Almanac (Footy) Poetry – The Rhymer: Grass roots footy

The game’s not dead, though it might head that way
if the clubs at the grass roots don’t have a say.
Clubs that are teaching the game to the kids
and country teams with their clubs on the skids
and the groundswell of fans who just love playing footy
in much lower grades where the standard’s not pretty
you know the teams that their district supports
the one’s with the guernseys that don’t quite reach their shorts
who struggle and puff through each training session
and who give it their all coz the game’s an obsession

 

While footy’s hierarchy want to spread overseas
the game is forgotten in teams such as these.
Running on subs and the result of chook raffles
scratching for funds while the AFL baffles
us all with their plans for a global expansion
Minor leagues, cap in hand, go to AFL Mansion
begging for funds to prop up their teams
And the blokes down in Tassie are living on dreams
Of attracting a team to satisfy real supporters
but that’s not on the radar at Melbourne headquarters

 

WAFL and SNAFL and such coalitions
all require funds to pursue their ambitions
for juniors and women in true footy zones
left to fend for themselves while new fields are sown.
Forget Footy X and overseas markets
make the players we’ve got the fair dinkum targets
Give the teams jumpers and coaches and such
Some of TV’s income is not asking too much

 

Let’s fix competitions that have served us so well –
by paving their way to the great AFL –
and don’t leave leagues floundering in straits that are dire.
encourage the kids who already aspire
Foster the juniors and our country players,
by providing assistance to the lower layers
Forget the experiments with overseas camps.
and invest in the future of home grown footy champs

 

© The Rhymer – Steve Rogers 2018

 

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