General News
17 January, 2025
Jumping junior hurdle
Gary Walsh talks to Loddon Valley’s new board members CONCERN about junior football and netball is among issues driving the three new members of the Loddon Football Netball League board. Bridgewater legend Wayne Naughton, Inglewood netballer and...
Gary Walsh talks to Loddon Valley’s new board members
CONCERN about junior football and netball is among issues driving the three new members of the Loddon Football Netball League board.
Bridgewater legend Wayne Naughton, Inglewood netballer and administrator Shasta Maher and umpire and former junior interleague coach Glenn Catto have joined the board, with ambitions to boost junior sport and expand the league.
All three said strengthening the under 18 competition was a key to the league’s football future.
There are hopes that Maiden Gully, which did not field an under-18 team in the past three seasons and was originally docked 12 points in the senior competition last year as a result, would return with a junior team in 2025.
As well, Newbridge is trying to get the numbers for its own team.
Catto said: “The biggest hurdle is the junior football setup – netball is travelling okay”.
Last season saw just five junior teams playing in the Loddon Valley league.
Marong was undefeated during the home-and-away season but lost the second semi-final and grand final to East Loddon Rams – a team comprising junior players from Mitiamo, Calivil and Serpentine.
The combined team may serve as a template for other clubs, with speculation that Maiden Gully may align with Marong at a junior level.
“Hopefully Newbridge can get a team over the line,” Naughton said. “Even if they can only get 16 players.”
He said Mitiamo, which was not in a position to field its own junior side, might get three or four senior players from the Rams’ premiership team, with the under 18 system a critical pipeline to the senior ranks.
Catto agreed that having a strong junior competition was a key to senior success, with the development of future senior footballers giving clubs such as Mitiamo “a glimmer of hope”.
On another key issue, Naughton said he would like to see Wedderburn and Boort leave the North Central league and join the Loddon Valley competition, given the fact that both towns were part of Loddon Shire. Catto believed such a move was unlikely, with complications including the North Central league having a hockey competition.
“Wedderburn and Boort … yes, it could work, but it would be a fairly big upheaval in the North Central league for that to happen,” he said.
Macorna, which plays in the struggling Golden Rivers league, might be a more realistic option, Catto said, as speculation grows about that league’s future viability.
“It’s not a bad fit if you get Macorna in – you could get another Kerang-based team. Wandella is a possibility as well.”
Catto predicted “fairly big changes in the next five to 10 years” in regional football, with an overall major restructuring of leagues in Victoria.
“I’m not sure what those changes will be, but not all clubs are happy campers.”
He said a strength of the Loddon Valley league was its compact size.
“The biggest plus is we don’t have to travel more than an hour in a car to get to a football or netball match.
“And the clubs are all generally sound, and most are going OK financially.”
Catto said Marong, which has made moves towards joining the Heathcopte league in recent years, might “outgrow” the Loddon Valley competition simply because of its burgeoning population as a virtual suburb of Bendigo.
This made a club like Macorna, based only 20km northwest of Pyramid Hill, a good potential fit for the Loddon Valley.
Maher said she nominated for the board as a means of giving something back to football and netball, and to help ensure the league was well run.
At 41, she still plays netball for Inglewood – well enough to finish third in the C Reserve league best-and-fairest award last season – and in 2025 will coach and play in C-Grade with her daughter Hollie.
She will also coach Inglewood’s 17 and under netball team next season, as well as joining Bendigo Thunder women’s football team as an assistant coach.
Maher conceded that netball was not as strong in the Loddon Valley as it was pre-COVID, especially at A Grade level.
However, she was confident things would turn around with a focus on developing junior netball and football and giving opportunities to younger players to develop and stay in their chosen sports. “I’m also keen in getting the football under 18s up again successfully,” Maher said.
What was needed generally, she said, was increasing volunteer participation in sport.
“Every club struggles to get enough volunteers, and getting families to help around clubs is really important.”