A junior Australian Rules football coach in regional Western Australia says he will quit after his side was penalised for the size of their winning margins.

Two clubs in the Southern Districts Junior Football Association (SDJFA) along WA's south coast recently saw their big-margin wins forfeited to the losing teams.

The WA Football Commission (WAFC) brought in a 60-point margin cap for junior players in 2008 to encourage player development and retention over winning at all costs.

Spirit of the Game laws and policies, with local variations, exist across the country.

The SDJFA imposed the penalty in what is understood to be the first time this rule has been enforced in WA.

Albany side the Eagles beat their opponents by 95 points, while a junior Mount Barker side saw a win of 75 points.

Eagles coach Russ Clark has been involved in junior football for decades, but said this was the last straw.

"I can assure you I will never coach again, and maybe even from today onwards," he said.

"It's not fun anymore.

"They couldn't get a coach at the start of the year for this side because people don't want to do it."



Winning secondary to development

WAFC acting general manager of engagement Troy Kirkham said there are options for coaches to focus on player development.

"Learning to win and lose is a really important part of the journey for a junior footballer coming through the ranks, but it's got to be secondary to the development of the player as opposed to the 'win at all costs' mentality," he said.

"If you're going to get thumped every week you're not going to stay involved in footy, or whatever sport it is, for very long.

"It might be about [coaches] rotating their players around."

Mr Clark said he did everything he could during the match.

"We made all of the rotations as we normally do," he said.

"One boy kicked three [goals] so he was put to full-back to take him out of the game so he wouldn't get another kick.

"The boy that was voted the best player on ground after the match — he spent the third quarter on the bench."

Mr Clark also hit back at criticism that he should have switched players to the opposing team.

"So I should walk up to their coach at three-quarter time and say 'your players are useless, they are not any good at all, so here is four or five of mine?'" he said.

"I'm not convinced telling kids 'you are no good, here are some other kids' is making them feel better about themselves."



Committee happy with the penalty

SDJFA president Michael O'Dea said he stands behind the penalty decision.

"We as a committee, we had sort of had enough," he said.

Blank scoreboards — junior football coach Russ Clark says no scores are kept during matches. ( ABC Great Southern: William Marwick )

"We've tried different means and methods of communication to try and get messaging across to coaches.

"They would know that participation is a must, involving kids in skill development is a must, winning is secondary and it's a long way last.

"It's basically a warning, I suppose, to the coaches to say 'just slow down a bit, curb your ways'.

"We want to kids to have fun and you can still win, but just win sensibly."

Mr Clark said winning was not his focus.

"It's not the AFL, we don't have a score board. I wouldn't have a clue what the score is," he said.

"I think [the players] were really upset about it."