By Sophie Wheeler
AFL Queensland are pleased to announce the Jindalee Jaguars will join the QFA Division 3 competition in 2019.
The announcement comes off the back of a fruitful 2018 season for the Jags, who finished in third place on the QFA Division 5 ladder.
Club President Corey Sells credits enormous club growth and participation across all age groups for the club’s successful license application and believes this is just the start of the Jaguars’ legacy.
“The whole club only had 99 players at the end of 2011, and we now have 437 from Roy’s Juniors football up to our Seniors,” Sells told aflq.com.au.
“What [the Division 3 license] has done is really secure a pathway for our youth to be able to continue, because there’s now something that’s really tangible to work towards.”
For the 2018 season, overwhelming numbers meant the Jaguars were forced to rotate a whopping 43 registered players into their single Division 5 team.
The Division 3 license allows Jindalee to field a whole extra team in 2019, which provides much-needed room for the Jaguars to develop their Senior Men’s program and drive the club’s health and support initiatives.
“We do a lot of off-field work with the entire club around topics like mental health and drug and alcohol awareness,” Sells said.
“Inclusion in the QFA Division 3 competition gives us room for another 25 people that we can keep around the club…They can enjoy their sport, but also we can ensure that we’re getting that education in front of them.”
Jindalee’s entry into the QFA Division 3 competition changes the senior men’s’ game day from Friday nights to Saturdays.
This lends Jindalee the opportunity to merge club events with their Colts team and their women’s squad, who took home the 2018 QWFA Division 2 North premiership in late August.
“We’ll be able to align our colts, senior men’s’ and senior women’s’ matches onto the same day. It’ll be a massive day on Saturdays.”
AFL Queensland’s State Football Operations Manager, Barry Gibson, said the Jaguars rise over the past few years is testament to the club’s clear focus on becoming a destination club for players from the local area.
“The club has been very proactive on many fronts and as result, have had exceptional growth at all levels and today’s announcement is another step forward in their evolution of a club that has become an attractive place to play for both males and females of all ages.”
The revamped QFA Division 3 competitions will kick off in early April 2019.
The 2019 QFA Division 3 Seniors Competition will include the following clubs:
- Griffith Moorooka
- Hinterland
- Ipswich Eagles
- Jindalee
- Kedron
- Moreton Bay (new for 2019 – former QFA Division 2 club in 2018)
- Pine Rivers
- Redcliffe
- Wynnum
