Over the past week, I have watched countless conversations and emails take place regarding the venue of the Shepparton United Under 14 Division 2 Grand Final.

Until now, I have largely stayed quiet and allowed those discussions to happen.

But as a mum, a parent within our club and a member of the Shepparton United Junior Committee, I feel like I need to say something.

I should start off that it’s not about money, not about politics and not about personalities, history or who has disagreed with whom.

I want to talk about the kids.

Because somewhere amongst all the emails, decisions, logistics and back-and-forth, I feel like the most important people in this entire situation have been forgotten.

They are 13- and 14-year-old boys who have worked all season to earn themselves a place in a Grand Final. And they deserve for us to stop and think about what this decision actually means to them.

They are the only junior football Grand Final being separated.
Shepparton United is hosting the Grand Final day for the Shepparton Toyota Goulburn Murray Junior League at our home ground, Deakin Reserve. Our Under 16’s also will be playing their grand final there amongst other junior football Grand Finals on Sunday 23rd August 2026.

Our club, family members, friends, community and other clubs will all be there. But our Under 14 Division 2 boys won’t be.

Their Grand Final against Wandong is currently scheduled to be played at King’s Park in Seymour. They will be the only junior football Grand Final separated from the rest of the League’s football Grand Finals at Deakin Reserve.

And I keep coming back to one thing: How does that make these kids feel?

Shepparton United is their home club, yet these boys very rarely, if not have ever had the opportunity to train or play on Deakin Reserve. They have now worked all season and earned themselves the opportunity to play in a Grand Final.

Imagine being 13 or 14 and getting to run onto your home ground for that Grand Final.

Imagine seeing the crowd, hearing the noise, feeling that grand final atmosphere and seeing your family and friends around the boundary. We are talking about siblings, cousins, grandparents, high school mates, teachers, teammates and the senior football and netball club, including the Under 16’s, who many of these boys will play alongside next years and in the future.

Imagine the excitement and momentum that would create for them. That’s a childhood memory; it’s the kind of moment these kids will talk about years from now.

Now imagine being told that while your senior club and the rest of the junior football community gather at your home ground for Grand Final day, your team will be somewhere else. Regardless of anyone’s intention, I can’t help but wonder what message that sends to these boys.

Does it make them feel like their Grand Final isn’t as important?

Does it make them wonder why everyone else gets to be together and they don’t?

Because no child who has worked hard enough to reach a Grand Final should ever be left feeling like their achievement matters less.

“It’s only Division 2”
At the Preliminary Finals, I personally heard young spectators making comments along the lines of: “It’s only Division 2.” and “It doesn’t matter.” That genuinely broke my heart, I’m not sharing that to blame or criticise those children (which some of the advisory board know personally), but I’m sharing it because I think it should make all of us involved in junior sport stop and think.

Division 2 does matter. These kids matter, they train just like everyone else, they travel just like everyone else, they experience losses and disappointment, they experience wins and excitement, they turn up for their teammates, and they have worked all season for the chance to play in a Grand Final.

Why should that achievement mean any less?

I don’t want our children growing up believing that one group of junior footballers is somehow more important than another. Grand Final day should be an opportunity for our League to show them the opposite. It should show every junior player that if you work hard, support your teammates and earn your place in a Grand Final, you deserve to have that achievement celebrated.

Regardless of the division written next to your team’s name.

This affects whole families.
There are also families within our club who have children or cousins playing in both the Under 14 and Under 16 Grand Finals. Those parents are now faced with something no parent should have to decide: Which child’s Grand Final do I watch?

This is their grand final, some of these kids may never play in another one, once that day is gone, we can’t give it back to them and we can’t give that moment back to their parents either.

This isn’t United versus Wandong
I also want to make this very clear.

This isn’t about taking something away from Wandong’s kids so our kids can have something better. Those boys and girls have worked just as hard to earn their Grand Final I believe they deserve an incredible experience too. Imagine both teams running onto Deakin Reserve with the wider junior football community surrounding them.

A bigger crowd, more families, more junior footballers watching, more atmosphere and more support.

That’s what junior Grand Final day could be.

We completely understand that moving the game would mean additional travel for Wandong families, and I genuinely respect their concerns.

But we are part of a regional football competition. All of our family’s travel.

Our United families have travelled south numerous times this season, and if the shoe were on the other foot and another club had this opportunity for its kids (to play on their home ground), we would do what we could to help make that happen for them too.

Because sometimes we need to look beyond what is easiest for the adults and ask what creates the best experience for the children.

We believe it can work.
There have been solutions put forward, numerous solutions and other teams affected by scheduling changes have indicated they are willing to move. We have spoken to Seymour, and they have advised that they have no concern with the game being relocated from King’s Park.

A schedule has been proposed that would allow all four junior football Grand Finals to be played at Deakin:

9:30am — Under 14 Division 2
11:15am — Under 14 Division 1
1:00pm — Under 16 Division 2
3:00pm — Under 16 Division 1

Our club has repeatedly said we are willing to work through the logistics.

We requested an opportunity to meet face-to-face with the decision-makers to explain our concerns and discuss the possible solutions. That meeting has not happened and were informed by them by the by-laws they don’t have to. We have now been advised via email that our request has been declined and that the decision is considered final.

And that’s incredibly disappointing. Not because we didn’t get our own way but because I don’t believe we should give up on trying to create the best outcome for these kids while there is still an opportunity to do so.

As a mum, I keep coming back to one question…
If this were your child, what would you want for them?

Forget which club you support, forget which division your child plays in and forget about the adults for a moment.

Imagine your own child had worked all season and earned a Grand Final.

Their club was hosting Grand Final day, their friends were there, their siblings were there, their teammates were there, their family was there and the wider junior football community was there.

And there was a genuine, workable opportunity for their team to be there too.

Wouldn’t you fight for that experience for them?

I know I would. And that’s what we’re doing.

We’re not trying to attack anyone, not trying to create division and we’re not trying to make more money or make things easier for ourselves. We have offered Seymour a space at Deakin to operate a BBQ, or similar fundraiser in which they respectfully declined the offer, advising they didn’t want to take on the additional work.

We’re parents advocating for our kids.

For some of these boys and girls, this may be their only Grand Final, we don’t know what next season will bring and you never know if they will ever get another opportunity like this.

So while there is still time, why wouldn’t we try everything we reasonably can to make this experience as special as possible for them?

Please help us stand behind these kids
We are asking AFL Goulburn Murray and the Shepparton Toyota Goulburn Murray Junior League to reconsider the decision and allow the Under 14 Division 2 Grand Final between Shepparton United and Wandong to be played at Deakin Reserve alongside the other junior football Grand Finals, at their home ground.

But more than anything, we are asking everyone involved to bring this decision back to what junior football is supposed to be about.

The kids.

Not Division 1 versus Division 2, not United versus Wandong, not one town versus another.

Just kids playing the sport they love.

If you believe these kids deserve the opportunity to celebrate their Grand Final alongside their friends, families and wider junior football community, please sign this petition and share it online.

Help us show these boys and girls, from both teams that their Grand Final matters.

Help us show them that Division 2 matters, help us show them that their hard work matters and help us ask the decision-makers to sit down, listen and reconsider while there is still time.

Because years from now, these kids won’t remember the emails.

They won’t remember the politics, won’t remember who said what in a meeting.

They’ll remember how their Grand Final made them feel.

Let’s make sure it’s a memory worth holding onto.

At the end of the day, this is about the kids. It always has been.

UPDATE as of 11:15am 20/08/2026 - a local business has offered to supply Wandong with a bus to help with their travel and their travel expenses so all Junior games can be played at Deakin Reserve this Sunday. Wandong have not answered our emails and phone calls regarding this generous offer.