10- A - Side Womens Comp kicking off this year - how many minutes were they planning each 10's match to run for ?
The girls games were only about 10 minutes per half Reasoning. Maybe they were a bit longer. Sometimes a long trip for such a short game. Pretty energetic though with only 7 players on the field.
Traditionally, the Women's 7's have been 10min halves, with the move to 10 a side, the proposal is 15-20min halves with a 5 player scrum. Adds a whole range of additional points to the game itself. Add in there that there's some discussion about when to play the games, between 3rds and 2nds or between 2nds and 1sts puts another layer over that, particularly in regards to referee appointments (SIRRA numbers will be stagnant at best in 2019).
Is there any further discussion about an U18s competition. Is this an area that needs expansion?
There are some strategic level plans that the zone are looking forward to. I suppose the key point here is that the player's don't grow on trees and there needs to be a defined link between Senior and Junior Clubs.
I feel that the additional byes and playing the SIRU City v Country Games are a step towards strengthening that link and show Junior Players and Parents that there is a pathway there for little Billy and Mary to link up with a Senior Club.
While it's good to see that sort of movement at the zone level, there's no reason that clubs can't engage with their local junior footy club and coordinate training sessions or exhibition matches on a Saturday.
From my experience, the best transitions of players from Junior to Senior clubs was happening in the early/mid 2000's and was the result of a very committed group of parents across a number of Senior and Junior Clubs who guided that transition and made sure that groups of players stuck together and eventually played Senior Grade footy together. There is no magic bullet to make that happen again, the relationships have to be developed.
Food for thought.
