Daylesford will be without its top two netball teams, a decision reported on the season’s eve. 

And the league will feel what it is like without Smythesdale’s marquee football team, a possibility that lingered for awhile before this club had to pull the pin.

At the core of both Bulldog breeds’ woes is a lack of players.

They are far from alone. They are just the first clubs in this region to make major cuts at the top – where the tone of a club is really set.

Central Highlands Netball League president Rebecca McCahon told The Courier most clubs were finding it increasingly difficult to field multiple teams. McCahon said the CHNL was working with Daylesford to ensure the club’s A grade longevity in the future.

This is a big call.

Cutting from the top will help ensure each club remains competitive in play. The senior teams, rightly or wrongly, are the general measure for club success. 

Not having any seniors in action can making recruiting and generating motivation in club ranks difficult.

It is a hard bind, because sometimes have a senior team out there majorly struggling can make it worse.

Did our clubs get too big too fast? To meet netball demand, Central Highlands has three senior netball grades. There are four in the small, neighbouring Ballarat Football League.

If you look closely, there are a number of netballers who juggle playing both leagues.

Footballers do not have this option under clearance rules – and they need more players lining up each week than club netball divisions combined.

Both sports are absolutely booming at a national level but the time, money, increasing professionalism and general commitment to play the grassroots game becomes more demanding. 

This hits hard in small communities where football-netball clubs can be the lifeblood keeping a town together. The parochial inter-town rivalry and country hospitality gives the Central Highlands football and netball a special vibe that the more city-based BFL cannot replicate, having a whole town behind you.

Changing town demographics may play a part. Hometown loyalty is not as fierce as it used to be.

Players tend to move clubs with friends and partners. Work constraints and family priorities have shifted across the board. Travel is a bigger consideration, week-in and week-out, especially in widespread leagues like the Central Highlands. Money talks.

These are a massive challenge for all clubs, perhaps more acutely for the clubs where football and netball are a pivotal part of small communities.

We will start to see and feel the ramifications from this weekend, with Smythesdale and Daylesford missing from action.

Perhaps this will be the spark our clubs and communities need to start thinking smarter, more flexible, to ensure longevity in a path to the league top. 

Otherwise more clubs will seemingly disappear.