TRAVEL BURDEN - February 20 2014
TRAVEL BURDEN
Damen Francis
February 20 2014
Shepparton News
Goulburn Valley Suns junior teams will travel between two and 2 hours to play in the National Premier Leagues soccer competition this season.
The NPLV junior competition is divided into two geographical zones — east and west — with the Shepparton-based club falling in the eastern zone, despite being located more than 150 km north of its nearest rival.
The western zone stretches from Bendigo to Surf Coast and includes Ballarat and Geelong, but is made up of clubs west or north of metropolitan Melbourne.
Bendigo Amateur Soccer Association faces a 2 hour trip to Torquay to take on Surf Coast and a two-hour journey to meet North Geelong Warriors, but is within a 1 drive from its other opponents.
The Suns will travel into or through the city for every away game, including three trips well in excess of two hours to Bentleigh Greens, Kingston City and Springvale White Eagles.
Their nearest opponent is Northcote City, 176 km away.
The Suns’ board was expected to raise its travel concerns with NPLV governing-body Football Federation Victoria prior to returning its signed licence agreement yesterday.
However, in a written statement, head of NPL Victoria Liam Bentley told the News there would be no concessions granted to regional teams, despite the enormous challenges facing them.
Comments
Comment Guidelines: The SportsTG Network is made up of players, families and passionate sports followers like you who have a strong opinion about sport. That's great - we want you to have your say and share your thoughts with the world. However, we have a few rules that you must follow to keep it fun for all. Please don't be rude, abusive, swear or vilify others. Apart from some pretty serious sport sanctions, we also can ban you and report you if things get out of hand. So play fair and have fun, and thanks for your contribution.