You're the AFL exec in charge of fixing community footy - how do you go about it?

[The_Wookie]

With another Tasmanian club going under, I was interested to hear ideas on how people think the AFL can help struggling clubs across the country.

Is it a lack of funds, lack of infrastructure, lack of players, lack of interest, or are environmental and economic factors at play? are other codes striking back?

 

[jatz14]

With another Tasmanian club going under, I was interested to hear ideas on how people think the AFL can help struggling clubs across the country.

Is it a lack of funds, lack of infrastructure, lack of players, lack of interest, or are environmental and economic factors at play? are other codes striking back?

You would need to know the circumstances. If a town has both a shrinking and aging population, which many do, then keeping a footy club going may be hard, and there isn't a lot the AFL could do about it.

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[pazza]

I would stop restructuring footy leagues. Let them run their own race, which has worked for ions.

I would then use about 50% of total revenue to flow directly into clubs for lighting and so on.

 

[greatwhiteshark]

So much has changed in the last 25 years both in society and footy and for many reasons they dont gel as they once did.

The AFL have focused heavily on Auskick and junior participation which was already pretty good, yet they forgot about the most important age group which is 14-20 year olds.
Young players are told or have an idea very early that they won’t play AFL and drop out very quickly from the sport as the AFL and the media pretty much sell your a nobody if you play below the highest level. Outside the exceptions very few young players have a mindset to play 200 games for their local clubs and instead quit the sport and go and watch the AFL.
From State leagues all the way down now they are struggling big time and what money is spent in football is being sent to administrators and junior footy.
The WAFC have an astronomical amount of employees which totals millions in salaries and one could mount a case footy footy was stronger in WA 35 years ago than it is today. Certainly state league and down were.
Solution is put the money into clubs and leagues and stop wasting it on administration and juniors.

The Eagles and Dockers pay a dividend to their owners of around 9 million a year yet only 15% gets to the WAFL clubs. This means the WAFL clubs can no longer look after their zones, which means less talent is recruited to the city and so on and so on.

I think it’s not fixable now and that is really sad because footy as a sport should be more important than one big league at the top.

Let’s be honest here, the AFL is about how it looks. The best way to do that is focus on young kids because it looks like you care.
The repercussions of that though are wiping out all other leagues one by one or at the very least diminishing their status.

So my solution would be the AFL fund the state leagues and let the state leagues look after juniors as it always was.

It really is a very bad situation Footy has got itself in, looks very healthy at the top but it is extremely sick from their down and all administrators in all states need to take responsibility for it not just AFL head office.

 

[Kwality]

What is community footy, anything not run bY AFL plus SANFL or WAFC ?

 

[greatwhiteshark]

Actually a good thread Wookie, reckon it should go on the main board for a week or two as I would think we all have an interest in footy at all levels and many more views may be posted on the main board.
Just a suggestion.

 

[The_Wookie]

What is community footy, anything not run bY AFL plus SANFL or WAFC ?

I define community footy as anything not AFL/immediately under the AFL/state level.

 

[jackster83]

I would hide behind the "growth of the game overall" line, which is no doubt inflated by the growth in women's football.

When my cover was up, I'd take the payout, and the AU pair and run.

 

[telsor]

You would need to know the circumstances. If a town has both a shrinking and aging population, which many do, then keeping a footy club going may be hard, and there isn't a lot the AFL could do about it.

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This.

A lot of the decline, especially in rural/regional areas (including Tas), is due to these factors and there is bugger all the AFL can do about it.

Other factors would include the increasingly sedentary lifestyle people have these days and more competition from other sports...These the AFL can try and influence, but the reality is they're only going to be chipping at the edges of what is a wide scale social change.

Best bang for their buck would be to spend their money on areas which have high numbers of young people not currently committed to particular sports (migrants particularly come to mind) or non AFL areas (NSW/QLD) and try and make up their losses there. Of course, this will mean more bad PR about country clubs closing, but in the long run, that's always going to happen.

 

[Collins-Langford-Ayres]

Use the money to help grass roots than over promote AFLX and AFLW.

 

[telsor]

So much has changed in the last 25 years both in society and footy and for many reasons they dont gel as they once did.

The AFL have focused heavily on Auskick and junior participation which was already pretty good, yet they forgot about the most important age group which is 14-20 year olds.
Young players are told or have an idea very early that they won’t play AFL and drop out very quickly from the sport as the AFL and the media pretty much sell your a nobody if you play below the highest level. Outside the exceptions very few young players have a mindset to play 200 games for their local clubs and instead quit the sport and go and watch the AFL.
From State leagues all the way down now they are struggling big time and what money is spent in football is being sent to administrators and junior footy.
The WAFC have an astronomical amount of employees which totals millions in salaries and one could mount a case footy footy was stronger in WA 35 years ago than it is today. Certainly state league and down were.
Solution is put the money into clubs and leagues and stop wasting it on administration and juniors.

The Eagles and Dockers pay a dividend to their owners of around 9 million a year yet only 15% gets to the WAFL clubs. This means the WAFL clubs can no longer look after their zones, which means less talent is recruited to the city and so on and so on.

I think it’s not fixable now and that is really sad because footy as a sport should be more important than one big league at the top.

Let’s be honest here, the AFL is about how it looks. The best way to do that is focus on young kids because it looks like you care.
The repercussions of that though are wiping out all other leagues one by one or at the very least diminishing their status.

So my solution would be the AFL fund the state leagues and let the state leagues look after juniors as it always was.

It really is a very bad situation Footy has got itself in, looks very healthy at the top but it is extremely sick from their down and all administrators in all states need to take responsibility for it not just AFL head office.

I think the changes largely come down to a combination of the increasing prevalence of TV and people having less free time (or at least, more options to use it), both of which focus attention on the top level, so while lower levels used to be able to fund themselves, they've now lost their crowds and consequently their revenue sources.

Fixing that so all tiers benefit from the one level that makes money would take a major change in the way the league/comp works...Something like a set percentage of AFL revenue being distributed down through the ranks (and onwards from there...so the WAFC can't give it all to the WAFL, etc). Given the AFL's demonstrated penchant for gaining/keeping control over as much as possible, I can't see that kind of decentralisation happening anytime soon however.

 

[telsor]

Use the money to help grass roots than over promote AFLX and AFLW.

The question is how do they do that...how do the 'help grass roots'?

 

[jatz14]

This.

A lot of the decline, especially in rural/regional areas (including Tas), is due to these factors and there is bugger all the AFL can do about it.

Other factors would include the increasingly sedentary lifestyle people have these days and more competition from other sports...These the AFL can try and influence, but the reality is they're only going to be chipping at the edges of what is a wide scale social change.

Best bang for their buck would be to spend their money on areas which have high numbers of young people not currently committed to particular sports (migrants particularly come to mind) or non AFL areas (NSW/QLD) and try and make up their losses there. Of course, this will mean more bad PR about country clubs closing, but in the long run, that's always going to happen.

People also tend to look at the negatives. My son played junior footy at a club in a small town just outside Bunbury. Years ago, there was a senior team there, which is now gone, however it moved, or died, and a new team with the same colours was created in a growth area near Bunbury.

Teams do fold, but new ones are also being created in the new, younger growth area's

It's sad for old clubs, but committing funds to clubs battling demographic change is probably just pissing money against a wall

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[FreoMonocle]

It's the community bit that is the most important thing, not the footy. Back when there were less things to do, the town footy team glued a lot of towns together. Get the community bit right and the footy can thrive.

So keep community mindedness as the main objective and people will hang around, to play, sit on committees or hand out oranges at half time, hang around for the post match bbq etc. Have a daily jog around the oval set up, people need exercise - but don't stop just because the footy season ends, also, why just players - encourage anyone from the local community to get/keep fit (community focus). Assist the local rotary or have a CFA involvement. Have a mens shed embedded in to the club, have 2 cricket teams running in the off season. Be to people, what tv, the interwebz, their mobile phones etc can't be, face to face human interaction - and routine exercise.

Otherwise, drinking beers while watching the tv in offseason - and then motivating yourself to get fit because footy season is approaching is a drag. It also highlights that it's not much of a community if it dissolves for half a year, every year. Also, it's not just a team of players - few of them bought their own boots as kids, it was mum/dad and a few neighbors that got you to games and it's the community that pay rates to council that keeps ovals going. So remember that footy is enabled by the community - so make it a welcoming place for the whole community.

 

[Isaac Cumming No 1]

Future of 'forgotten' Fish Creek footy club under threat

This may be the last season for the 125-year-old Fish Creek football club and locals are angry that the AFL is not doing more to protect the "heart and soul" of the district.

Read the full story
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-02-...oots-as-country-footy-leagues-suffer/10830802

I found this article interesting. It does seem that local district politics plays a significant part in the issues around country footy.

No problem with the stated need to provide more resources for the grass roots, but changing demographics does as well.

 

[Wacko23Jacko]

I’m no expert by any means on the politics and behind the scenes of local footy, but from an outsider looking in there’s sort of three key things I see.

The match day experience needs to increase - this is probably reliant on better sponsors and connection with local community and businesses. So more bums on seats and interest in footy outside the AFL (even VFL could do with this).

Better pathways from local footy to AFL. There’s a set pathway to follow and if you’re not on that narrow path it seems the AFL has no interest in what’s happening whatsoever.

More engagement with media etc. People are spending more time on their screens yet I see nothing from anything below VFL level.

Points 1-3 can go hand in hand really. It’s evident that contemporary society is more interested in “experiences” than sports, or something to watch. Look at the tennis for a very big budget example. Drinks flowing, live music, punters opening their wallets (doesn’t mean they have to be super interested in the sport!!). Turn footy into something that people will show up to for a fun day out. That makes it much easier to engage with people online too. There’s a plethora of talented bands kicking it around the country, get some music and entertainment happening. Connect better with local businesses to provide exciting food and beverage options. The more bums on seats and people in venues the bigger sponsorship deals that come etc.

I understand this won’t help the struggling country clubs where leagues are disbanding so much, but it would certainly help footy in more densely populated areas.

 

[HairyO]

100 years of community footy then along came the AFL to "fix" it.

 

[Papa G]

The Eagles and Dockers pay a dividend to their owners of around 9 million a year yet only 15% gets to the WAFL clubs. This means the WAFL clubs can no longer look after their zones, which means less talent is recruited to the city and so on and so on.

Is this $9 million dividend all that the WAFC get from the Eagles and Dockers? Do they have any control over other revenue out of the stadium ie food and beverage revenue?

 

[Wacko23Jacko]

100 years of community footy then along came the AFL to "fix" it.

While I do agree that the AFL have stuck their hands in and made a big mess of footy below AFL level - there is also the fact that society is very, very different in 2019.

A lot of people won’t even talk to someone who lives over their back or side fence... people spend hours a day tapped into the “world wide” web. People sit and play fort nite for hours at a time.

From my experience as an outsider and casual observer of local footy, local footy hasn’t done much to keep up with society either.

 

[NoobPie]

100 years of community footy then along came the AFL to "fix" it.

Sorry? People are whinging about the AFL not doing enough for grass roots footy. You seem to be suggesting they should be doing less?

 

[NoobPie]

With another Tasmanian club going under, I was interested to hear ideas on how people think the AFL can help struggling clubs across the country.

Is it a lack of funds, lack of infrastructure, lack of players, lack of interest, or are environmental and economic factors at play? are other codes striking back?

Which club is folding? I can't seem to find anything apart from this club Natone from the Darwin FA which is holding a crisis meeting

https://www.theadvocate.com.au/story/5917555/grassroots-footy-crisis-hits-natone/

Given that there are perhaps 1000s of country football clubs across the country, I don't think isolated stories of "country club in trouble" represents anything like a crisis

 

[greatwhiteshark]

Is this $9 million dividend all that the WAFC get from the Eagles and Dockers? Do they have any control over other revenue out of the stadium ie food and beverage revenue?

The WAFC get a set amount per year for having their two AFL sides play at the new stadium. I don’t know the figure but it’s oretty substantial and it’s for approx 20 years locked in.

 

[chiwigi]

Running a club is bloody hard work and the volunteers are rarely properly recognised by players etc. Once these guys start giving up or slowing down, the clubs usually disappear.

You also have players who just take from the clubs (by leaving once their playing days are over instead of giving back). I think this attitude has been created by the 'professionalism' of the game, that the AFL is the be all and end all.

Therefore as AFL exec in charge, I would provide stipends and incentives to the 'volunteers' at a club that can prove service.

For example: Free AFL club membership to lower grade club coaches, AFL GF ticket final guarantee to the chairman of a club, fee free season for players that coach underage teams, Gold and Silver AFL Membership to long serving club officials etc.

 

[BringBackTorps]

Which club is folding? [Circular Head Smithton Giants, NW Tas.

https://www.theadvocate.com.au/story/5905471/restructure-call-for-circular-head-footy/

This is a very important topic. The female AF playing boom is "disguising" to an extent, the male GR AF loss of market share, cf other sports' male playing nos., in Vic., WA, SA- & the Tasmanian disaster.
The raw no. of males playing AF are at record highs in Aust. in 2018. The population has increased nearly 100% since the 70's. GR AF is growing strongly in NSW, Qld., & ACT

A range of factors to consider:-

1. declining/ageing populations in many small rural/regional areas.

2. increasing attraction of computer games/internet/other sports for younger people

3. fewer % of juniors & adults play any competitive sport, cf. previous decades (but adult gym memberships, male & female, have exploded in last 10 years)

4. 23% of kids are now in single parent families, nearly always headed by the mother. In 1970, the figure was 5%.
This hurts AF jnr recruiting. Traditionally, it was, overwhelmingly the influence of the at-home father which encouraged a child to play AF- not the mothers, who are often very fearful of injury in AF.

The divorce rate is now c. 35%. Fathers, usually, have custody on weekends of their kids. This inhibits a father who has 2, or more, kids from encouraging his kids to play AF- if the kids did, he might have to "abandon" one for several hours whilst attending to the other one.

5. AF has failed, generally, to recruit players (whether born in Aust., or not) from an Asian or Middle Eastern background- c.13% of the Aust. population.
The VAFA has demonstrated, however, that in the right environment (mainly school Old Boys' Clubs), players from Asian backgrounds play in good nos.

6. In Vic., WA, SA, Tas. (not sure about NT), the AFL competition has become less popular. Since 1970, cf recent years, there has been a significant per capita decline in AFL crowds in those states. And facilities are superb now at AFL grounds (mostly centrally located, easy to attend by public transport, games over multiple times/days).

The per capita decline may be, partially, attributed to the low-scoring, congested, scrappy playing style in the AFL. Also, the phasing out of the VERY popular glamour full forwards kicking 80+ goals pa; & the loss of the VERY popular one-on-one contests ("game within a game").

AFL club tribalism has also been reduced, with so many players now swapping Clubs. If the players aren't loyal, why should fans be committed.

This reduces the "glamour/attraction" for people (if they are not wanting to attend AFL games) to play the game.

7. A general decline in people wanting to be "community-oriented". There has been a decline in church attendances, political party memberships, benevolent groups/charities (eg scouts, Rotary, Lions Club etc.)

8. The AFL's reputation amongst parents is being diminished by the constant reports of a sizeable minority of players using illicit, non-performance enhancing drugs.
There are now a multitude of other sports available that parents can encourage their kids to play. Once, it was only AF in winter & cricket in summer.

https://www.sen.com.au/news/2019/02/20/multiple-club-presidents-slam-afl-illicit-drug-policy/

9. Adults tend to work longer hours in recent decades- & are in less secure employment (ie self-employed; or often on 12 month Contracts, part time, casual, work some/most Saturdays). Capital city housing costs are now very expensive, people have much bigger debts/mortgages. Rents are also, relatively, much higher than previous decades (both costs as a % of median incomes).

Young adults now are, often, "big spenders" & very poor savers, cf previous generations- perhaps a reason so many are working longer hours & on weekends.

These financial stresses may result in many adults not having the free time to train during the week, & play every Saturday.

 

[The_Wookie]

Which club is folding? I can't seem to find anything apart from this club Natone from the Darwin FA which is holding a crisis meeting

https://www.theadvocate.com.au/story/5917555/grassroots-footy-crisis-hits-natone/

Given that there are perhaps 1000s of country football clubs across the country, I don't think isolated stories of "country club in trouble" represents anything like a crisis

Smithton - https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-02-21/small-town-footy-club-struggles-to-get-players/10830258