Our BFNL Netball Representative/Pathway Program will be going ahead for 2021. This is a junior program for 13s, 15s and 17s age groups.
Nominations are open now and if you are interested in being a part of the junior representative program for 2021 in the 13s, 15s or 17s age group, please fill out the Player Nomination Form (form link below) and return by email by the following dates:
Nomination forms for 17s to be emailed by: COB on 16th of February
Nomination forms for 15s and 13s to be emailed by: COB Tuesday the 23rdof February
You will need to email player nomination forms back to the Netball Manager:
Gemma Murphy at
The 17s age group tryouts will be held at the Lake Wendouree Netball Courts on the following dates:
Thursday the 18th of Feb: 4.30pm – 5.30pm
Tuesday the 23rd of Feb: 4.30pm – 5.30pm
Thursday the 25th of Feb: 4.30pm – 5.30pm
North Ballarat Junior Football and Netball Club, together with East Point Junior Football and Netball Club will host the annual ‘Pink Round’ on Sunday 16 July 2023 at Mars stadium.
This year marks the second year the clubs have come together to raise awareness of cancer and raise funds for the Ballarat Regional Integrated Cancer Centre and Breast Cancer Network Australia.
The initiative started after Junior Netball Co-ordinators for North, Rachael Murnane and East, Jodie Hodge were both experiencing breast cancer diagnosis and treatment.
The Pink Round will see more than 300 North junior netballers and footballers (both girls and boys football teams) wear pink Breast Cancer Network Australia socks.
The girls football program is also hosting a dinner, with a guest speaker to talk about the cancer journey and importantly how young people can support their friends and loved ones who might be experiencing cancer.
“We are really proud of the Pink Round and raising awareness of the importance of regular health checks and scans," said North Ballarat Junior Netball Co-ordinator Rachael Murnane.
"The sad reality is that so many of us are touched by cancer. Early detection is critical and if we can help to encourage people to book a check-up, then it’s been a success.
“We invite the community to come along to North to support not only the teams competing on the day, but to show support for everyone in our community who has been affected by cancer.
"We are selling raffle tickets and hosting a BBQ and a lolly stand will be set up at North netball courts from 8am till 3pm.
“We hope that everyone will come together, pink up and get behind the teams as they play for a great cause.
“Our North community has been extraordinary with every one of our junior teams being sponsored by local businesses and families for the cost of the Breast Cancer Network Australia socks.
“We’d like to thank our major sponsors Nicholson Construction, Bakers Delight and The Butchers Club.”
Find the full junior fixture for football and netball for start times and venues.
A quick-fire update on all the netball news from the BFNL, this first edition of Quick Shots includes a big boost to BFNL umpire development thanks to Netball Victoria, an update on the representative Pathway Program, and information on membership and coaching accreditation.
The league has been successful in obtaining a significant grant from Netball Victoria to boost umpire development.
In coming weeks, the league will provide more information about the 2021 BFNL Umpire Development Program, which will facilitate focused one-on-one mentoring for club umpires who aim to achieve their National C or B Grade badge. The umpire development program is a great initiative. It will assist in growing the numbers in our umpiring pool and improving our club umpires' skill level.
Information about the program and Expressions of Interest forms will be sent to club coordinators, or you can email BFNL Netball Manager Gemma Murphy at
Places on this program will be limited, so be sure to submit your interest quickly.
One of the league's focus areas has been preparations for the 2021 representative Pathway Program (formally known as Interleague).
We would like to announce our Representative/Pathway Coaches for 2021:
17 & Under Coaches are – Deb Hutchinson, Damien Mullane and Prue Douglass
15 & Under Coach – Katie Williams
13 & Under Coaches – Courtney Mclean and Kara Hart
Try Out Dates for the 13 & Under and 15 & Under Representative Teams
The 13 & Under tryout will take place on Wednesday the 24th of February from 4.30pm to 5.30pm. This tryout will be at Lake Wendouree Netball Court.
The 15 & Under tryouts will take place on the 4th and 11th of March from 4.30pm to 5.30pm. Both tryouts will be held at Lake Wendouree Netball Courts.
Anyone wishing to still nominate for the 15 & Under and 13 & Under representative team please email
Have you registered with Netball Victoria (NV) for the 2021 season yet? Do you know your NV registration covers you for trials and training, as well as playing throughout the season?
Junior Membership 11-17 years: $58
DOB: 01/01/2004 – 21/12/2010
Senior Membership 18 years & over: $78
DOB: on or before 31/12/2003
For more information about Netball Victoria Membership visit:
All coaches and umpires are reminded to ensure their accreditation is updated before the commencement of the 2021 season. Check your coaching accreditation through My Netball, and all BFNL clubs will be requested to supply details of their accredited coaches and umpires to the league prior to round one.
If you require more information about accreditation, you can access this via the following links:
https://netball.com.au/umpiring-accreditation
https://netball.com.au/coaching-accreditation
Coaching and umpiring accreditation is a Netball Australia (national) requirement.
The board of the McDonald's Ballarat FNL provides the following update on all competitions considering today’s announcement from the state government.
As of 11:59pm tonight (Monday), regional Victoria will return to the settings in place prior to the current lockdown. That is, community football and netball will be played with several protocols to be followed.
WESTERN BULLDOGS UNDER 9’s
The Western Bulldogs Under 9’s will continue to be placed on hold until such time as restrictions allow for suitable crowds to attend given a large number of players and their parent/carer concentrated at one venue.
BFLWomens
The McDelivery BFLW competition will resume from this weekend with games as fixtured to take place on Sunday 15thAugust 2021.
The variation to a full return is that games featuring metro-based clubs (Melton Centrals and Melton) will not proceed. The result of those games will see points shared and no percentage applied.
This will conclude the home & away season for BFLW and see finals commence as of the 21stAugust 2021 over three weeks.
BFNL JUNIORS
The McDonalds Ballarat FNL junior competitions will resume this weekend from the games as fixtured to take place on Sunday 15thAugust 2021. As with BFLW, this will conclude the home & away season for juniors in 2021.
The Ballarat Toyota BFNL Juniors Finals Series will commence from Saturday 21stAugust 2021, with the format of finals to be confirmed.
BFNL SENIORS
Whilst it is encouraging that regional-based competition can resume from this weekend, the Ballarat FNL is in the unique position of having senior clubs across both metro and regional communities. As a result, BFNL senior competition can only return when the settings for metro and regional communities are consistent.
Given the above, and the likelihood that many clubs will be impacted by the potential of metro-based players not being able to compete in a regional competition, the BFNL Seniors will not proceed this weekend.
The senior round 13 will be cancelled and no results given.
The league will await the next advice from the government to determine the status of the final home & away round on Saturday 21stAugust and the Carlton Draught Finals series due to commence from Saturday 28thAugust 2021.
The pathway ahead for the coming week is based upon advice that is known at this point in time.
The league is committed to ensuring the 2021 season can be concluded in the fairest manner for all clubs and supporters and appreciate the willingness of all stakeholders to be flexible as we work through the current protocols.
END RELEASE
The McDonalds Ballarat FNL is pleased to announce the appointment of Sally Kruger to the role of Netball Umpire Coordinator.
After a selection process that involved a number of highly credentialed applicants, Sally was selected to lead the development and education of umpires within the league, and to further grow the umpire panel available to clubs and the league.
Sally’s experience includes many years as a ‘badged’ umpire, officiating at the highest level in the region across both league and association netball.
Ballarat FNL netball continues to grow at a rate greater than expectations and the requirement for officials, including umpires has been identified as a priority.
Sally commences the role immediately and will provide a valued resource to clubs through the 2021 netball season.
END RELEASE
The McDonald's Ballarat FNL welcomes today's easing of restrictions that will allow senior football and netball to return to competition.
With crowd limits increased in regional Victoria to a maximum of 1,000 people, the last requirement to allow competition to return has been met.
As two rounds have been lost due to restrictions, the McDonald's BFNL senior competition will have a slightly different look and flow to the previous fixture published.
The senior football and netball fixture will be revised as follows:
The priority for the league has been to ensure all clubs play each other at least once, which is the minimum requirement to ensure a premiership season and will be achieved through the completion of round 10 scheduled for 17th July.
The revised game schedule ensures fixture integrity through all clubs having seven home and away games, along with two byes.
Looking forward, we wait for further announcements from the government that will allow crowds for metro-based BFNL clubs scheduled to host games in round eight.
This weekend will see the full Ballarat FNL competitions in action across BFNL seniors, BFNL juniors and BFLW. Western Bulldogs Under 9’s will resume this Friday night after a short break as well.
END RELEASE
The board of the McDonald's Ballarat FNL has today considered the announcement from the state government to extend the metro lockdown and the impact this has on the senior competition.
Given the lockdown has been extended at this stage until midnight on Thursday 19thAugust 2021, it has been determined the final round of the home & away (round 14) scheduled for Saturday 21stAugust will be cancelled and not proceed.
This action will result in the 2021 Home & Away season now being completed.
Ladder positions will be final as per the current results, which provide a true reflection of the competition given all clubs have played each other once.
The 2021 Carlton Draught Senior Finals series is still planned to commence from Saturday 28thAugust, dependant on updates from the government as this date nears.
The league will continue to show flexibility to ensure all finals can be played where possible with all clubs who have earned the right to participate given the opportunity.
Further advice and details around finals structure and planning will be provided in due course, but clubs eligible for finals are asked to prepare for the series to commence as of the date advised.
Details of the junior and BFLW finals series are being considered separately and will be advised at the completion of this weekend's games.
END RELEASE
The McDonald's Ballarat FNL looks to welcome a safe return to junior competition this weekend for regional-based clubs under eased restrictions.
The McDonald's Ballarat FNL welcomes today’s announcement of eased restrictions for regional Victoria and community sport.
Given today’s announcement, the board of the Ballarat FNL is working through the various protocols and guidelines, as provided, to ensure junior competition can be undertaken this weekend.
These competitions include the Western Bulldogs Under 9’s, BFNL junior football and netball and BFLW Youth grades (Under 14 to Under 18’s).
It is the league's intention that junior football and netball take place in an environment that is safe and has regard for the health and wellbeing of all participants and their families.
The further restrictions and requirements to allow competition are being clarified and will be announced as soon as they are confirmed.
As announced, senior competitions can return to training for regional-based clubs under a number of restrictions detailed to clubs.
We hope players and clubs are preparing for the various competitions that will return this week and look forward to further details as soon as they are available. It is anticipated full details will be announced within the next 24 hours.
END RELEASE
The McDonald’s Ballarat FNL wishes to acknowledge an error in the voting for the Under 15 Senior Football Best & Fairest.
The League wishes to advise of an error in the results of the Under 15 Senior Best & Fairest Award.
Following an error in the collation of votes for the Round 11 match between East Point & Darley, a recalculation of the votes has seen a change in the final leader board.
As a result, East Point’s Harry Charleson and Darley’s Mitchell Gardiner both finished on a revised total of 17 votes, equalling runner up Jacob Britt from East Point.
The league apologies for the error in counting and wishes to acknowledge both Harry and Mitchell for their outstanding 2021 seasons.
Harry played 10 games this season, including a further 5 in the Under 17 Reserves to assist with playing numbers throughout the year. Averaging over a goal a game. Harry’s season included four Best on Ground performances as adjudged by the umpires and appeared in his club’s best players on all but one occasion.
Mitchell’s season for Darley was equally as impressive, booting 17 goals for the season. Mitchell was named Best on Ground for the Ballarat FNL Under 15 interleague match against Bendigo in June. Four Best on Ground performances was also a highlight of Mitchell's consistent season.
Updated award info and club by club votes can be found below.
Award winners from the night are as follows:
Buxton Ballarat Junior Football Goal Kicking Awards
2021 McDonald's Ballarat Under 13 Seniors
2021 GJ Gardner Under 15 Seniors
2021 McCafe Under 17 Seniors
13 & Under Senior Netball Best & Fairest
Runner Up: Jemima Knobel (Ballarat Swans) - 17 votes
Winner: Ebony Porter (North Ballarat) - 20 votes
Under 13 Football Best & Fairest – The Lloyd Sims Trophy
Runners Up: Cole Hutchinson (Mount Clear) & Cooper Beseler (North Ballarat) - 15 votes
Winner: Armi Wakefield (Bacchus Marsh) - 22 votes
15 & Under Senior Netball Best & Fairest
Runners Up: Matilda Myers (Redan) & Arna Howard (Ballarat Swans) - 18 votes
Winners: Bridie Shanahan (Darley) & Maddison Lewis (Sebastopol) - 19 votes
Under 15 Football Best & Fairest – The Keith Rawle Memorial Trophy
Runner Up: Jacob Britt (East Point), Harry Charleson (East Point) & Mitchell Gardiner (Darley) - 17 votes
Winner: Jonty Faull (Redan) - 21 votes
Coordinator of The Year Awards
Junior Football Coordinator of The Year: James Bik - Ballarat Swans JFNC
Junior Netball Coordinator of The Year Award: Alissa Harris - Darley JFNC
Coach of The Year Awards
Junior Football Coach of the Year Award: Brett Dean – Sebastopol JFNC
Junior Netball Coach of the Year Award: Leah McDonald – Redan JFNC
Ballarat FL Interleague Coach Recognition
Football Interleague Coaches
Netball Interleague Coaches
Merv & Mary Howard Memorial Junior Club Championship
3rd: Redan JFNC - 189 points
2nd: North Ballarat JFNC - 190 points
Winner: East Point JFNC - 195 points
Special Presentation to Junior Footballers & Netballers
17 & Under Senior Netball B & F
Runner Up: Arlee Bennett (North Ballarat) - 18 votes
Winner: Bella Clark (Lake Wendouree) - 22 votes
Under 17 Senior Football Best & Fairest - The Gordon Wise Memorial Trophy
Runner Up: Jack Jeffrey (East Point) - 15 votes
Winner: Ethan McKercher (Bacchus Marsh) - 25 votes
Robert Allan Medals and Netball MVP Awards
13 & Under Senior Netball – Most Valuable Player Award
Winner: Ebony Porter (North Ballarat) – 11 Votes
Under 13 Senior Robert Allan Medal
Winner: Riley Hiscock (East Point) – 19 Votes
15 & Under Senior Netball – Most Valuable Player Award
Winner: Chelsea Oellering (Mount Clear) – 7 Votes
Under 15 Senior Robert Allan Medal
Winner: Samuel Lalor (Bacchus Marsh) – 15 Votes
17 & Under Senior Netball – Most Valuable Player Award
Winner: Bella Clark (Lake Wendouree) – 16 Votes
Under 17 Senior Robert Allan Medal
Winner: Joel Freeman (Bacchus Marsh) – 15 Votes
A full list of club votes - including the updated U15 Senior Football vote tables - can be found attached.
The Ballarat FNL is saddened with the recent passing of a stalwart of the league, Wayne Hankin. Wayne was a former chair of the league and with his contributions to the league over many years, was awarded a life membership of the Ballarat FNL.
Wayne held many roles with the BFNL from the late 70's and had been instrumental in preserving some of the rich and proud history of the league, along with his beloved Golden Point FC.
On behalf of all member clubs of the league, we pass on our condolences to the family of Wayne.
To recognise his passing, The Courier have written a piece in todays paper and can be read here: https://bit.ly/3cgKhG7
The McDonalds Ballarat FNL today announces several venue changes to Junior Competitions across football and netball this weekend.
In conjunction with the City of Ballarat and competing clubs, a decision has been made to move matches away from the Mars Stadium precinct this Sunday 11th July.
Venue changes have been made to avoid a clash with the Greater Western Sydney vs Gold Coast Suns match, now scheduled to be played in Ballarat this Sunday following recent fixture confirmations from the AFL.
As a result, the following amendments have been made to this weekend’s junior fixtures:
Both the Ballarat FNL and the City of Ballarat appreciate the understanding and cooperation of all clubs involved in the changes.
END RELEASE
The League in conjunction with the City of Ballarat has made a venue change for this Saturday’s Junior Football & Netball Qualifying Finals.
As a result of the current condition of Wendouree Reserve, the decision has been made to move Saturday’s games to Northern Oval 2, ensuring the ground does not deteriorate further ahead of Sunday’s Elimination Finals. The venue change includes all netball matches which will now be played on the North Ballarat netball courts.
The schedule for matches on Sunday will remain as originally fixtured. Please see below this weekend’s match schedules.
Saturday 20th August
Sunday 21st August
Admission fees now come into effect for all BFNL Junior Finals matches. Fees are as follows:
BFNL Junior Finals 2022
Admission fees provide entry to ALL BFLW and JUNIOR games on the same day. Please ensure you obtain a passout when leaving to obtain entry at another venue.
Venue Update - Junior Finals Week 1 Schedule
Following a successful return to senior finals after a three-year wait, the McDonald's Ballarat FNL is pleased to announce details of Week Two of the Carlton Draught Senior Finals series.
In football, Semi Final Two, and the chance to progress directly to the 2022 Carlton Draught Grand Final will be held at Macpherson Park, Melton on Saturday 3rdSeptember 2022 following the success of the debut at this venue. Semi Final One will be held at City Oval, Ballarat on Sunday 4thSeptember 2022.
Netball will see a slight variation with Semi Final One to be held at Macpherson Park, Melton Saturday 3rdSeptember and Semi Final Two, and the chance for Grand Final progression to be held Sunday 4thSeptember.
Melton will have the chance to grab a Grand Final berth should they win Saturday; however, Sebastopol will be a formidable opponent standing in their way. In the other semi-final, Darley will travel to Ballarat and take on the Swans at City Oval, the scene of their nail-biting one-point win over the reigning premiers last week.
With a full card of netball across both days and record crowds in Week One, the excitement continues to build as we head towards the 2022 Carlton Draught Grand Final on Saturday 17thSeptember.
You can see the path to the Grand Final below and find the full schedule for Week Two of the 2022 Carlton Draught Finals Series below. Want to download the schedule? Hit the button at the end of the article or do what we do and make an easy link on our phone by selecting Add to Home Screen under the web address.
In an historic night for the McDonalds Ballarat FNL, Woady Yaloak Football Netball Club has been admitted as an affiliated club of the league.
After a period of four years planning and support, Woady Yaloak FNC will be the 13th club member of the league and will formally compete in the junior competition from 2023 onwards.
With support from Golden Plains Shire, AFL Victoria and the league, the addition of the club will continue to cater for the growth of junior football and netball across the region.
With junior participation on the rise after the COVID period, Woady Yaloak meets the need of families in the region around Smythesdale and Haddon towards the Ballarat West growth corridor.
Fielding four football and two netball teams participating, the BFNL junior competition continues to grow and place itself as the premier junior competition in the region.
“It’s fantastic to have Woady Yaloak formally a member of the league after a lot of work to get to this point. Congratulations to Adam and Mark and all the volunteers and families that will be part of the league moving forward.”
The McDonalds Ballarat FNL junior competition will kick off on the 16th April 2023 with ten clubs competing across 10 age groups.
