Woodside in $20,000 deal

After several years of financial trouble, the West Kimberley Football League is firmly on track this year after securing a $20,000 sponsorship from Woodside.

WKFL president Graeme Gordon said the league had a few financial setbacks in recent years and he was pleased Woodside shared the league’s plans for the future.

Part of those plans include the introduction of a 17 and over reserves competition which will see the league increase from eight to 14 teams.

Mr Gordon hopes the reserves competition will bring greater depth to the league. It will probably add another 90 players to the competition, almost doubling the league’s size.

In another addition to the reserves competition, which will comprise teams from the Bulls, Towns, Cable Beach, Saints and Derby, the longawaited addition of a team from Bardi will grace the WKFL regular season for the first time.

Rumours of a team from One Arm Point have surfaced regularly around this time for several years, but Mr Gordon said this year was the year for Bardi and he saw it as a stepping stone into the league proper.

“The reserve competition is targeting those young guys who are 17, 18 and 19 years old and might not get a spot in the main team but will now still be able to play footy every week,” he said.

“The reserves will play four 15-minute quarters before the league games of the senior teams.”

Woodside’s sponsorship includes naming rights to games and the premiership cup.

A Woodside spokesman said the company invited applications from community organisations and was approached by the West Kimberley Football League as part of this process.

“We believe the West Kimberley Football League plays an important role in the sporting and social fabric of Broome and surrounding communities,” he said.

The lightning carnival will also end this year with a function for all of the teams at the Mangrove Hotel after the final games on Saturday night.

Mr Gordon said it would be an opportunity for players from all the teams to get together, something which did not happen very often.

The WKFL season kicks off with the lightning carnival on April 15 and 16 before the premiership season starts on April 29, with the first game played under lights at Broome Recreation and Aquatic Centre.