ARE hidden club agendas standing in the way of football and netball’s best interests in Sunraysia?
Revelations this week that the SFNL board had decided to pull its $50,000 funding commitment towards the netball courts at Mildura Sporting Precinct was alarming.
It would have been understandable if the league was broke.
But this is far from the case.
Figures obtained by Sunraysia Daily show the not-for-profit league has $378,357 in cash reserves, surely enough to honour its full and already budgeted-for commitment to Mildura Council.
From what I hear, there are different, club-aligned agendas clashing on the board.
Politics should be left at the door, though, when it comes to running sport at a local level.
Decisions should always be made in the best interests of the game.
The other head-scratching revelation this week is that certain factions within the league are considering shifting grand-final day away from MSP to save a few bucks.
What an embarrassment it would be if the biggest footy and netball games of the year were played at the worst facilities.
The league needs to recognise that costs will come down in holding GF day at MSP when Stage 2 of the project is complete.
There will be more car parking and better access points on Sixteenth Street, among other improvements.
I still remember how good the A Grade indoor netball grand final was last year.
While it would have been nice to have had a few hundred more courtside seats, it was a ripper atmosphere as nearly 1000 spectators enjoyed a thrilling contest won by Wentworth.
The footy GFs were played on an AFL-standard ground, not the cow paddock at Brian Weightman Oval that SFNL boss Paul Matheson declared was “too dangerous” to play on for last year’s deciders.
