Thank you for your support.

Thank you for standing behind our kids ❤️💙

I just want to say a massive thank you to every single person who has called, texted, messaged, signed and shared our petition over the past few days. ❤️💙

771 people signed our petition.

That number honestly means so much to us.

While unfortunately we weren’t successful in having the Grand Final moved to Deakin Reserve, the support we have received has been incredible. More than anything, it has been reassuring to know that so many people understood why we were fighting for this and believed these kids deserved the opportunity to experience their Grand Final alongside the rest of their Junior League.

I’m genuinely heartbroken for our Shepparton United Under 14 boys, but also for the Wandong boys and girls who will share that Grand Final with them.

Their Grand Final will still be played at Seymour, where an Under 12 gala day is also being held, while the remainder of the Junior League Grand Finals will be played together at Deakin Reserve.

These kids have worked all season to earn their place in a Grand Final. We simply wanted them to experience the same atmosphere, excitement and sense of occasion as the other junior teams, surrounded by the wider football community on Grand Final day.

We also know that attendance at Seymour is unlikely to be what it will be at Deakin Reserve, where families, supporters and teams from across the league will already be gathered.

And while Deakin Reserve is technically Shepparton United’s home ground, our junior boys don’t actually get the opportunity to train or play there throughout the season. To run onto Deakin for a Grand Final would have been incredibly special for them. We were trying to give them that opportunity.

We have always acknowledged that moving the game to Shepparton would have meant additional travel, time and expense for Wandong families. We heard that concern, which is why we continued trying to find solutions.

Incredibly, a local business even offered to provide a bus for Wandong families to help alleviate the additional travel and expense.

It is also worth acknowledging that throughout this season, our junior club has travelled significant kilometres for games, including trips to Wandong and Broadford. Travel is unfortunately part of junior football, and our families have accepted that throughout the year, and to be fair when you calculate who travelled more we actually have travelled 60-70km more than Wandong during the season. 

Shepparton United has been fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to host the Junior Grand Finals at Deakin Reserve. With that comes an enormous responsibility to provide volunteers throughout the day.

Anyone involved in community sport knows how difficult it can be to find enough volunteers at the best of times.

Five of our junior committee members and their families will be travelling to Seymour on Sunday to support our Under 14s.

These are people who would ordinarily be helping our club host one of the biggest junior football days of the year.

So while we may not have been successful in moving the game, we now really need our United community to rally around us in another way.

If anyone can spare some time to volunteer at Deakin Reserve between 1:30pm and 5:00pm on Sunday, please reach out. Even a small amount of your time would make an enormous difference. 

Throughout this process, we were given a number of reasons why the game couldn’t be moved. Each time, we listened to those concerns and tried to come back with possible solutions.

On Thursday, we were advised that ultimately the decision would come down to Wandong.

I personally attempted to contact the Wandong club president by phone, email and Facebook message because I genuinely hoped we could have a respectful conversation about the situation.

Unfortunately, I did not receive a response.

I completely respect that Wandong may have a different view to ours and may ultimately have preferred the game to remain in Seymour. However, given this decision affects children and families from both clubs, I do feel a conversation between the clubs would have been respectful and appreciated.

I am also disappointed with how the situation has been handled by the Junior League.

In communication sent to junior clubs yesterday, it was stated that:

“The finals venue allocations [were] communicated to clubs in June. The opportunity [was] provided to all clubs, including Shepparton United, to raise concerns regarding the venue allocations at that time.”

For clarity, Shepparton United did raise this concern.

On 12 June, our club contacted the Junior League via email and phone to discuss the possibility of changing the venue, as Shepparton United had been sitting second on the ladder throughout the season and there was a genuine possibility our team could qualify for the Grand Final.

At that time, we were advised that the matter would be looked at closer to finals.

When our boys then won their Semi Final and secured their place in the Grand Final, we contacted the league again, as we had been advised to do.

I think that context is important.

We were also advised yesterday that the photographer who takes the professional photographs (organised by the junior league) for the junior grand final had cancelled the trip to Seymour, so if there are any professional photographers who would be willing to travel to Seymour please let us or the Junior League know ASAP. 

There are absolutely lessons that need to come from this situation so another group of children, families and clubs aren’t placed in the same position in the future.

Because from the very beginning, this was never about trying to gain a competitive advantage.

It was never about taking something away from Wandong.

It wasn’t about making one team more important than another.

It was about bringing BOTH teams together with the rest of their league and giving ALL of these kids the Grand Final experience they worked so hard all season to earn.

Unfortunately, we couldn’t change the outcome.

So now our focus turns to Sunday.

We will travel to Seymour, we will show up., we will be loud and proud for our boys. If anyone would like to come and cheer on our boys we would like to see you there and your support would be greatly appreciated! 

As we will do everything we possibly can to make sure those kids run onto that ground knowing just how incredibly proud everyone is of them.

To  the 771 people who stood behind these kids and added their names to our petition, thank you.

Thank you for sharing it, for making phone calls, for sending messages and for offering solutions.

And most importantly, thank you for showing these kids that there were a lot of people who believed they deserved this opportunity.

It means more than you probably realise. ❤️💙

Now it’s time to put everything else aside and let the kids play the game they love.

Good luck to our United boys and to the Wandong boys and girls.

We hope you all have the Grand Final you deserve.

Go Dees! ❤️💙