Reflection
As the curtain falls on the 1983 SJFL season, completing its first decade,
reflection brings to mind some of the highlights.
: The consolidation of both Merbein and Irymple as highly competitive clubs
: The emergence of Alcheringa as a future force as evidenced in the
excellent form of the Under 11's
: The comparative evenness of the Under 15's and to some measure
the Under 13's.
If we momentarily forget the brilliant Imperials squad, arguably
one of the best, if not the best in SJFL history
: The decrease in the number of lads whose action on field
found disfavor with umpires
JUNIOR FOOTBALL SCENE
by
Brian Weightman
Richmond Development Officer for Sunraysia
August 27th 1983
With the end of the season reaching its finale, the junior football
scene has shown some interesting features. In the junior ranks of
U13's and U15's the competition was rather evenly contested in
both grades except with the exception of Alcheringa who struggled
for numbers in the U15 grade and were unfortunately well
beaten on most occasions. This situation will no doubt be
looked at from junior level next year with a solution to try to
overcome the problem. I would not suggest my options as
to the solution because there are a few complex reasons
that would occur and the clubs should all be given their opinions.
The standard of football in U13's was quite good, but the skill
level of the players must be given more emphasis in their training.
This came out when the skills squads were formed from the
better players of the U13's to join in with the U15 boys to
form next year's schoolboys squad. The quality of their skill
level was down when asked to have to use both sides of their
body with hand and foot.
It was surprising in the U15 grade how the second year players
dominated the competition and how hard it was to find boys of
the standard required to represent the schoolboy side for next year from the
first year players, although there are quite a number
in the skill squad, their skill level is well below par and they will
have to work hard on this aspect of their game to reach
Melbourne schoolboy requirements and it is here that possibly
quite a few younger players will be selected whose skills are
quite good to give them experience for the next year. This
deficiency, we hope, will be overcome in the future with the
insistence that all junior coaches be accredited before the
season starts each year and that in conjunction with the
Richmond Football Club we will have a practical coaching session
where all the coaches will be involved. The coaches at junior
level at the moment are very conscientious and I feel that
given this assistance they will find their job more rewarding
with the experience and instruction that would be given to
them at this session.
The football in the Under 17's is, at the moment, quite
disturbing with the imbalance in the competition. With three clubs,
Mildura, Imperials and Irymple dominating the grade, I
find a few interesting features here. Over many years
Mildura and Imperials have always been dominant because of
their involvement in juniors, but it is good to see Irymple work their
way up the ladder and this has not been just luck. The people
at Irymple must be commended on their junior program over
the past few years and are now reaping the rewards. Red Cliffs
have also been strong and although down on strength this year
they have a strong contingent coming through from the U15's
and this year were not afraid to promote their better players
into the senior side.Merbein, after many years in the doldrums,
are on the path back with their exhaustive junior program and
with success in the U13 and U15 grades this year, the future
looks bright. Robinvale have slipped because they have not
put the effort into their juniors over the past few years, but I
know that there is a hard core of people in the U13 and U15 ranks
that are at last breaking down the barriers that apparently have
existed. It will be interesting to see if the improvement does
not start showing in the next year or so. Wentworth need to
work a lot harder on their junior program as I feel there are
players with potential in the district and they have a couple
of enthusiastic coaches that need all the assistance they can get.
It is in the encouragement and skill area at U11 level that
I would suggest they concentrate on and then follow it through.
South Mildura who have never been over strong at junior level
may have started on the right track by concentrating this
year at the encouragement and skills area of their U11s and
hopefully they will look harder at the overall program for their
juniors and create this gradual skill implementation through all
their grades.
The overall situation rests with the clubs in who they appoint
for their junior coaching positions and if these coaches are prepared
to learn and listen to the techniques and material that is available
today and along with the help that I may be able to offer them
I my position as development officer, I am sure junior football
and then the senior standard in Sunraysia will be of a high quality.
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Office Bearers
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Patron
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Mr Ray Wagstaff
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Chairman
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Mr William Hynes
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Vice Chairman Registrations
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Mr Peter O'Toole
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Vice Chairman Matches
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Mr George Andrew
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Secretary
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Mrs Evelyn Andrew
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Treasurer
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Mr William Antonie
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Club Delegate
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Mr Brendan Bergin
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Richmond Development Officer
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Mr Brian Weightman