MESSAGE FROM WRFL BOARD

This Sunday sees the return of WRFL Junior Finals. It will also mark 1,079 days since a Junior Final was last played in the WRFL.

The return of WRFL Finals this Sunday is cause for celebration – not just for the kids who will play, but for their families and the wider community. Every one of us has faced our own personal challenges over the last three years, and the return of local football finals is yet another small step toward ‘normality’.

With the absence of Junior Finals for so long, it is more important than ever that all clubs, volunteers, coaches, parents, extended families and supporters understand their responsibilities.

When it comes to the matchday environment, we often think of this as someone else’s responsibility – the League administration, or the Club President, or the Umpires, or the Coaches etc. But all of us at the game contribute to the matchday environment. It’s a family environment, one we are all collectively responsible for protecting. Whether a mum with her pram, a grandad in his 80s, or a teenager there to support friends, we all deserve to feel safe at the football.

If the involvement of any one team significantly compromises that matchday environment, whether via poor on-field or off-field behavior, and whether via club members or those with little to no formal association with the club/team, the WRFL Board will have no hesitation in considering the removal of that team from the Junior Finals Series.

No parent or supporter wants to be the reason their loved one’s season comes to a premature end.

The first two weeks of Junior Finals will see free entry for all, and we hope this encourages families to come out and support the kids at this exciting time of their lives. After a tough three years, these kids have earned it.