2023 Winter and 2023/2024 Summer Competitions

After feedback from members and consultation with clubs we are pleased to announce the competition structure for the next 12 months.

In relation to the competition structure the following guiding principles were raised by clubs:

Overall

• Value and experience for money

• Different wants and needs within the community need to be adhered to

For Seniors

• Avoid significant overlap between SL1 and AWL schedules. Revised 2023 AWL timeline is TBD (we should know by the end of May).

• Provide an opportunity for lower state league competitions to play when they want to (not have too big a gap between seasons).

• Allow flexibility in winter for teams to join after the Term 2 holidays.

For Juniors

• It is about providing continued game opportunity without creating an unmanageable conflict with other winter sports.

• Challenges faced by junior clubs in the 2nd half of summer with some forfeits/low numbers, and also new players wanting to join.

• Provide an opportunity for players to play in a winter competition, (doesn’t have to be traditional game).

As such the following was agreed upon by clubs;

Seniors

• Winter (1)*

  • Term 2 – 16th May to 22nd June

  • Nights

  • 6 rounds (or as many as possible until the end of term)

  • Will merge SL comps if only 3 or less teams in a division

  • Last game based on ladder order (1v2, 3v4 etc)

  • No Finals

• Winter (2)*

  • Term 3 – 11th July to 24th August

  • Nights

  • 6 rounds (or as many as possible until the end of term)

  • Will merge SL comps if only 3 or less teams in a division

  • Last game based on ladder order (1v2, 3v4 etc)

  • No Finals

• Summer

  • Term 4 and Term 1 - Oct to March

  • Nights

  • Between 15-17 fixtured rounds

  • Traditional Final Series (Semi, Prel, and GF)

Juniors

• Winter (1)*

  • Term 2 – 14th May to 18th June

  • Sunday Mornings

  • u12 (modified games if numbers are low), u14 and u16 competitions only (dependant on interest), older athletes encouraged to play in the SL winter competition.

  • 6 rounds (or as many as possible until the end of term)

  • Last game based on ladder order (1v2, 3v4 etc)

  • No Finals

• Winter (2)*

  • Term 3 – 16th July to 27th August

  • Sunday Mornings

  • u12 (modified games if numbers are low), u14 and u16 competitions only (dependant on interest), older athletes encouraged to play in the SL winter competition.

  • 6 rounds (or as many as possible until the end of term)

  • Last game based on ladder order (1v2, 3v4 etc)

  • No Finals

• Summer

  • Term 4 – Sept/Oct to Dec

  • Sunday

  • U12, u14, u16, u18 (dependant on interest)

  • Between 8/9 fixtured rounds

  • Semi Finals and Grand Final played on the same Day (Finals Carnival Day)

• Summer Gala

  • Jan, Feb, March (3 or 4 Gala Days)

  • Tri-State used as one of those days

  • 3 games min for the day/weekend

  • Regional centres can be used if available (Ballarat, Bendigo, Wangaratta, Mornington)

  • Draft can be used for players who don’t have a team

WPV would like to thank all members who completed the survey, and all clubs for engaging in this process.