ANYBODY who follows the Bolton, Bury and District Football League Twitter feed @TheBBDFL will be aware the league has been criticised by certain parties, mainly from the cricket community, in relation to our vision to move more games to a summer programme due to the horrendous weather we are having to contend with and the long-term forecast looks like this may become the norm.

Severe weather not only postpones games and damages facilities, but it also has impacts the health and wellbeing of the youngsters who play the game and as such it would be wrong of us not to seek alternatives.

So what are the options? Continuing as we are is not an option as we are failing the game and the current and future players.

Indoor facilities and 3G are at a premium and just not available in the numbers required.

Summer football is the ideal option, but that would mean huge change for the traditionalists in the game which is a challenge for those involved in football and we need to consider the effect on other sports.

A key thing to remember about football for juniors is that it is played in this league on a Saturday morning and NO junior cricket is played on a Saturday and as such any impact would be at a minimum.

Prior to delivery of summer football in 2015 members of the BBDFL committee met with Bill Elkin at Greenmount CC to outline our plans and they were met with support as we sought to ensure the impact on cricket was a positive one, and Bill thanked us for our approach.

But if you look at the football model in the BBDFL in any of our age groups – and I will use under-12s as an example – we currently have 73 teams playing at this age group alone. This ranges from children who could easily hold their own in an academy to children who just play with their mates for the fun of football and if it wasn't for the opportunities of a league which offers something for everyone would not be playing the game now.

It is about an open-door policy to provide opportunities for everyone, whatever their ability.

The league is proud to lose players, coaches and referees to the academies, professional and semi-professional game or for employment or educational reasons and for every child, youth player, coach or referee that moves on, our model has meant double the numbers have joined to take their places.

We see the same with other sports, as we have seen players leave the game to take up cricket, athletics, field sports, golf, rugby and many more. This again opens the door to other players as we have a freshness about us which encourages diversity and turnover of participants to keep the game current and enthusiastic for all.

Certain people in the cricket world, in particular, have been quite stinging in the criticism of our plans stating that this will have, and has had, a huge detrimental effect on their clubs, albeit we have offered to support cricket clubs and all other sports for many years as we have a database of 1,200 coaches, 8,500 players, 150 referees and many more volunteers and supporters and as such have a target audience of around 25,000 people.

In many of these columns I have offered to promote and support clubs, leagues and events for all kinds of sports for many years as it is a simple task for us to send the information out to our members.

During that time, not one local club, league or event provider has ever contacted me or our committee to take up this offer of support and not one has approached the BBDFL to support us.

The view, from an outsider, is that those who complain are just concerned about holding on to what they have and are exclusive, instead of being open and inclusive. If they took a leaf out of our model they would see you blossom and grow by supporting those who wish to move on or try other things and have an open-door policy for those who wish to join.

I may be wrong in my perception, and would gladly work with any sport provider to grow all sports for the community.

Do I feel playing in summer will have an impact on cricket? Yes, as a minority will have to choose and some will choose football, but that minority can easily be replaced if you have the right process in place.

Do I feel playing in summer will have an impact on football? Yes, as a minority will have to choose and some will choose cricket or other sports, but that minority can easily be replaced if you have the right process in place.

Can both sports work together? Yes and the BBDFL is waiting for the first approach as we have been waiting for many years.

In my opinion, do I believe a March to October season is better for grassroots football moving forward? YES.

Is it something the BBDFL wants to implement in the long term? YES.

Why? It is in the best interests of the game and the people involved.

Will this happen? This will be up to the members.

When do we wish to start? March 2017.

What about other sports? Please get in touch now and let us build a mutual cooperation so we ensure the long-term growth and benefit for all sports.