“Do you know what my favourite part of the game is? The opportunity to play.”
Mike Singletary – American Football Coach & Former Professional player
We have all held our collective breath this season. Will we? Won’t we? And now, we are just 6 sleeps from our players running out onto the field for the start of the SMJFL season.
I feel extremely lucky that we are in this position, given many football leagues have unfortunately abandoned their season due to COVID-19. Many of you would have also seen during the week, the Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA) made the decision to abandon their season with new COVID-19 outbreaks across Melbourne. This means that there will be no season for the Hampton Rovers U19s, Reserves, Seniors Women’s and Seniors Men’s teams. This is devastating for our senior counterparts to have their season ripped away from them, and I count another blessing that the Juniors are still able to play as we operate in a smaller geographical footprint and not right across Melbourne.
Behind the scenes, the Rovers Seniors Committee and Volunteers have worked their butts off to give the Seniors groups every opportunity play. The Senior players fronted up every week with the passion and pride and were very much looking forward to the season. I’m gutted for them too.
As a Junior Club, it reminds us we have to keep this year in perspective. While it is great to have success, win games and even make it to a final, we need to embrace every opportunity we have to play a game this season. While I’m optimistic we will get through the season, it easily could be taken away from us.
Thank you to the Junior Committee, coaches and all the wonderful volunteers who have gotten us to the starting line.
Play It – Enjoy It – Have Fun!!
Rohan Bardwell
Junior President
