Hampden league to change under-18.5 to under-18s in 2024, reports net profits for 2022 season

The league put the proposed change to clubs ahead of the 2023 season, however with responses split, the board elected to give clubs more time to prepare for the change by 2024.

"The main reason was clubs just need a bit of time," Hampden league president Shane Threlfall said. "A lot of their planning had already been done so we appreciate that. We're going to keep the 18-and-a-halfs for next season."

Threlfall said the board was committed to changing the age category, which was passed at its most recent board meeting.

"We believe 18-and-a-half is a little too old to still be playing juniors," Threlfall said. "So as a board we're keen to get it back to at least 18s."

However the Hampden league will consult with its clubs again before changing the under-18.5 competition to under-18s in 2024.

"We've had the discussions around next year but at some point we'll give the clubs an opportunity to respond throughout next year," Threlfall said. "Anything like that we consult with the clubs and give them a chance to voice their opinions."

At its annual general meeting on Monday night, Hampden league announced a $22,074 net profit for the 2022 season, down from $31,669 from a shortened 2021 season. Threlfall said the board was happy with the latest figures.

"Anytime we finish in front is a great year," he said.

Significant figures in the income and expenditure report show the return of a healthy finals series profit, with the games, culminating in a Koroit senior football and South Warrnambool open netball premiership, pulling in $179,450 at the gate.

This was up $8917 from the 2019 finals, the last to be held before the COVID-19 pandemic wiped out the 2020 and 2021 seasons.

"As a league we rely on our crowds at finals as a major revenue stream so when they're not on we don't get any revenue," Threlfall said. "To get them back and well-supported by the public was fantastic and that generates the majority of our funds as well as sponsorship."

Sponsorship received was down by $73,766 to $123,961 from 2021 to 2022, however Threlfall believes the revenue stream remains healthy.

"I think there was a challenge from sponsors coming out of COVID, that would be the main reason," he said.

"But I think we'll get back to where we were pretty quickly now we've got through the pandemic and we're getting back to some sort of normalcy."

League spending rose by $107,221 to $381,980 with finals spending consisting of $80,736 of that hike. Equipment cost, wages and filming costs were other increases.

"We certainly increased our filming platform to include more games in finals," Threlfall said. "We're pretty pleased, we've got some of the best filming and coverage probably throughout country Victoria.

"We're pretty pleased with what we've been able to do in that space."