Roast Community Football in crisis and the lack of response by the AFL

[pazza]

Many people would be increasingly aware of the growing number of community football clubs across country and metropolitan football that have gone into recess in the last 6 months alone. Seems everywhere you look, there is a club that has not got enough senior listed players to even compete.

There are of course many factors that has seen these results.

Growing communities not participating
Rural clubs losing population
Matters financial (lack of sponsorship and revenue)

But at the top of it all is the AFL and how it uses its ever growing bank balance.

Perhaps it is time that the nursery of the game itself comes first.

 

[Kwality]

Many people would be increasingly aware of the growing number of community football clubs across country and metropolitan football that have gone into recess in the last 6 months alone. Seems everywhere you look, there is a club that has not got enough senior listed players to even compete.

There are of course many factors that has seen these results.

Growing communities not participating
Rural clubs losing population
Matters financial (lack of sponsorship and revenue)

But at the top of it all is the AFL and how it uses its ever growing bank balance.

Perhaps it is time that the nursery of the game itself comes first.

You'd need to look at SA & WA where the SANFL/WAFC control local footy with State Government support.
How successful is the AFL administration of the game in the other States?

 

[Slartibartfast]

For decades Australia was a footy and cricket dominated sporting field. These days there are so many other options in team sports.
Then there is the modern dilemma of people moving away from playing sports as a pastime.
Then when you have the national body asleep at the wheel and letting things just take there course .

The result is very predictable. Clubs folding everywhere.

Change has to come starting at the junior level , it will take decades to make a difference. Money must be spent on making junior footy more accessible and support the clubs that offer junior footy.

Then focus must be made on retaining those players and supporting the clubs as players move into senior footy .

I think the mainland can look at what has happened in Tasmania where footy is becoming non existent Via AFL neglect.

I dont think it is rocket science , accessibility , marketing along with a fiscal input to grassroots footy Clubs. Why the AFL does not make this issue a priority astounds me.
I think it is like a government who is reluctant to spend on major infrastructure as it is not a big vote winner offering results right here and now.
This is along term project which needs embracing by the AFL.

 

[CrowToon]

People don't want to play community footy because it isn't worth risking your income so some bogan piece of s**t can cave your skull in.

This isn't just about AFL, this is also about the fact that for a long time clubs have stuck by thugs claiming they are 'good blokes' instead of banning them for life because enough people glorify the old days where violence was apparently a normal thing.

Parents then put footy soccer basketball etc up against each other and there is a clear loser so the only ones left are the kids of those bogans. Therefore parents see that budding violence occurs at the lower levels and the cycle continues.

Whinge about funding all you like but at the end of the day footy has a culture problem and that is the main reason there aren't enough bodies around to make sponsorship viable.

 

[Shane Heard]

We’re already more than halfway there with the fact that most gun 17/18 year olds recruits are drafted into the AFL system via elite private schools.

Community footy gets the dregs

 

[The Educator]

Many people would be increasingly aware of the growing number of community football clubs across country and metropolitan football that have gone into recess in the last 6 months alone. Seems everywhere you look, there is a club that has not got enough senior listed players to even compete.

There are of course many factors that has seen these results.

Growing communities not participating
Rural clubs losing population
Matters financial (lack of sponsorship and revenue)

But at the top of it all is the AFL and how it uses its ever growing bank balance.

Perhaps it is time that the nursery of the game itself comes first.

Is there any actual recorded list / count of these clubs?

There are perhaps 3,000 clubs in the country. If 100 clubs went into recess in one year that would be over 3 %. This would be a bit of a crisis.

Is it higher or, perhaps, much lower than this number?

I am always amazed by the resilience of some country clubs that represent populations barely in the hundreds but sustain two teams.

 

[Purple Suit]

The AFL doesn't care about community clubs. It's all about juniors into the elite system and then into the AFL. They need a second tier comp but they couldn't give a stuff about country leagues or amateur's as they provide no input into the AFL system, more the by product of their junior system.

With so many other options these days, only the middle to elite kids are staying and it's touch and go if they stay for very far into their 20's if they aren't good enough.

I just don't think the AFL will see it as a crisis until it affects their bottom line, at that stage it may be too late.

 

[Tas]

But at the top of it all is the AFL and how it uses its ever growing bank balance.

Perhaps it is time that the nursery of the game itself comes first.

The AFL isn't a bottomless pool of money.

If you have an oval and a footy then how much does it cost to run games? My suburban club always got plenty of small time sponsors from local businesses and it was enough to cover costs, the council pretty much looked after the ground and the facilities for free. Sponsorship paid for uniforms, everyone had to make their own way to away games. Volunteers ran the "social club" which was selling pies and drinks at games, it brought in a bit of money. The leagues that pull in a lot more money pay players, my suburban league was below that.

AFL withholds far too much money from clubs as it is, the AFL should distribute government funding towards grassroots development and can do their bit to raise extra funding for programs like Auskick, but people should stop looking at the AFL like they are a charity, they are non-profit but they aren't a charity.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

It's certainly an issue and is very tough. I can only comment on Victoria but for many years now it's perhaps been common for 1-2 senior clubs across the state to go into recess. It has absolutely snowballed this year and seems like there could be up to 10.

I don't know if it's a delayed result of COVID, there was talk that many clubs wouldn't come back from COVID but almost all did. It seems like this year is the big issue.

Footy is a difficult sport in terms of participation. I've said before... with sports like cricket or basketball, you can basically grab 5 or 10 blokes, a few fill-ins here and there, and you're away. A senior footy club needs a minimum of 50 players to play a season. People just don't realise how fragile it is.

I disagree with the comments that the AFL don't care about grassroots footy. They do. All the market research says those involved in the grassroots game are more likely to spend more money attending, watching, buying memberships and merch, all of that stuff. They're more connected to the sport and their value as a consumer is higher. If people are turning away from the game at grassroots level it's a sign they are disconnecting from the game as supporters to some extent.

You can certainly argue the AFL don't do enough or don't do the right things, but they do care. It's essential to their business.

There's a lot of long-term things that need to happen - most importantly I think the AFL has to do a lot more and go a lot harder and people of different backgrounds. These are very large sections of the Australian community - and growing - to whom footy is almost a non-entity.

One immediate change I would make is with transfers. I would put a limit on the number of players that can transfer from a single club to another single club in one year - say 4 or 5 players. That would perhaps stop these incidences you hear of groups of 20-30 players up and leaving one club for another as an entire group. It's not good for footy. If these groups can't go to a single club together, maybe it brings them all back to the table to work out their issues at a current club and stay there. Of course like everything else, there could be exemptions applied for in special circumstances.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

The AFL isn't a bottomless pool of money.

If you have an oval and a footy then how much does it cost to run games? My suburban club always got plenty of small time sponsors from local businesses and it was enough to cover costs, the council pretty much looked after the ground and the facilities for free. Sponsorship paid for uniforms, everyone had to make their own way to away games. Volunteers ran the "social club" which was selling pies and drinks at games, it brought in a bit of money. The leagues that pull in a lot more money pay players, my suburban league was below that.

AFL withholds far too much money from clubs as it is, the AFL should distribute government funding towards grassroots development and can do their bit to raise extra funding for programs like Auskick, but people should stop looking at the AFL like they are a charity, they are non-profit but they aren't a charity.

That there is another big issue that clubs are increasingly facing. Volunteers just aren't around. Whether it's changes in family units, people working different hours, people just not caring... there's never been fewer volunteers and people have never been less willing to help.

At my local club, 20 years ago the new squad of Under 19s would show up and without fail every one of them would have a parent (sometimes two) that would be at every game and even some training sessions, you could throw them a job and they'd happily do it. These days it seems like there's about 5 of them around. They don't even come to watch. It's a big shift.

 

[marcus1232]

A big issue with community is the have and have nots.

Take the EFL for example.
Technically the likes of Vermont are community clubs but in reality they are a professionally run business.

Where as a Nyora in the Ellinbank League for example is a genuine community club that basically survives year to year.

Juniors tend to be the lifeblood of these clubs and it is an extremely competitive market.
Most clubs with a surplus of juniors in a particular age bracket seem to be very hesitant and do what they can to hold onto these kids even though some may not play and those kids just wanna play with there friends even if it means missing out some weeks.

I think its incumbent on the actual leagues these teams play in to help them as much as they can to keep the afloat.
Unfortunatley alot of these teams are just a victim of logistics and populations in there area

 

[Rob]

What is it that the AFL is being asked to do? I'm certainly not disagreeing with the premise, but I'm a little in the dark with what the AFL can do in a lot of these cases.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

A big issue with community is the have and have nots.

Take the EFL for example.
Technically the likes of Vermont are community clubs but in reality they are a professionally run business.

Where as a Nyora in the Ellinbank League for example is a genuine community club that basically survives year to year.

Juniors tend to be the lifeblood of these clubs and it is an extremely competitive market.
Most clubs with a surplus of juniors in a particular age bracket seem to be very hesitant and do what they can to hold onto these kids even though some may not play and those kids just wanna play with there friends even if it means missing out some weeks.

I think its incumbent on the actual leagues these teams play in to help them as much as they can to keep the afloat.
Unfortunatley alot of these teams are just a victim of logistics and populations in there area

The salary caps and points systems put in place have certainly had an impact. People just dismiss them as easy to cheat but there’s no doubt they have had an impact. Sure some clubs don’t do the right thing and there could be some tweaks but all in all the impact has been there.

Funnily enough Vermont have been one of the hardest hit. In the space of a few years they lost Best, Eddy, Wale Buxton, Honeychurch and Schneider - possibly their five best players. You still see them sooking on Facebook about salary caps. Once upon a time they’d simply go and grab five quality VFL players in one off season on huge money and be straight back in a GF the next year. Now they can’t and don’t.

 

[master bate]

People don't want to play community footy because it isn't worth risking your income so some bogan piece of s**t can cave your skull in.

This isn't just about AFL, this is also about the fact that for a long time clubs have stuck by thugs claiming they are 'good blokes' instead of banning them for life because enough people glorify the old days where violence was apparently a normal thing.

Parents then put footy soccer basketball etc up against each other and there is a clear loser so the only ones left are the kids of those bogans. Therefore parents see that budding violence occurs at the lower levels and the cycle continues.

Whinge about funding all you like but at the end of the day footy has a culture problem and that is the main reason there aren't enough bodies around to make sponsorship viable.

I’m not convinced junior participation and pulling kids out of footy is a huge immediate problem. The AFL have done a fair bit of work to alleviate parents concerns.

I think the far bigger issue with senior footy is the lack of commitment for a wide variety of reasons.

Head injuries would be one of them. People are certainly aware of the danger and the recovery time.

General injuries would be another. Broken bones and ligaments really suck. And can be expensive to fix.

Financial commitment would be a big factor. Same with lack of financial reward for semi pro players.

Although the one I think that’s bigger than them all is society changing from Monday to Friday with not much happening on Saturday to a more 24/7 regardless of the day of the week situation.

Tradies would all play footy every Saturday. Now there’s a lot of cash to be made for skipping Saturday games. And that goes for a lot of jobs and finding coaches, umpires, volunteers.

A big shift that might have to happen is a decrease in full scale football teams and leagues and a shift to whatever AFL 9’s, indoor footy, pub league rules or veterans rules is occurring these days.

In the city that might not even be a bad thing. Obviously it’s a concern if country sides starting folding.

 

[Tas]

That there is another big issue that clubs are increasingly facing. Volunteers just aren't around. Whether it's changes in family units, people working different hours, people just not caring... there's never been fewer volunteers and people have never been less willing to help.

At my local club, 20 years ago the new squad of Under 19s would show up and without fail every one of them would have a parent (sometimes two) that would be at every game and even some training sessions, you could throw them a job and they'd happily do it. These days it seems like there's about 5 of them around. They don't even come to watch. It's a big shift.

Yeah, I agree the landscape is changing. I think there is just a lot less interest in football in terms of playing it at an amateur level. My club is gone, had to merge... several times, the league I played in is gone, it and two other leagues merged into what is now the Southern Football/Netball League. There are just 10 teams in it now. We have a lot of private schools in the region and they have their own two major private school leagues so there might have been more if not for that. None of these leagues have funding issues as far as I am aware,

I think that is going to be the reality, one of consolidation until you hit a critical mass of people interested. I think the AFL trying to keep tons of clubs and leagues going where there isn't the player interest to support them isn't viable.

A lot of people I know who used to play, just don't have time/desire to do it any longer. I think it is pretty easy to find sponsorship, the club in the SFL my club eventually merged with have like 10 major sponsors, there are a lot of corporations in Victoria at least that are willing to spend some money on local sports.

I just don't know what clubs are doing that they lack resources to play games, I can understand not having enough people interested in playing.

 

[Tas]

The salary caps and points systems put in place have certainly had an impact. People just dismiss them as easy to cheat but there’s no doubt they have had an impact. Sure some clubs don’t do the right thing and there could be some tweaks but all in all the impact has been there.

Funnily enough Vermont have been one of the hardest hit. In the space of a few years they lost Best, Eddy, Wale Buxton, Honeychurch and Schneider - possibly their five best players. You still see them sooking on Facebook about salary caps. Once upon a time they’d simply go and grab five quality VFL players in one off season on huge money and be straight back in a GF the next year. Now they can’t and don’t.

Someone I used to work with has some kind of association with Vermont, he used to talk about them when he was off his face during happy hour, they had access to a lot of money if what he told me was remotely true... back in the day.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

Someone I used to work with has some kind of association with Vermont, he used to talk about them when he was off his face during happy hour, they had access to a lot of money if what he told me was remotely true... back in the day.

The club owns two pokie palaces - the Wantirna Hill Club, which is their own pub, and the Lilydale International, which they purchased from Collingwood when the Pies “got out of pokies” and sold their venues.

Before the salary cap was introduced they were spending $400k - $500k per year on players. The salary cap came in at around $230k, and when COVID hit is was halved. I think it’s about $130k now.

Because they can’t buy players, they now have so much money with nothing to do with it. They’re not allowed to train on their ground during cricket season so are investigating building their own private training facility, possibly at a school if they can get an agreement for shared use.

 

[Demonic Ascent]

Good article again by Flanagan - part-Tassie team/part-community footy issues

The AFL had one job – protect the game. But in Tasmania, it’s dying

I love football, still do, and that’s why to every footy lover outside Tasmania I say – if the game dies in Tasmania, it can die anywhere.

www.theage.com.au

 

[Bunk Moreland]

What is it that the AFL is being asked to do? I'm certainly not disagreeing with the premise, but I'm a little in the dark with what the AFL can do in a lot of these cases.

There's actually little the AFL can do immediately. People tend to yell for money. But the issue isn't generally money, it's playing numbers.

The AFL needs to recognise that despite strong population growth, there are senior footy clubs falling over. Yes, some of it is shifting demographics in some areas, but it's not all that - it's happening in metro areas too.

The AFL have a responsibility to recognise and address it. Particularly in Victoria, where they control the game via AFL Victoria. There's no leaning on a WAFL or SANFL in Vic. They appointed themselves head to the sport and need to grow it, not have it shrink.

 

[Breretonisahood]

Not sure the AFL can micromanage down to the level of local suburban and country comps. In fact, I know some who want the AFL to stay as far away as possible. Clearly some comps like VAFA, EFL, Geelong leagues etc are doing very well. How do they do it? I also think that since the Mon-Fri 9-5 work week is long gone, availability of players, umps and volunteers has been affected. Here in Bris the Fri night comp is booming. Started as a social comp with 1 Div and now has 4 divs that are now full on competitive such that the viability of Sat arvo comps is being questioned. There are no ressies in this comp so player availability is much easier. Maybe some other comps need to think about forgetting Sat arvo and switching to another time slot. Also, do we always need to have a reserves comp if numbers are a problem?

 

[Kwality]

What is it that the AFL is being asked to do? I'm certainly not disagreeing with the premise, but I'm a little in the dark with what the AFL can do in a lot of these cases.

Here we seem to be mixing up junior development & the community based leagues, e.g the EDL, a very well run League that attracts players keen to keep playing the game after AFL aspirations are gone.

Not sure what that equivalent is in WA or SA.

 

[NorthernBastard]

I think the AFL would be happy for Australian Rules to go down the American path, where pretty much nobody plays competitively once they finish college, unless they're at a pro/semi-pro level. The more people they have consuming AFL matches and gambling on AFL matches, the more money they make.

Alot of other factors have already been mentioned, I think we're just living in a different world now - there is just so many options for how to spend your Saturday arvo, if you are lucky enough to work 9-5 Monday to Friday. The access to so much sport and gambling sees a lot of blokes who would have typically been at the local footy sitting inside at their house, or the pub, watching sport and punting.

So many local footy clubs are struggling for player numbers right now, so it will be an interesting time over the next few years. No doubt the pandemic has also had an impact, with young men and women picking up other sports and recreation activities, so the AFL will have to decide if it wants community footy to thrive, or if they're happy for it to continue declining.

 

[Hank Heavenly]

from a junior participation and elite pathway point of view, private school footy is slowly killing of local junior footy clubs.

What could the AFL do???

Well it could intervein and actually create a massive win-win for players, and umpires alike IMO.

Firstly, I absolutely can't see an issue with the AFL moving the NAB League (and WAFL/SANFL Colts) to Wednesday nights only, match of the week shown on FoxFooty (Kayo). Really promote it like College sports in the States. But to qualify, you need to play a minimum of 1/3 of the local games with your local club (5/15 games etc.) Really put the emphasis back on promoting kids from local clubs to NAB League, not just Private school kids, who play a handful of NAB games at the back end of the year.

Umpires get to go full time, and are required to umpire a NAB League game every week as well as their AFL/VFL appointment.
However, each week, a representative umpire from the local leagues gets to umpire a NAB League game (given their might be 4 of them now) to invest in a pathway for umpires.

At the moment, Private schools just offer scholarships to good footballers (and you certainly don't blame them for taking them either) and make them prioritise school footy, but even worse, the NAB League clubs pander to them and then make there little incentive to play local footy

 

[HBFlanker]

If we are talking senior community football, there's a simple reason why football is dropping away. Money.

Reserves players playing for the love of the game are now taking more opportunities to work on a Saturday. The world is more expensive and the income needs to come from somewhere. High percentage of playing lists being tradies means work on a Saturday will always be available.

Costs to run clubs are high. Ground maintenance, stocking the bar/canteen, player insurances, supplies etc. Money doesnt grow on trees for clubs.

Player payments - Very high for a lot of clubs

Many other reasons but these are the core.

 

[Taylor]

We’re already more than halfway there with the fact that most gun 17/18 year olds recruits are drafted into the AFL system via elite private schools.

Community footy gets the dregs

That shouldn't be the issue. Junior football clubs leading into senior clubs might have one player in twenty years who goes on to higher levels. Their meat and potatoes will be the young people and community it builds but how many young men and women want to play sport with their friends these days?

Most of the teenagers I know play sport through their school but not externally, which is a shame. A lot of the mums at school don't want to risk injury.

I get it. My five year old is fearless and I worry about him copying his dad from videos flying into opponents, diving at the ball etc. For all the little engineers and doctors and lawyers of the future that might not be a good passtime for weekends in their childhoods.