I think it's time Port supporters and others had a bit of a think about their illogical hatred of the SANFL.
Lets put $16 million in assistance to one side and look at the grassroots.
Please read this with an open mind and with your love of football uppermost.
If we look at just one player's path from juniors to the AFL from a SANFL club's point of view.
A young 12 year old plays for his school. The West Adelaide people come out to conduct Auskick. The lad progresses to West's Under 13, 14 and 15 Development squads, where he's coached by West coaches, kicks footies paid for by West and the SANFL, wears guernseys paid for by West & the SANFL, with umpires paid by the SANFL and trains and plays on ovals paid for by the SANFL and their clubs.
He then plays for West's Under 17's, ditto expenditure, West's Under 19's, more expenditure, and after years of being looked after by West Adelaide, he plays a few League games, with West paying all the expenses involved. Those expenses are multiplied by the hundreds of kids treated similarly, but it's worth it as West will get a good player for their senior team..
Then there's a day in November when the Port Adelaide Football Club makes its first appearance in this lad's life.
"Player Number 1234567, Hamish Hartlett, West Adelaide.
Here's $25K, West (given to us by the SANFL to prop us up), now piss off, he's our player now.
Fair enough, they're the rules, but West have spent years on him and barely get a game out of him.
That's fine, but if you want to continue to get players that the SANFL have groomed for you, then it's going to cost you a lot of money. About what the SANFL spend, actually.
See how that system works for you when you're putting tarps over seats.
As for Adelaide players, there's stories about so many of our greats and their time at West Adelaide. I've seen them all at close quarters.
Don't denigrate, embrace the SANFL, it's your lifeblood.
Great post, all this hard work,the expenses to the clubs, the hours of dedicated volunteers, the umpire coaching,the ground up keep, the different age level competitions that give players a pathway and a myriad of other tasks is conveniently forgotten.The alternative solution to the SANFL running football is" the AFL will step in."
Does anyone really believe that thrash is actually true, sure it rolls off the tongue well "the AFL will step in."
Step into what, if the system is gone then it's gone. It takes years and years to get enough people involved in clubs to get them functioning.
One poster argued that the SANFL is not football in this state, he even volunteered at an auskick clinic which had nothing to do with his local SANFL club; who organizes Auskick in this state, who provides the program not for one club but hundreds around the state.
Under his scenario the SANFL is only 8 clubs and if they die nothing will change.
My answer is everything would change . How I might ask if that whole network of clubs administrators, volunteers, coaches, trainers step away how are the AFL miraculously going to replace them in a state they have little presence in apart from their SA based AFL teams.
The SANFL oversees all aspects of football here either through it's own competition or it's affiliations with the other leagues.
Local clubs like Marion, Payenham etc won't step in to fill the breech. All clubs are struggling for finances, volunteers and players, not just the SANFL clubs. They just don't have the capacity and never will to coordinate or finance the various programs we need to keep young kids taking up football at a young age.
The grass roots structure of football is worlds apart from the two AFL teams at the elite level. They matter of course but so do the clubs that feed the draft that give games to tens of thousands of players each week.
A deal will get done but the reality is the SANFL are going to be in the equation. They need finances just as much as the AFL clubs do to survive.