WHITE Line Fever is The Standard's newest footy column, tackling all the hard-hitting issues facing the game in south-west Victoria. This week sports journalist BRIAN ALLEN tackles the hot topic.
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Male and female football teams are struggling for numbers in the south-west and it's time to look at how we can reduce the time commitment required to be part of a team.
The Hampden (HFNL) and Warrnambool and District league (WDFNL) top-grades shouldn't be interfered with as they provide opportunity for those to play the game in its traditional form.
But it's worth exploring what we can do for those who play football outside those grades.
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WDFNL clubs Merrivale, Dennington and Panmure have told The Standard about their struggles for male junior numbers.
Meanwhile, one senior and three junior teams pulled out of this season's Western Victoria Female Football League.
The reasons are many and the coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated the situation.
With no senior 2020 footy/netball and next to no juniors, players had a year without their usual routine.
They didn't have the typical two nights a week training and game-day commitments and many found other interests.
But this was a problem before the pandemic.
Panmure has been struggling for juniors for years and Port Fairy had to forfeit a reserves match in 2019 due to lack of players.
Yes, clubs lose players to other clubs and money can be a factor.
But the bigger issue is the game is losing players all together.
Commitment is at the heart of the issue.
I've heard coaches talking about players preferring to go to a concert or festival than play a regular-season round.
And I don't blame them.
There are many life opportunities competing for our short attention spans.
In response to this, we've seen the development of short-form games in traditionally long sports, including twenty20 cricket and Fast4 tennis.
Even the AFL was forced to shorten quarters last year because of the pandemic.
If we reduce the commitment of footy perhaps we won't keep losing numbers and may gain them.
The HFNL and WDFNL seasons run from April to September.
A shortened fixture, more breaks in a season or maybe playing once a fortnight instead of once a week are possible solutions.
Training one night a week is also a good idea but in my experience often clubs don't expect their reserves to be able to make every session anyway.
Creating more opportunities for players and families to have spare time in footy season means players can go to concerts and families can go on holidays guilt-free without letting the team down.
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