No level playing field

September 6 2014

Shepparton News

Parents of Goulburn Valley Suns juniors are spending a small fortune on travel.

A report from former Greater Shepparton City Council leisure services, recreation and park manager Brendan Gosstray, who has two children playing for the Suns’ junior team, highlights the costly commitment of the club’s juniors.

On top of $1500 registration costs, Suns parents are paying more than $4000 in travel and wear and tear costs.

‘‘I did the report for two reasons — first at the Suns’ request to better gauge the travel demands on parents and look at whether or not buses might be a more viable option,’’ Gosstray said.

‘‘And second for FFV (Football Federation Victoria) to take into account our costs and come up with some sort of equalisation, which they can do in a number of ways.

‘‘Firstly, they could charge us a reduced licence fee or a rebate on the travel costs, or they could give us a higher percentage of home games.’’

Gosstray produced an analysis comparing the cost of travel and wear and tear for the Suns’ under-13 team, for which his son Cooper plays, against that of South Melbourne, which plays in the same junior division as the club.

This season, the Suns had 12 away games before the division was split into two halves, while South Melbourne had 10.

Suns parents had to travel 4534 km, with South’s players only travelling 360 km.

For the sake of the report, Gosstray assumed everyone travelled in a medium sized family car, with the Suns departing from Vibert Reserve, and South from Princess Park, Caulfield.

Averaging the fuel consumption rate to nine litres per 100 km and averaging the cost of petrol to $1.52/litre, as well as using Australian Taxation Office guidelines for vehicle fair wear and tear at 78¢/km, Gosstray found that travel costs for Suns parents was about $4157.

That cost was only $330 for South Melbourne players.

And that is only for the first half of the season, when all Suns junior teams played at the same location.

After round 13, the junior divisions are split into two halves, with the top half playing against each other and the bottom half playing against each other.

For parents such as Gosstray with two children playing in two teams, it is a logistical nightmare.

‘‘I’d have to get one to Springvale and then one to Darebin (36.7 km away) within 20 minutes of each other,’’ Gosstray said.

Gosstray acknowledged that as a regional outfit, the Suns’ cost of travel was always going to be higher than the rest, but said the issue was not helped by being placed in the eastern conference of the junior division.

It means the Suns must travel to the other side of the city on away days, travelling as far as Springvale — a 446 km round trip — instead of the likes of Green Gully, Melbourne Knights and St Albans Saints, who can all be accessed off the Western Ring Rd.

Gosstray said he did not want the report to be seen as counter-productive to what the Suns were trying to do and the pathway it provided for the region’s best junior soccer talent.

Rather, he hoped it would start constructive dialogue with FFV to find a better solution.

‘‘We say to FFV all the time that our travel costs are high, so this just gives everyone some figures to look at and gives the argument some proper data,’’ Gosstray said.

‘‘There are models (for equalisation) that can be taken into account.

‘‘It happens in the AFL, so why can’t it happen here?’’