Junior sport returns in regional Victoria, but not for all

Regional Victoria will get a reprieve from lockdown tonight, with restrictions easing allowing junior sport to return to the field.

The Warragul and District Junior Football League will be back up and running, but two games, Warragul Gulls v Garfield and Caldermeade v Bunyip are to be rescheduled due to those townships being under metro lockdown rules still.

The West Gippsland Junior Football competition will be playing, with round seven to be brought forward to maximise participation.

Koo Wee Rup and Nar Nar Goon will be missing from the fixture because of the metro rules, with both round five and six to be rescheduled at a later date, which has yet to be confirmed.

Hockey will return to Bellbird Park, with juniors able to get back on the field, while Drouin’s under six, eight and 10 players will be playing at Bellbird Park, while their other juniors will be making the trip to Leongatha.

However, some leagues have made the decision to abandon both senior and junior football on Saturday. 

The Gippsland league is one of them, with all matches scheduled for round seven and eight to be abandoned with no premiership points or percentage awarded. 

The EDFL are currently working out if junior football will be played, but logistics with teams situated in the metro region may put paid to that with confirmation to come. The league are hoping to see a full return to play next weekend if restrictions permit.

With the EDFL also running an under 18.5s competition, working out whether that falls into the “junior” category is something they are working through also, with rules strictly stating under 18 only. The cap of 50 per venue has also caused logistical nightmares with how players and patrons are to get in and out of the ground safely. 

Mid Gippsland will also go without junior football this weekend, deciding not to play games this weekend.  

The West Gippsland league will also be impacted, with a percentage of teams sitting in the metro area, including Bunyip, Garfield, Cora Lynn, Nar Nar Goon and Koo Wee Rup. However, the Dusties, situated in regional, are working out whether they may be able to train on Friday night, which is yet to be confirmed. 

As per government guidelines, residents in metro Melbourne are not permitted to travel to regional Victoria for community sport, leaving some teams in the lurch with several made up of both regional and metro residents. 

Regional teams are permitted to train as long as they adhere to the relevant guidelines and restrictions.