CHELSEA MORDIALLOC MENTONE NEWS scoreboard
League chief dodges questions on local footy’s future By Toe Punt AFL SE Regional General Manager John Anderson believes that one of the two options presented in the senior football competition review will provide a “very strong premier competition”. Anderson, who spoke in two separate videos last Wednesday, said he “believed a region of our size and stature ought to have a strong premier competition. He went on to say that “this is a view shared by many clubs”. Mr Anderson is consistent with this push despite 20 of the 22 MPNFL clubs responding to the recommendations last week, opposing the recommendations in the review.
All clubswere given the opportunity to put questions to Mr Anderson in an email early last week. Yours truly was also invited to provide questions. Despite more than 20 questions being asked, Mr Anderson chose to answer only those he wanted to, before signing-off on the finished product before it was released last Friday. Questions Mr Anderson failed to answer included:- The clubs have expressed interest in meeting with AFL SE collectively. Why has there been a reluctance to speak to the clubs collectively? - Given AFL SE proposed the recommendations in the document, which have been opposed, is it not up to the administration to present
additional alternatives for clubs to consider? - If a resolution can’t be found between AFL SE and the MPNFL Clubs, where will that leave the AFL SE Region. Can AFL SE continue to be viable without the support of the MPNFL Clubs? Another question that was asked was the impact of juniors and netball in AFL South East’s decision. Mr Anderson chose to ignore the junior aspect of the question. In answering about netball, Mr Anderson had this to say: “We acknowledge there’s difficulties – we’re asking for solutions – if a certain structure was in place, how would netball look?”
Isn’t that what AFL South East should be providing clubs – solutions? Despite extending the deadline by a week, Mr Anderson said in the interview that “we understand change is difficult.” What change is Mr Anderson referring to? Has a decision been made? My understanding was that AFL South East was still seeking feedback. Mr Anderson said there was an ability for the public to provide feedback. “For interested people in the league we manage we encourage their feedback – the more of that we get the better. Our understanding is that there are people within clubs who don’t see eye to eye on the stance taken by the club,” Mr Anderson said.
Again, what has this got to do with the general public? Feedback should only come from member clubs. Club executives have been voted by their members to represent the best interests of their club. The public’s opinion should have no bearing on AFL South East’s recommendation. Finally, Mr Anderson said “what is in the best interests of football in this region, in the end, is what this is all about.” Once again, MPNFL Clubs are all in agreeance that the two recommendations presented in the review are not in the best interests of their region, which includes juniors and netball.
Frankston Gift ready to be run in 2018 By Ben Triandafillou IT has been six years since the running of the ‘Gift’ on the peninsula but the Frankston Athletics Club has announced that they will reignite the event and host the 2018 Frankston Gift on Sunday 14 January. Next year’s Frankston Gift will be run at the Frankston Football Oval with $1500 available in the prize pool for each of the women’s and men’s gifts. Ready to run: Frankston Athletic Club athlete Ebony Lane sprints to the line at the 2017 Stawell Gift. Photo: supplied
The Frankston Gift will be run on the same weekend as the 2018 Rye Gift which the Frankston Athletics Club believes will only have a positive effect on the event. “We are hoping people from the Rye Gift will stay down on the peninsula and come and compete the following day in Frankston,” Frankston Athletics Club treasurer Craig McConchie said. “We have deliberately chosen to run our events over different distances to the Rye Gift so that the runners aren’t repeating what they had run the previous day.” As the races are “professional” races, prize money is offered for all events, which is generally paid to
everyone who makes a final. Each athlete is given a mark or handicap based on their ability allowing all competitors to have an equal opportunity to win their chosen event. There are 15 proposed events on the program, including a football/ netball club relay and an emergency services relay. The Frankston Athletics Club is now looking for sponsors for the Frankston Gift to help raise the prizemoney that will be on offer. If you have any queries about the event itself or sponsorship opportunities, contact the club at frankstongift@ hotmail.com.
Mornington scores wheelchair basketball clinic By Ben Triandafillou WHEELCHAIR Basketball will make its way to the Mornington Peninsula with a weekly clinic starting Sunday 23 July. Mornington District Basketball Association (MDBA) will host the weekly clinics at the Mornington Secondary College basketball stadium. It hopes to eventually lead on to a wheelchair basketball league. The MDBA has been taking registrations-of-interest from wheelchair basketballers since early-April after being contacted by a young local boy. Ella Linton-Smith, a representative of the association, says it had been looking at building a wheelchair basketball league for some time and was inspired to take action from an 11-year-old boy named Riley from the Mornington Peninsula. “We were contacted by Disability Sport and Recreation Victoria and they told us about an 11-year-old boy in our area who was keen to play wheelchair basketball,” Linton-Smith said. “The closest place for people on the peninsula to play wheelchair basketball is Kilsyth, so, obviously, it makes sense for us to establish a program here and make the game more accessible to everybody. “We have had a lot of support from Basketball Victoria helping us to source sports chairs and our local Bunnings have also kindly offered to donate a shed for storage.
Sad loss: Roger Booth died due to a suspected heart attack. Photo: supplied Eager to start: Eleven-year-old boy Riley can’t wait for Wheelchair Basketball to make its way to the peninsula.
Mornington loses hardworking veteran jockey
“We’re thrilled to be able to set something like this up and we look forward to seeing the program grow over time.” Within two weeks of seeking expressions-of-interest the MDBA had approaches from nine players aged 1018 – a figure which continues to grow. The clinics will run for an hour on Sunday afternoons, kicking off with a free come-and-try session 1pm, 23 July. They are open to anyone interested with no restrictions on who can join. For information contact: communications@morningtonbasketball.com.au.
By Ben Triandafillou MORNINGTON Racecourse held a funeral on Monday to remember veteran jockey, Roger Booth, who had become a familiar face at the Mornington racetrack and on the Victorian country racing circuit. Booty, as known by many in the racing industry, was a genuine hardworking jockey who’d get up before the crack of dawn to ride trackwork for a variety of trainers. “He was always the first at the track and the last to leave,” retired Mornington horse trainer Barry Howe said following the death of Roger Booth, aged 55.
Photo: supplied
After the second race at Darwin on Saturday 1 July Roger Booth suffered a suspected heart attack. Booth guided the Neil Dyer-trained Senor Juez into sixth position and returned to the mounting yard before collapsing shortly after dismounting. He was reportedly conscious after being revived by ambulance staff at the track but suffered a heart attack when being transferred to the Darwin hospital and died. Booth came across from New Zealand a couple of decades ago and tried his luck as a flat and jumps jockey. He spent most of his career in Mornington riding trackwork and the odd winner for Mornington-based trainers
such as Pat Carey, Eric Musgrove and Gary Carson to name a few. “He was quite a popular bloke because he worked hard and battled away,” Gary Carson said. Over the last six months Booth tried his luck at Cranbourne and headed up to the Top End for the Darwin Cup Carnival. Booth’s career on the Victorian country racing circuit included wins in the 1997 Yarra Glen Cup, 2008 Burrumbeet Cup, 2012 Great Western Cup, the 2012 and 2013 Gunbower Gold Cup, the 2014 Hanging Rock Cup and Warracknabeal Cup and the 2015 Manangatang Cup.
Chelsea Mordialloc Mentone News
12 July 2017
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