WERRIBEE DISTRICTS DEPART THE VAFA

After 15 seasons, Werribee Districts have confirmed to the VAFA Board that they will be seeking to transfer from the VAFA to the Western Region Football League for the 2014 season and beyond.  
Whilst the Board are disappointed to see Werribee leave the competition, the VAFA believe that a club has the right to choose where they would like to play. 
The VAFA welcomed Werribee to the competition in 1998 and have been continually impressed by the club as it progressed through the sections to reach Premier B for the 2012 season. 
Werribee Districts’s rapid ascent up the sections is to be commended in their short time. 
However, the VAFA is all too aware of the perils of success that our clubs face and the inevitable poaching of a club’s better players to competitions where money is paid. The VAFA believe that the integrity and values of the Association, plus the opportunity to play football at a very high standard with your mates, all playing for the love of the game will continue to be a major factor in where many footballers and indeed clubs choose to play. 
The VAFA accepts that playing as an amateur might bring with it some short term financial sacrifices for players. However, the VAFA and its clubs pride themselves on being able to create life long career and networking opportunities for our players in the trades, professions or elsewhere both during and beyond their football playing days.
The clubs that continue to thrive in the VAFA realise the long term rewards that the VAFA can provide. The VAFA is the oldest and largest senior competition in the country and we understand that whilst clubs go through ups and downs, the long term benefits of remaining in the Association are visible. 
The VAFA has had a number of requests by clubs about commencing in the competition for next season and Werribee’s decision to leave will not alter the composition of the competition in Premier B where the club would have been relegated from this year. 
A final decision regarding the relegation and promotion of clubs between the sections will be made at the next Board meeting scheduled for October. 
With Canterbury set to join the competition in Division 4 there will be no change to the structure of the competition in 2014.