Lack of players and state of facilities cause concerns for football netball club
The Corowa Rutherglen Football Netball Club is expected to make a decision about its future in coming weeks.
Key points:
- The club is struggling to field a seniors’ teams amid ongoing concerns about player numbers and the status of its facilities
- About 300 members attended a meeting on Thursday night about the club’s future
- The secretary says the club is hoping to reset next year
The club is struggling to field a seniors’ team this season amid ongoing concerns about player numbers and the status of its facilities.
A meeting to discuss the club’s future with members was held on Thursday night with about 300 people attending.
Club secretary Rowena Black said the board had recommended that members sit out the men’s and women’s seasons this year.
She said one of the biggest issues the club had was the fact there were four local clubs drawing players from a relatively small community.
“We all pull from a population base of 9,000 people and it’s just that we have declining population with young people,” she said.
“There are just not enough people to fill those spots and we’re constantly pulling players from each other.”
‘The landscape has to change’
Ms Black said a special meeting for a final vote about the club’s playing situation for 2023 would be held on February 27 or 28.
She said the club was aiming for a reset in 2024.
“Whatever that looks like, if it’s rebranding, re-amalgamation, the landscape has to change in our community and our community has to really want that,” she said.
“There’s going to be lots of discussion going forward in the year about what’s going to happen.”
Ms Black said on top of concerns about player numbers, the club had been significantly impacted by flooding last year.
She said that had added a further layer of complication for the club.
“The situation with our club rooms … council had deemed them unusable by 12 months,” she said.
League continues support
Ovens and Murray Football Netball League (OMFNL) chairman David Sinclair said the league would continue to support the club until the vote was carried out.
“In the lead-up to this vote, the [league is] committed to work with [the club] and its nine other clubs to do whatever is necessary to see under 18s football, along with 17 and under and 15 and under netball, continue out of John Foord Oval in 2023,” he said.
“By playing junior grades of football and netball, this will also ensure the [club] continues operating in its current form and keep its affiliation with the league.
“The league has conducted a full review of the current fixture and has determined any major change would prove incredibly difficult.”
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