Warrnambool Rangers' jack-of-all-trades Cameron Pyke, who is club president, senior coach and player and under 17 mentor, wants the sport to thrive in an Australian Rules-dominated area.

Pyke, who also plays Aussie Rules football and cricket, can see soccer building strong club bases and rivalries similar to those which help other sports in the area thrive.

The region has teams in two competitions - Ballarat and District Soccer Association and South West Victoria Football Association.

The Ballarat league gives senior and under 17 players a chance to compete in a representative competition and the South West league pits the region's teams - from Warrnambool, Corangamite, Portland and others - against each other from under 12 level up.

"The main focus for us is to build the reputation of football (soccer) in the area," Pyke said.

"And get as many kids playing as possible. Over time, if it can grow organically, that's perfect.

"It has untapped potential, you never know what it can turn into.

"There's a good core of kids now in the Warrnambool area who are probably in the 15 to 17-year-old age bracket. There is a good building of community there.

"They know they're a footballing community and that's what we've been trying to build over the last couple of years, similar to what footy has, that each club has its own small community.

"We want to build something between the two Warrnambool clubs and all other teams in the area."

Pyke said the COVID-19 pandemic break could have a silver lining for soccer in the region.

"The positives to come out of an extended break are we can really put our heads down and start to get the planning and preparation for next year in place," he said.

"The hard thing is when the season starts a lot of the time you kind of get into a rhythm and it's hard to change that rhythm but now that we've got extra time where committee members and volunteers can put our heads together and come up with some ideas.

"Hopefully next year we're bigger and better for it."

Pyke said the Rangers hoped to field a women's team in the Ballarat league in future seasons.

It had been a strong presence in that competition before sitting out the 2019 and 2020 campaigns after losing players to full-time work, family commitments and university.

"We've been putting in some practices over the last year or so to really grow the women's game with the Mini Matildas and also this year we've had a lot of girls who were integrated between our under 12s, under 14s and under 16s teams in the south-west comp," he said.

Warrnambool Rangers played four games - two competition and two friendlies - in the BDSA under 17 competition before Victorian Premier Dan Andrews announced the re-introduction of stage three restrictions for regional areas on Sunday.

The changes, which will come into effect on Wednesday, will shut down sport.

Pyke said it was disappointing for the players but was pleased they got to have a kick in some capacity.

"There's been some people say 'why put in all this hard work in if it's not going to happen' but I think I am of the opposite standpoint," he said. "It shows what we can get through when we put our minds to it.

"With the challenges we've faced this year, if anything happens to come up again, it's just like 'we've done it before and we know we can get through it'."

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