16 division will cater for players turning 15 and 16 in 2014 and should provide a better competition with more teams than the stand-alone under 15 competitions have in recent seasons.

The under 19 division will be played on Tuesday nights and will allow players to continue to develop against players of their own age either before or in addition to playing in senior games.

There will also be more opportunities for players turning 17 and 18 to play in division 3 teams if they wish to do so with many of the older players likely to opt for the Over 35 division.

The formats for the ladies, junior girls and Small-Sided Football divisions from Under 6 to Under 11 will be the same this year as in 2013.

Division 1 men’s teams will once again be involved in the Four Cities League against club sides from Maryborough, Hervey Bay and Gympie, while an inter-club or inter-city program is planned for ladies teams.

New and continuing players can now sign on for their clubs via the My Football Club website or by attending a club sign-on day in coming weeks.

The season will start on Friday, March 14, and Saturday, March 15.