Soggy grounds prevented play in more than half of the scheduled fixtures for week one of the pointscore competition, but it did not prevent the official start of the 2017 season over the weekend. Rain through the week sealed the fate for many venues and mostly dry conditions on Saturday came too late to allow many games to proceed.
All but one Men’s Premier Division game had to be postponed and Football Far North Coast is already assessing options to re-schedule games across all senior competitions. Several junior competitions that were pencilled in to commence were also called off, with junior players now having to wait a little longer to get onto the pitch.
We appeal to current and past players, parents and other interested persons to consider becoming a referee in 2017. As football grows and playing numbers accelerate, the number of match officials fails to keep pace.
Although new, young and inexperienced match officials come forward every year, the loss of experienced people puts great pressure on Football Far North Coast to meet the expectations of stakeholders who assume that EVERY game at EVERY level will have a full complement of match officials. If YOU think that you could referee a “few” games occasionally, PLEASE contact Football Far North Coast at referees@ffnc.net.au or phone 0434 856 992.
