Cricket Victoria and Football Victoria have reached an agreement on a framework to assist in the transition between the two sports from winter to summer seasons.
This latest agreement provides further clarity for community soccer and cricket clubs, and local government authorities, for grounds shared between the two codes after Cricket Victoria and AFL Victoria reached a similar agreement for grounds shared between Aussie Rules footy and cricket.
With the ongoing impact of Covid-19, the two governing bodies have sought to maximise participation for both cricket and soccer, and have provided a framework for competitions and local governments to plan ahead, allowing adequate time for governments and ground managers to transition grounds and minimise any overlap of participants and parents involved in both sports.
Cricket Victoria CEO Andrew Ingleton said it was pleasing to reach an agreement with Football Victoria, adding that he hopes the transition between the two sports can be as simple as possible.
“We’re pleased to have reached an agreement with Football Victoria that will hopefully make the transition phase easier for the many participants, volunteers and local governments involved across both sports as they navigate the challenges presented by Covid-19,“ he said.
“We thank Football Victoria for their cooperation in formulating this framework.”
Both organisations share more than 200 grounds across the state, and stakeholders from both sports have worked together with the Victorian State Government to establish the following framework:
All cricket grounds shared by soccer are able to be transitioned to cricket from 28 September, while all turf ovals will not be used for soccer after 27 September.
Football will prioritise fixturing for matches played after 1 October to single use facilities, then shared facilities with synthetic pitches.
The junior soccer home and away season will conclude by 4 October and finals/relegation matches by 11 October.
Senior soccer competitions on shared grounds will conclude on 18 October, while Cricket Victoria competitions on shared use facilities can commence from the following dates, provided it is safe to do so: Premier Cricket first and second XI men’s and women’s from 10 October, junior competitions from 16 October, and all other senior competitions from 23 October.
