New junior football structure

[Sheik Yerbouti]

Any thoughts ?

The main issue is the JDL’s Governance Board they want to set up which will control Junior Football.

The JDL’s Governance board will sit under the Community Football Board that the seniors clubs now come under. Part of the deal is we will get 1 Rep on the Community Football Board – currently JDL’s have no rep on this Board.

This board will have lots of power to change the following

1. Rules for Junior football (AFL wants AFL Next Generation rules to be used) for all juniors in all states

2. Age Groups

3. Zones (rezone what clubs play in what Junior League)

4. Affiliation Fees

5. Sponsorship ( for example Community Football apparel )

If we agree to being part of this Board of Governance All the Junior Associations and Clubs will have to abide by what this Board decides.

If we don’t agree to setting up this board we will not be affiliated with the SANFL and therefore may not get any assistance such as

· Free access to the AFL database “Footyweb, sporting pulse” & websites

· AFL player payment monies

· Insurance

· Curtain Raiser games

· SANFL resources such as score cards/ umpire report pads (currently we get free)

· McDonalds sponsorship

The SANFL want the JDL’s to finalise the board make up on the 16th of June!

The current suggested structure of this board is 8 members with an Independent chairman, made up of 1 rep from NEMJFA, MSJFL, CDJFL, MWJFL, School Football Rep, SANFL game Development Rep, Rep from another Junior Football League ie Southern Junior Football League, Independent Rep i.e. Office of Sport & Rec. (SANFL wanted a rep from SAAFL on this Board but the JDL’s voted against it)

Basically NEMFA will have one vote on this Board.

We need Clubs to fully understand what agreeing to this Board will mean and what not agreeing to this Board will mean!

[Top End]

Go to the Media and Sunday Mail and tell them you are basically being told or dictated what to do and see if their stance changes after that. Using the Media for things like that often has the desired result of not getting pushed around so easily from people who are generally used to getting their own way. The Advertiser, Messenger Press, 5AA, Independent Weekly etc, etc are always looking for stories. Maybe the Channel 9 Football Show.

Just an idea.

[Pearcey]

A couple of observations based of 'suggestions' from previous seasons from the SANFL/AFL regarding junior footy:
No tackling, at least until Under 11's. No finals or premiership points till Under 13's or 14's.
NO 5 or 6 year olds doing anything but Auskick. NEMJFA has a very healthy Under 6 comp for those kids and they are far more advanced in their skills than Auskick kids.
Even numbers. If a club gets off it's backside and promotes the game and gets a full squad for a team, many of those kids could be sidelined if they play against a team with only 14 players. It is also absolutely ludicrous for a player have to wear the opposition jumper in a match for premiership points, just to even up the numbers.
Zones might be applicable where a club is a fair distance from their league, like Eastern Park playing in NEMJFA for example, but have no doubt, some NEMJFA clubs would have to join the CDJFL or Metro West to boost the number of teams in those leagues and would not be happy.
This is all politically correct bulls**t BUT my guess is they will all go along with it.

[A Matter Of You]

A couple of observations based of 'suggestions' from previous seasons from the SANFL/AFL regarding junior footy:
No tackling, at least until Under 11's. No finals or premiership points till Under 13's or 14's.
NO 5 or 6 year olds doing anything but Auskick. NEMJFA has a very healthy Under 6 comp for those kids and they are far more advanced in their skills than Auskick kids.
Even numbers. If a club gets off it's backside and promotes the game and gets a full squad for a team, many of those kids could be sidelined if they play against a team with only 14 players. It is also absolutely ludicrous for a player have to wear the opposition jumper in a match for premiership points, just to even up the numbers.
Zones might be applicable where a club is a fair distance from their league, like Eastern Park playing in NEMJFA for example, but have no doubt, some NEMJFA clubs would have to join the CDJFL or Metro West to boost the number of teams in those leagues and would not be happy.
This is all politically correct bulls**t BUT my guess is they will all go along with it.

Couldn't agree more Pearcey. Some of these rules are crazy! They are even suggesting that if a team can't get their act together then the game can be played with a minimum of 9 players per side. No premiership points, tackling or shepherding until under 12's, and no under 6's at all. Those kids have a ball playing a game of footy and enjopy it much more than Auskick.

I only hope that the juniors delegates take this very seriously. We all know what the thoughts are around the Community Football League in the senior competitions. Maybe Senior and Junior Delegates and/or Committees should be having a combined meeting?

[Sheik Yerbouti]

Fitzroy junior committee having a meeting tomorrow on the whole thing, may affect us more than some as we have a very strong u6 program & are the westernmost club in NEMJFA.

A bit of a read but
http://www.sanfl.com.au/the_sanfl/about_the_sanfl/

[Top End]

Fitzroy junior committee having a meeting tomorrow on the whole thing, may affect us more than some as we have a very strong u6 program & are the westernmost club in NEMJFA.

A bit of a read but
http://www.sanfl.com.au/the_sanfl/about_the_sanfl/

Sheer crap and just another case of another "Boys Club International" Group giving themselves something to do in order to keep themselves employeed and make themselves look important when in effect their actions are completely ridiculous to most people outside of the inner circle of the "Boys Club"

[Iron Fist]

Im not up to date with how juniors are run and the rules and that
but if one of the young ones is around on a saturday and im aware of where they play and what grade i will always ask how they going etc etc.
I cant understand how they don t have premiership points in the lower grades? One of the highlights of playing under 9's for me was winning a premiership. These kids dont get that feeling till what under 12's or under 14's??
No tackling till under 11's is probs not to bad a rule, leave it to any older and the game will loose its toughness which is why it is such a good game.
Why cant the rules be like they used to? we had to try out and the best kids and ones that trained most were picked, then the others went on and had to try for another club.
Now some sides have 2 or more sides but other clubs cant get 1 full one. Just doesnt make sense to me?!
Obviously clubs need to be rewarded for promoting footy and the likes but shouldnt we try and help all clubs out not just yours??

[Lightning McQueen]

Now some sides have 2 or more sides but other clubs cant get 1 full one. Just doesnt make sense to me?!
Obviously clubs need to be rewarded for promoting footy and the likes but shouldnt we try and help all clubs out not just yours??

My club's juniors are going through some turmoil atm and have lost well over 100 kids this season, it is our problem and the fault lies within, it shouldn't be up to neighbouring clubs to help us out, it is a case of poor manangement and now someone is trying diligently to rectify the problem, hopefully we can bounce back next season.

[locky801]

I have called a meeting of our Junior Committee tonight, think it will be a dawn breaker, lot of this report has to be discussed, some things in there i am happy with alot i am not

[Sheik Yerbouti]

Bit more on it
http://www.afl.com.au/next%20generation ... fault.aspx
Panic around the campfire going by the emails bouncing around everywhere this morning. With just a week to decipher it all before the NEMJFA presidents meeting, which by the way is the night before a decision is asked for.

[human blanket #3]

i know in primary school I chose to play soccer instead of footy because there was no tackling (which is one of the best things about footy compared to other sports). Of course they do this for safety issues and it's just a matter of when to bring in tackling. Just something to think about...

[bulldogs]

i think tackling should be allowed in all grades, its a skill that needs to be taught at a young age. I find it very funny that we allow kids to bump and not tackle when if watching the AFL the bump is almost out of the game for fear of high head contact. look at hawthorn there instructing there players not to bump.

[Iron Fist]

i think tackling should be allowed in all grades, its a skill that needs to be taught at a young age. I find it very funny that we allow kids to bump and not tackle when if watching the AFL the bump is almost out of the game for fear of high head contact. look at hawthorn there instructing there players not to bump.

excellent point bulldogs, i totally agree

[mypaddock]

i think tackling should be allowed in all grades, its a skill that needs to be taught at a young age. I find it very funny that we allow kids to bump and not tackle when if watching the AFL the bump is almost out of the game for fear of high head contact. look at hawthorn there instructing there players not to bump.

excellent point bulldogs, i totally agree

I think you'll find the "2 bump" rule no longer applies and tackling is allowed from u8s or 9s onwards- well in NEMJFA anyway.

Originally the point of not having tackling was to allow the kids to develop there skills, but now you watch a JNR game (anything below u/12s) and its a shamozzle because the ground isn't broken up into zones and you have 40 kids chasing a ball whilst being allowed to tackle, which is a joke if you ask me. Barely no clean possessions at all.

[locky801]

Tackling allowed in the NEMJFA from Under 9's up. I disagree with the point of 40 kids running around and no one getting a kick. Our club is very strong with it's coaches to ensure the sides are taught to remain in their positions and most do that. Only last Sunday I watched our Under 10 side take on PNU in what was a great game of footy, plenty of run, tackling etc, players being able to take bounces and hit a target up forward. Yes some clubs you play it does get scrappy, our coaches just remind our players not to follow the vball too far down field, the result, the opposition flood and kick the ball out, our kids get possessions.

I think they have the age group right at Under 9's to begin tackling, teach the bump first even though by the time they make it to senior footy, it will probably be a non contact sport, then tackling. I am however perplexed why they are so worried about the tackling issue, if taught and executed correctly very little injury occurs. Guess time will tell on all opf this, by next week evidently

Shreik i am like you, can't believe our Association meeting is the night before the decision is made. Hope history is not going to repeat itself, but i am overly concerned about it

[Pearcey]

Shreik i am like you, can't believe our Association meeting is the night before the decision is made. Hope history is not going to repeat itself, but i am overly concerned about it

At a NEMJFA delegates meeting in '09 I clearly got the impression from the executive that NEMJFA had NO CHOICE but to give in, or risk losing affiliation.
The NEMJFA secretary is a full time paid position. Her insurance, super, tax etc. is handled by the SANFL so NEMJFA doesn't have much choice but to go along. IF the delegates from the clubs vote against this move then the s**t will really hit the fan.
Being one of Australiá's biggest junior footy comps NEMJFA could decide to go it alone but the pressure from 'above' would be too great for them to resist for too long. I.e., no insurance, no AFL/SANFL funding, no equipment grants, no AFL/SANFL cash for drafted players, no matches against affiliated leagues.
But, in my view NEMJFA has got things pretty right and if it aint broke, don't fix it!

[locky801]

Shreik i am like you, can't believe our Association meeting is the night before the decision is made. Hope history is not going to repeat itself, but i am overly concerned about it

At a NEMJFA delegates meeting in '09 I clearly got the impression from the executive that NEMJFA had NO CHOICE but to give in, or risk losing affiliation.
The NEMJFA secretary is a full time paid position. Her insurance, super, tax etc. is handled by the SANFL so NEMJFA doesn't have much choice but to go along. IF the delegates from the clubs vote against this move then the s**t will really hit the fan.
Being one of Australiá's biggest junior footy comps NEMJFA could decide to go it alone but the pressure from 'above' would be too great for them to resist for too long. I.e., no insurance, no AFL/SANFL funding, no equipment grants, no AFL/SANFL cash for drafted players, no matches against affiliated leagues.
But, in my view NEMJFA has got things pretty right and if it aint broke, don't fix it!

True Pearcey however every Association has a choice, I agree that there will be pressure on them to vote for the changes. No doubt everyone has their own ideas and I know a number of clubs are having meetings tonight, personally i think the clubs should get together before next weeks meeting to discuss each clubs thoughts and course of action. would be interested to know what the other Associations think as well

what has to be looked at here is if a number of these changes come in, what damage is going to be done to kids footy, i know of a large number of parents (me included) that have pulled their kids out of primary school footy because of the modified rules as it did nothing to develop a kids footy. what are some of the kids going to be like knowing that they may not be able to play finals footy until Under 13's and bringing alot of those modfied rules in to vogue at least up to and including Under 11's. Could well be the beginning of the end, lets really hope common sense prevails here

[Zorro]

As a NEMJFA coach I can say it's a tough balance. In the lower ages the 2 bump rule and only one bounce does encourage the kids to get the ball on. As coaches most of us place an emphasis on the kids spreading out and passing the ball. There's always going to be congestion around the ball at a young age, tackling potentially increases this.

For some of the 'softer' kids learning the game it also gives them a chance to get familiar with it without getting hurt and having their parents drag them across to soccer. There are also some massive size differences between kids in these age groups to be considered as well.

All things considered I think the balance is about right so wouldn't want to see too many changes.

[locky801]

Thats one of the issues Zorro, under the new proposals, no bumping until Under 11's

[Zorro]

Thats one of the issues Zorro, under the new proposals, no bumping until Under 11's

Yeah definitely don't agree with that. Kids still need to be taught at an early age how to apply some defensive pressure and win the ball back, or maybe the master plan is for us to get 7yo kids to understand and implement rolling zones