By Kirstie Fitzgerald
The AFL Victoria Equalisation Working Party has released a draft document outlining the progress of the Community Club Sustainability Program, which will be adopted by all football leagues in 2016 in an effort to curb escalating player payments.
Officially released to all regional General Managers and metropolitan league CEOs last week, the document summarizes a statewide framework all community clubs must meet, with a player points system and league specific salary cap to be introduced.
The Program comes after the vast majority of leagues, including the WRFL, raised concerns over the increase of player payments and the sustainability of clubs in grassroots football at the 2013 Community League Conference.
After conducting a survey of both regional and metropolitan senior clubs, 83 per cent of respondents were in support of the introduction of a statewide regulation system.
Of the 369 clubs who participated in the survey, 19 WRFL senior clubs were involved, equaling the second highest number of club respondents in the state, along with the Northern Football League.
With 63 per cent of clubs surveyed admitting to paying every senior team player, the proposed two-part program will aim to combat spiralling player payments seen in recent times.
A player points system will allocate all senior players, existing and recruited, with a certain amount of points based on their playing history and achievements.
The maximum number of points allocated for a player is six, while the minimum number of points for any individual player is one.
In order to determine how many points are allocated to a player, clubs will use a statewide criteria system that outlines what each point is worth.
WRFL chief executive Bob Tregear said that the idea for the points system rewards clubs for developing home grown junior players and reduces those recruiting a large number of premium players at once.
“We’re not exactly sure what total number of points will be allocated to clubs in specific divisions, but the league will set that in consultation with its clubs later this year.”
While every player will begin with a certain number of points at the start of the season, their number may change based upon the number of years of service and the model achieving its guiding principles.
In addition to the points system, a salary cap will also be applicable to each club, which will endeavor to bridge the gap between the lower spending clubs and the higher ones.
As part of the salary cap, all players will have to sign a standard statewide contract which will include a statutory declaration by the player, declaring their playing history and remuneration, which will be logged with the league.
“While the salary cap is based on an honour system, the WRFL will be conducting audits throughout next year to ensure all clubs are meeting the requirements,” Tregear said.
“If clubs are caught cheating, there will be significant penalties invoked for any club stepping outside the lines.”
While the two systems are separate, they will work together to regulate the amount of premium players recruited in one year and lessen the burden on clubs to raise money to pay players.
“We’ll arrange a salary cap figure in conjunction with our clubs, but in doing so, we’ll also have the knowledge of what other metropolitan leagues are looking to implement as a salary cap as it is in everyone’s interest not to have a too big of a spread between neighbouring leagues.”
Informing all senior WRFL clubs of the proposed plan at a meeting held on Wednesday night, clubs will be asked to begin the process of allocating player points to its 2015 senior playing list as of next week.
"The general feeling amongst the clubs after last night's information session was all positve and they were very supportive of the idea," Tregear said.
“By October-November this year we’ll need to be in a position to get this underway, so we will be monitoring our clubs on a weekly basis, collating the information they provide us and communicate the results to our clubs before any formal decisions are made.”
To view the player points criteria sheet, CLICK HERE...
Last Modified on 21/05/2015 15:38