TOPIC:

How is your club viable without being able to make two colts sides??

As are most Clubs, ours is perfectly viable with one Colts side.

Would two be nice? Absolutely!!

Is two viable? Not in the south east. Kelmscott tried it a few years back and couldn't keep two going for even one season.

The bigger question is how do Clubs with no Colts remain viable?

So as someone who played footy all the way through juniors and then attempted the transition into colts at one of the bigger B grade clubs after year 12 (they weren't affiliated with my juniors side but I wanted a fresh start) I feel like I can offer some insight into why retaining is tough.

I think the key thing is time and not having a fixed schedule. For me I was at uni 3-4 days a week, training for footy 2 days and then losing my saturday to football. It is very hard to get employment if you can't be flexible, in the end I prioritised having a source of income and had to leave footy. For guys who work a 9-5 or whatever your hours are it's much easier to fit footy in, most 17-19 year olds don't have that luxury.

The other thing that makes it tough as a 17 year old transitioning into a club full of adults is that the social events and so on were very dependent on drinking, in fact I couldn't even go to the first big social event of the year because I was underage, it makes it hard to become part of a team if you can't even socialize with your team mates.

On the positive I'm hell bent on returning to a club next year because I miss it and I feel like now that I have my shit a bit more together towards the end of uni I'll be able to make it work around my life.

Thank you for your input FlyingFish.

Players juggling work and studies whilst still trying to play football is certainly an issue.

With only one oval, we train 4 nights per week during the season, and encourage player who can't fit in with their team's scheduled training nights to come on other nights.

Coaches are aware and supportive, but need to be kept in the loop - if you can't make it, let them know. We have at least one player who works country and comes back to Perth for Saturday/Sunday to play and be with family. We make football fit in with his routine, not ours. I know that's not viable for everyone. Likewise, allowances need to made with FIFO workers.

Whilst it can be difficult for Coaches to work with, I don't know of any who would expect anyone to sacrifice work or study for football - they just deal with it and get on with the job.

As a Club, we enforce laws on underage alcohol consumption, but do not restrict Members from functions due to age, though Staff are made aware of who is or is not of age.

Perhaps regrettably, the consumption of alcohol plays a big part in Australian sport and social life and I can't see that changing.

It was certainly a big part of my younger life, though as I have got older, I really wonder why, apart from peer group pressure, it was.

Kelmscott also said they deserve to walk straight in A grade when SFL folded.