THE past two weeks have seen 31 Junior Grand Finals and the inaugural Women’s Grand Final played in tremendous spirits in front of some fantastic crowds.
The weather was kind for each of the previous two Sundays and it was great to see enthusiastic crowds watching the young boys and girls receive their Grand Final medals.
There were many tight contests and plenty of talent on display catching the eye of the recruiters from Western Jets and Calder Cannons.
Congratulations to all players, coaches, officials and clubs that won a Grand Final.
It is a tremendous achievement and reward for a season of hard work.
There were 20 clubs that tasted premiership glory over the past two weeks; it is tremendous to see premierships being spread over such a large number of clubs.
It shows that players can achieve success whilst developing themselves as players at their current clubs.
The large number of Grand Finals is a reflection on participation growth within the EDFL.
The junior section of the EDFL continues to grow, with 69 additional under-age teams competing in the EDFL since 2013.
This includes an additional 21 under-age girls teams last year alone.
The 69 extra teams equates to 34 extra games of football each weekend for our young boys and girls.
To have a junior finals series featuring the best girls teams all competing at Greenvale was tremendous for the EDFL.
There is no doubt that girls and women’s football will continue to grow and the challenge for the EDFL is to accommodate and support this growth.
Speaking of the Women’s competition, Keilor’s dominance throughout the home and away season was rewarded with victory in the Grand Final against Manor Lakes.
Keilor will go down in history as the inaugural winner of the Women’s competition and we look forward to the 2018 season when the EDFL will field a stand-alone women’s competition as more EDFL Clubs field Women’s teams.
Congratulations to the Keilor Football Club and to all players, coaches and officials on what has been a magnificent 2017 season.
It has been pleasing to see the development of Women’s football within the EDFL.
Having a stand-alone EDFL competition will provide a greater scope to fixturing and promotion and in time the EDFL Women’s competition will grow to having all clubs represented with Women’s teams over multiple divisions.
Focus now shifts towards the Senior Men’s finals series with the Essendon Ford Division 1 and Strathmore Community Bank Division 2 finals to commence this weekend.
The Strathmore Community Bank Premier Division finals will commence the following week.
Best of luck to all players and clubs competing in finals over the coming weeks.
Marc Turri, EDFL CEO
