In a situation he described as farcical, he said juniors in Moama cannot cross the Murray to play games against, or with, under 16s, 14s, 12s and 10s in Echuca.
“How pointless – these children are kept apart at weekends but are all put together in the same classrooms on Monday mornings,” Mr Walsh explained.
“The Goulburn Campaspe Junior Football League will begin its season this weekend and the Shepparton District Junior Football League began last week – but no-one in Moama is allowed to be part of it,” he said.
“They can cross the border for school, for the doctor, but not for something to help keep them healthy and engaged – something I would have thought was even more important in this COVID era, when so many have been, or still are, in virtual lockdown.
Moama junior president Brad Langbourne said the club had been forced to wait because every time someone in Moama enters Victoria, except for those with very specific border crossing permits, their return includes 14 days of self-isolation.
“So at the moment we are putting everything on pause. It’s unfortunate, but there is nothing we can do about it.”
Mr Walsh said the club or the league might feel powerless, but they need to start agitating at the political level.
He said the local clubs and the league need to fast track petitions and valid complaints and start pushing their case with both the Victorian and NSW governments.
“I am definitely happy to do what I can to get this ridiculous impasse sorted out,” Mr Walsh added.
“City-based people making these decisions just do not understand how things work in the country in general – and in river towns in particular,” he said.
“Echuca-Moama is basically the one town and people need to be going backwards and forwards all the time.
“While the priority for us all is to get Victoria’s infection rate down, and down fast, it is just incomprehensible that kids can’t all play in their local footy competition but they can all sit in the same classrooms every week.”
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