Time for a stock take of junior football in the Eastern Bay of Plenty. I am curious to see if the rather shocking trend listed below is reflected in any other parts of the country...
In 2011, the last year our local committee ran our own football, I was the draw officer. We had the following numbers of teams:
6th grade 16 teams; 7th grade 14; 8th grade 18; 9th grade 18; 11th grade 18; 13th grade 9; High school girls 9. TOTAL 102 teams.
This year, the 5th year of the WaiBOP Federation running our football, we have:
6th grade 14 teams; 7th grade 9 teams; 8th grade 9; 9th grade 9; 11th grade 14; 13th grade 7; High school girls 7. TOTAL 69 teams.
While there may be many reasons for this, I am very concerned about the numbers in 7th, 8th and 9th grades, because they indicate our future.
How are the numbers in other rural centres? urban centres?