By Teo Pellizzeri
April 25 2008
Shepparton News  

Football Federation Victoria has placed a $500 000 price tag on a licence fee for the summer soccer league it has proposed to start in October.
Entering a semi-professional team into the men's seniors division of the summer league competition could also cost as much as $200 000 a season.
The federation finalised its plans to introduce a summer competition in addition to existing winter leagues last month but until now had not released any costings.
Goulburn North-East zone, which encompasses North Eastern Soccer League, has yet to be set a deadline for when a bid must be made for the fiveyear $100 000-a-year licence.
Federation executive Mark Rendell and director Nick Monteleone presented the finalised strategic plan to club representatives of the North Eastern league in Shepparton on Thursday night.
Rendell has previously said he was 100 per cent confident the summer league, consisting of eight metropolitan Melbourne zones and four rural Victorian zones, would run this year.
Only one team may enter for each zone, but multiple bids within a zone can compete for licences.
The federation has also finalised the divisions for the summer competition, with under-13, under-15 and under-16 boys and girls and open women all competing as amateur leagues.
"The age-restricted divisions are set the way they are because they will be used to pick state teams," Rendell said.
Women's and junior teams can only pick players from the winter clubs in their zone but the men's semi-professional competition can draw players from anywhere.
A $200 000-a-year salary cap will be placed on the men's competition and can be operated by a different administration to the women's and junior amateur divisions.
"We're open to ideas on how team ownership and funding will work," Rendell said.
Victorian clubs in the Albury-Wodonga football league also fall in the Goulburn North-East zone and will hear the presentation from Rendell and Monteleone in Wangaratta on April 23.