Echuca Junior Football Club’s player permits policy has been under scrutiny, with some families within the club unhappy with its implementation.
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Several parents, who wished to remain anonymous, have expressed frustration after the club restricted under-14 and under-16 club members’ ability to play with other regional clubs.
In previous years, players have played with a nearby club in a different local league on a Saturday and then taken the field with Echuca in the Goulburn Murray Junior League the next day.
That changed this year, the club enforcing its policy that players can only join other clubs if they are not scheduled to play with Echuca that week, either through a bye or not being selected.
The Echuca Junior Football Club Policy and Procedures Handbook states that ‘A player may apply to EJFC for a permit to play elsewhere for a specific or limited number of games and must do so in writing, stating reasons for the request, with minimum 3 days notice.
‘Such requests will only be considered when the player is not playing an EJFC game on that weekend.’
In a statement to The Riv, attributed to the Echuca Football Netball Club executive committee and Echuca Junior Football committee, the club said this policy was not new, but was being more strictly enforced this year.
“(The policy) has been in place for some time, but this season we made a decision to apply it more consistently, particularly across our U14 and U16 age groups,” the club said.
“That decision came from wanting clearer, more consistent expectations around player participation, team selection and overall football operations and from what we’d observed in previous seasons.
“Players were playing fatigued, ‘over-use’ injuries were becoming more common, and managing selections was increasingly difficult when we didn't have full visibility over where our players had been the day before.”
Parent frustration is stemming from what they see to be an uneven application of the policy.
Players are permitted to play twice on a weekend when required in intra-club situations, playing up in Echuca’s under-18 side in the Goulburn Valley League and also participating in the under-16s the next day.
The official inter-league agreement between the GVL and GMJL states ‘players are permitted to play two games per weekend provided that club’s registered players must be selected before permit players can receive endorsement to play’.
The parents said they had been told players with boarding school football commitments on Saturdays were also able to continue to fulfil them, one parent saying they felt this was an exception made after the initial ruling to accommodate a specific group of players.
Finally, it was pointed out by parents that registered players are free to play any other sport they’d like on a Saturday outside of football.
The parents said they had been told the club had softened its stance on the under-10 and under-12 ‘non-competitive’ age groups, allowing additional games for those players, with permission, even when rostered to play with Echuca.
The three days notice requirement is also set to be amended to allow permit requests immediately following team selection, when players know if they have the week off.
The changes are not yet reflected in the handbook.
The group that feels it has been left out are those in the under-14 and under-16 age group looking to play with smaller regional clubs in other leagues.
Nearby clubs to Echuca-Moama including Picola United, Mathoura and Leitchville-Gunbower were among those said to be the most appreciative of support from Echuca players, some who, in previous years, would play with other clubs weekly in addition to their Echuca junior commitments.
Aside from getting to play more games of football a week, parents said the opportunity for their kids to develop as leaders within another group and to support community clubs, some of which are desperately low on junior numbers, were important benefits being lost due to the club’s stance.
Another concern raised was a bloated under-14 squad, the club dropping to two teams in the grade from three last year, resulting in an extended bench that can see some players only playing two quarters even when they are selected.
While AFL-affiliated leagues require formal agreements for how players move between them from week to week, the Picola District Football Netball League, as an unaffiliated entity, has no such restrictions, and previously players have been registered with both clubs.
Introduced last year to mitigate the unpredictable impact of dual-registration players coming in and out of sides, and the uneven impact based on clubs’ proximity to junior leagues, the Picola District league has a June 30 deadline after which each club is restricted to three such players per age group.
Picola District league operations manager Shane Railton said community clubs were incredibly important to the football ecosystem.
“Young people who have solely played all of their junior football within rural communities continue to have a profound positive impact within senior clubs within major cities, including locally,” he said.
“The impact is so great that it is impossible to ignore the benefits of players developing within community clubs, where junior sides are directly aligned and play on the same day as the senior sides.
“The success of clubs within major competitions has often been reliant on players who have not played their junior football in junior only leagues.
“It would seem to make a lot of sense that the club in the major competition in a region would be doing everything they could to align with and support surrounding clubs, for their own future benefit.”
It was estimated about a dozen players across the under-14 and under-16 groups have had their play restricted by the Echuca policy, wanting to play additional games, but unable to do so.
The club said it had had fewer than four families inquire about the policy, which it said was directly addressed at pre-season information sessions, attached to the club’s PlayHQ registration application, and was available on the club’s website.
“We understand it won't suit everyone and families and players are always free to choose where they play,” it said.
“But if they choose EJFC, we do ask that they respect the expectations that come with being part of the club.
“At the end of the day, our players' health and welfare is what drives these decisions, and that's something we'll never compromise on.”
The Riv contacted AFL Goulburn Murray, the Goulburn Valley League, Murray league and Moama Junior Football Club for comment.