THE Frankston and Mornington Peninsula junior football seasons have been cancelled.
A statement released by AFL South East last week read that all of their 2020 junior football seasons would be called off. They include the Frankston and Districts Junior Football League, South East Juniors, and AFL South East Top-Age.
AFL South East’s Richard Black said “whilst we are disappointed to cancel junior football this year, the health and wellbeing of the community have always been our top priority.”
“COVID-19 has presented a very unique set of circumstances and we need to ensure that our participants and volunteers emerge from this pandemic in a healthy state,” he said. “We look forward to working with our clubs to create a safe and healthy environment for all members and volunteers as we put plans in place for 2021.”
Mornington Peninsula Junior Football League president Andrew Souter said “the Melbourne Metro area including the Mornington Peninsula has now gone into lockdown for at least a six week period. This means that our home and away season for 2020 has now been cancelled.”
“If the government allows later in the year, we may be able to conduct a mini round robin type of competition, but based on government restrictions, this would not be able to take place until at least September. This will be dependent on a number of factors but obviously there will need to be a club appetite in the first place,” he said.
“We want to thank all clubs for their hard work in preparing for this year. We really feel for our club volunteers, the kids, and everyone involved in our great game, but we have to do the right thing in regards to the health and safety of our community. Please let it be known that we are already preparing and working hard for season 2021.”