General News
6 February, 2025
Richard Hicks' vision for more junior opportunities in Loddon Valley
RICHARD Hicks, the newly elected chair of the Loddon Valley Football Netball League, says his revamped board’s main priority is the junior football program. And in a bold bid to keep community football healthy, the league in the coming season will...
RICHARD Hicks, the newly elected chair of the Loddon Valley Football Netball League, says his revamped board’s main priority is the junior football program.
And in a bold bid to keep community football healthy, the league in the coming season will introduce an informal under-12s competition, with kids taking the field at half-time in the seniors.
“We hope every club will field a team. I’m sure most will have a crack,” Hicks says, acknowledging that it was “a start” in strengthening and maintaining family connections with local clubs.
The lack of junior pathways has seen the powerful Bendigo Football League attract many teenage players from the Loddon region who would otherwise turn out for their home clubs.
“Parents think their darlings are too young for under-18s. Most leagues have Auskick but we’re in competition with the Bendigo league, which has under-9s, under-10s and under-12s,” Hicks says who was elected league chief on Monday night.
Something was needed to bridge the yawning gap between Auskick, which focused on primary school age children, and the Loddon Valley’s under 18 competition. So, the half-time junior football plan, which Hicks describes as “Auskick on the field”, will become a critical pathway.
He is hopeful the under 18 competition will be significantly boosted this season by the return of two clubs.
Maiden Gully, which has not fielded a junior boys’ side for the past two seasons, is expected to rejoin the competition, while Newbridge is also hopeful of re-establishing a team.
To help, the league will make the juniors a 16-a-side competition, placing less pressure on clubs to have large numbers of players.
For Hicks, it’s about making the league and its clubs sustainable.
He accepts that Marong and Maiden Gully, which have made attempts to change leagues in recent years, will eventually depart the Loddon Valley competition, although he says they will stay in the short term.
“The reality is that Marong and probably Maiden Gully will grow too big for the league,” Hicks says. “One day, they will be looking for better opportunities in the Bendigo league.
“It’s a growing competition, and we’re a declining one.”
While that may sound ominous for the Loddon Valley league, Hicks is bullish about the future.
Another pillar of his new board will be to make the league an appealing prospect to nearby regional clubs that may be looking to change leagues, or are forced to do so.
A shake up of football in central Victoria is expected to happen in the coming years, and Hicks wants to see Loddon Valley positioned as a viable destination league.
Hicks was elected to his position at Monday night’s first meeting of the new board, which also assigned key roles to new members.
Glenn Catto has been elected as vice-chair; Wayne Naughton will look after football operations and Shasta Maher will assist Amber Gibson with netball operations.
As for Hicks, his new position after being vice-chair to Simon Tuohey will continue a long association with Loddon football.
“I played more than 250 games at Calivil – I was pretty average, and only about 20 were senior games, and then I went onto the committee,” he says.
After injury ended his football career, Hicks took up umpiring.
Hicks was Calivil club president in 2013 and 2014, before handing over the reins and focusing on umpiring.
“It was a good way of cutting club ties and giving the new president a fresh start.”
Hicks was still blowing the whistle occasionally last season, having given up full-time adjudicating after the 2023 season. “And I might even do the odd under 18 match this season if they’re short.”