GOL Gol is laying the foundations to become the 10th club in the Sunraysia Football Netball League.
The Hawks’ plan is to start from the ground up, entering under-10 football and netball sides into the competition by as early as next season, with the plan to introduce an under-12 team in two years, and an under-14 team two years later. Ultimately, they are looking at joining the competition boots and all, with a full contingent of senior and junior football and netball teams.
It’s a smart move given the rapid growth of the Gol Gol township, with the club this season boasting 65 Auskick kids and 45 NetSetGO girls playing netball.
And SFNL clubs must not kick an own goal and reject the under-10 proposal for their own self interests.
The league’s long-term future and sustainability will be far more secure with a 10th team and Gol Gol, which currently plays in the Millewa league where there are no junior teams, seems the natural fit.
Like any business, country football and netball can’t afford to stand still.
They need to move with the times, and with population shifts.
In the Geelong region, where massive suburbs have popped up, new junior clubs are starting to emerge.
There was some natural resistance from existing clubs who were worried about what a new club would do to their own player numbers.
But league and regional administrators stood up to the protests and pushed ahead.
Those clubs are now operating and kids in these new suburbs are able to play close to their own homes, rather than travel to existing clubs. Ultimately, you’d imagine those clubs will evolve into senior clubs, just as has been the case through the course of sports history.
SFNL clubs need to look beyond their own backyards and understand that Gol Gol’s move here is about the kids and the families in that town. To stop that is to act through self-interest.
Why, if Gol Gol parents and volunteers are putting in the work to run programs boasting 65 Auskick kids and 45 NetSetGo kids, should they then be forced to take those same kids across the river or 30-odd kilometres to Wentworth to keep playing? Why should those kids not have the opportunity, as Wentworth or Mildura kids do, to play close to home?
Those in administrative positions need to take off their club polo shirts when making these decisions and look at the big picture.
We want to be encouraging more kids to stay involved in sport, providing outlets where there is demand.
Given what has happened to sport and participation numbers in the past two years with COVID-19, it is a no-brainer.
Gol Gol’s plan is to play under-10 games against the SFNL team that has the bye.
As club president Paul Mensch pointed out, the idea is not to steal players from Red Cliffs, Irymple or Merbein, it is about providing for the fast growing Gol Gol population, where there will be in the vicinity of 300 families moving in the next 12 months alone.
Any business or organisation that stands still will eventually go backwards.
In introducing new under-10 football and netball teams, the SFNL has an opportunity to take a positive step forward.
