Weekly Advertiser | A Wimmera-region football administrator has praised clubs for working to find solutions as a new AFL policy causes havoc with junior age groupings.

The AFL’s National Community Football Policy, released last month, introduced new minimum age requirements for junior footballers across the country.

Age catchments for all junior competitions are now set at three years, meaning players more than three years below a competition’s age limit are barred from competing.

The Wimmera and Horsham District leagues have this year introduced under-11 football competitions in response to the rules, after previously only running under-14 and under-17 competitions.

However, clubs are scrambling to fill junior teams due to the age changes, with many clubs previously using younger players to top-up junior teams – and the AFL handing down the rule changes just weeks before the season starts.

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