Karen O’Sullivan, president, KFNC
Kyneton Football Netball Club is grateful for the support shown by the community as it struggles through another financial downturn.
The club’s survival is critical for Kyneton and the surrounding districts as it is a vehicle for almost 400 young boys, girls, women and men to play an organised competitive sport, keep fit and healthy, make friends and be part of a team.
KFNC has grown into a medium to large-sized business, run by volunteers which relies on the financial support of sponsors and fundraising. This continues to be a challenging task, with excessive fees from the Bendigo Football Netball League and AFL.
A level playing field does not exist with Kyneton, and other country clubs (Castlemaine, Maryborough and Gisborne) expected to pay BFNL and AFL fees in line with Bendigo-based clubs, despite country clubs having much smaller populations, thus fewer competitive senior footballers to choose from.
The BFNL and AFL must address the ongoing problems faced by grass-roots football clubs if they want country clubs to survive.
