On the eve of finals the questions about where your club will playing have started to be asked. As is the case every year there are very few certainties when it comes to finals venues and times for all finals that need to be scheduled. In 2013, 160 finals matches need to be scheduled in the VAFA. Below we try an outline how matches are scheduled and where possible confirm venues and times.
The VAFA’s priorities for finals are as follows.
1) play all finals at a neutral venue*
2) play all finals at the best possible available venue
3) schedule finals to enable as many supporters from each club to attend the match as possible
*U19 Section 2, Section 3, North and South and Under 18 semi finals will be played at the home ground of the highest ranked team. From there on the preliminary finals will be at neutral venues.
Point three is often the hardest as some clubs will have multiple teams playing at different venues at different levels. This is particularly the case for U19 and Premier Thirds competitions and where a club’s reserves team has qualified in a different finals position to the senior team.
Once again in 2013 the VAFA offered the opportunity for clubs to host finals if their ground was available and suitable for hosting finals, (All finals venues need to be enclosed with fencing around the ground).
What can we confirm?
Premier
2nd Semi Final – Saturday 7th September at Sportscover Arena (Seniors)
1st Semi Final – Sunday 8th September at Sportscover Arena (Seniors)
Preliminary Final – Saturday 14th September at Sportscover Arena (Seniors)
Grand Final – Saturday 21st September at Sportscover Arena (Seniors)
Premier B
2nd Semi Final – Saturday 31st August at Sportscover Arena (Seniors)
1st Semi Final – Sunday 1st September at Sportscover Arena (Seniors)
Preliminary Final – Sunday 8th September at to be confirmed (Seniors)
Grand Final – Sunday 15th September at Sportscover Arena (Seniors)
Premier C
All finals time and venues to be confirmed on Sunday 25th August at vafa.com.au
Division 1
All finals time and venues to be confirmed on Sunday 25th August at vafa.com.au
Division 2
All finals time and venues to be confirmed on Sunday 25th August at vafa.com.au
Division 3
All finals time and venues to be confirmed on Sunday 25th August at vafa.com.au
Division 4
All finals time and venues to be confirmed on Sunday 25th August at vafa.com.au
Under 19s
All finals time and venues to be confirmed on Sunday 25th August at vafa.com.au
Under 18s
All finals time and venues to be confirmed on Sunday 25th August at vafa.com.au
Obviously there is still a fair bit to be confirmed from all the sections. The main reason is that the VAFA want finals played on the best possible venues and the Football Operations team often do not know what venues are available until the end of the previous weekend. As many of the finals venues are used by other competitions, the availability depends on the teams at those grounds being out of the finals race.
All players, coaches and administrations have been made aware of these circumstances at the start of the year.
A complete finals schedule will be posted a vafa.com.au the Sunday night before the following weekend of fixtures.
The genesis of Laura Kane’s journey to become one of footy’s most influential administrators can be traced back to her joining the VAFA’s Melbourne Uni women’s team as a 12-year-old.
“For many years, we dared to dream about being a serious footy club. We’ve managed to gain a different type of respect – the worthiness of being a ‘proper club’
The Premier Thirds competition delivered arguably the biggest upset of the entire VAFA season, with St Kevin’s claiming the flag in a 5-point thriller over Old Xaverians, who had finished
