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Review of Football in Country Victoria

Peter Jackson – AFL Victoria Chairman

October 2011


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CONTENTS

Page

1. Introduction 3

2. Acknowledgements 4

3. Terms of Reference 5

4. Glossary of Terms 11

5. Executive Summary 15

6. Scope of Work 26

7. Findings 30 1) Participation Trends 31 2) Local Game Development Issues 40 3) Structural Issues 43 4) Volunteers 53 5) Umpires 56 6) AFL Talent Programs 61 7) Player Pathways 65 8) Netball 67 9) Soccer 69 10) 2004 Parliamentary Inquiry 71 11) Other 72 12) Conclusions 73

8. Recommendations 77 1) Decentralise Authority 77 2) Additional Resources for Regions 78 3) Umpires and Volunteers 79 4) NAB AFL Auskick 79 5) AFL Victoria Talent Program 79 6) VCFL 80 7) Netball 80 8) Other 80

9. Implementation 83

10. Closing Remarks 85

11. Appendices 86


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1. INTRODUCTION

Victorian country football is a critically important asset for the AFL.

It has about 78,000 players (excluding VCFL affiliated clubs in defined AFL Victoria Metropolitan Regions) or about 12% of the total players in Australia.

In terms of the other traditional major football states in Australia, country Victoria has almost the same number of players in the whole of South Australia and about 75% of the number of players in the whole of Western Australia. The number of players in country Victoria is over twice the number in either country SA or country WA.

Country Victoria has provided 22% (279 of a total of 1281) of the draftees into the AFL competition since 1997.

There are 82 leagues, 702 clubs, and 2,867 teams affiliated with VCFL. There were 16,364 NAB AFL Auskick participants in country Victoria in 2010.

When the Review into Football in Country Victoria (Review) was announced, I was clear in stating the Review was not just about the VCFL, or clubs and leagues affiliated with the VCFL. The Review would be about all aspects of football in country Victoria. The Terms of Reference clearly spelt that out. The Review included AFL Victoria’s operation of NAB AFL Auskick, schools football, coach accreditation and the individual TAC Talent Programs, and how they fit into country Victoria from a governance and structural viewpoint, as well as the governance and structures of the VCFL affiliated leagues.

It became apparent to the Review team early in the visits to the regions the Review did indeed need to cover the whole of football and any distinction between VCFL and AFL Victoria operations in the Review was neither relevant nor appropriate. The recommendations we have made look at country Victoria as a whole with no clear distinction between the VCFL and AFL Victoria. We are firmly of the view that for football to flourish in country Victoria, it requires a ‘whole-of-state’ approach.

It is essential football in country Victoria at a minimum retains its current status in the Australian Football landscape.

There are parts of country Victoria where football is in decline, often through no fault of the local administrators and volunteers. There are other areas however, that are growing strongly due in part to significant demographic changes and the urban sprawl of Melbourne. We have to ensure these growth areas build the capacity to handle this growth so football stays the paramount sport in those regions. We have to build the capacity of the regions facing population declines so the impact on football can be mitigated as much as practically possible.

Our recommendations are focussed unashamedly around the sustainability of the club, not necessarily the sustainability of leagues. For country Victoria to maintain its status and indeed grow, the clubs must be vibrant and financially sustainable. This means putting support resources more directly at their disposal, providing training and development more directly, and reducing the cost of participating in competitions.

This requires a change in the current governance structures around country Victoria and it is incumbent on administrators of all governing bodies, including leagues and umpire associations, to consider this for the future well-being of the clubs and the game. The recommended changes are not so much a reflection of what is wrong, or a response to criticism of the current governance structures, but a reflection of what is needed over the next 10-20 years given the issues confronting football and clubs in country Victoria.


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2. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

On behalf of the Review team, I would like to thank all the people who contributed to the Review.

Members of the team met personally with a number of league administrators and volunteers, umpire associations, AFL Victoria staff, councils, and other stakeholders and interested parties. In some cases, the people involved travelled distances to meet with us. The discussions were always conducted in an open, transparent and constructive manner, and were vital in developing the team’s views and conclusions.

We have used many of the quotes made during those discussions in this report. They are important to validate some of the Review team’s findings. All the quotes (plus others) are listed in appendix eight. However, for the sake of confidentiality, we have avoided identifying the person who made the quote where we think it appropriate.

We received a large number of written submissions, which in the main were extensive and constructive.

Most volunteers and administrators around country Victoria already have a high workload and the time and effort involved in preparing these submissions would have been considerable. The AFL, AFL Victoria and those who play and support football in country Victoria owe these volunteers and administrators a debt of gratitude for what they put into the game. They do it for the love of the game and certainly not for any personal financial return. The team appreciates the extra effort involved in contributing to this Review.

We also acknowledge the contributions from those councils who met with us and provided written submissions. Councils are very significant stakeholders in our game and we respect and appreciate the contribution they make to its success. Their contribution to this Review is also indicative of the importance they place on the game to the overall well-being of their communities.

We would like to acknowledge the VCFL Board and Management. The team met with the Chief Executive Officer Steven Reaper, as well as the President Nicholas Rolfe and Vice President Gerard Lucas. These meetings were open and constructive. The written submission received from the VCFL is extensive and professional. CEO Steven Reaper was also available and co-operative at all times in responding to ongoing enquiries from the team.

Finally, as Chairman and leader of the Review, I would like to acknowledge the support and contribution of members of the Review team, in particular Jim Cail, who has been on the whole journey, as well as Mark Riddiford and Darryl Collings who provided valuable input along the way.


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3. TERMS OF REFERENCE

The “Terms of Reference” for the Review of Football in Country Victoria were released on Wednesday 1st June at a meeting with VCFL affiliates, conducted at Visy Park, Carlton.

INTRODUCTION

The AFL Chief Executive Andrew Demetriou has announced a review of the governance and structures of football across country Victoria. He has requested Peter Jackson, in his capacity as Chairman of AFL Victoria Limited, to lead that review.

The AFL’s commitment to football in country Victoria is significant. The VCFL is the governing body for leagues that play football in country Victoria, and together with their affiliated leagues, meet the cost of participation and development of those leagues.

The AFL however also makes a very significant additional financial contribution to the well-being of country football, being direct grants to VCFL of almost $600,000 and indirect investment in excess of $2.8 million for TAC regions, annual U/16 and U/18 country championships, and wages for development managers and officers employed in country regions by AFL Victoria. On top of this is the investment made in the State Government’s Country Football and Netball Program, the annual AFL Community Camps for AFL Clubs that visit country Victoria and the pre-season NAB Challenge games played in country Victoria.

The AFL has seven key development objectives for the game. AFL Victoria is charged with the responsibility of achieving these objectives in Victoria, by working together in a collaborative fashion with its major affiliates, one of which is the VCFL.

The seven key development objectives are:

1. Participation – to develop and support pathways from NAB AFL Auskick to open age football that maximise participation.

2. Community – to support leagues, clubs and schools to provide quality environments and management to motivate volunteers, umpires, coaches, teachers and sports trainers for all levels of Australian football.

3. Engagement – to develop community engagement initiatives that add social value and support access to broader pathways for inclusive environments, particularly in the indigenous and multi-cultural communities.

4. Talent & Second Tier – to establish best practice talent pathway and enhance Second Tier competitions to identify, attract and develop first choice athletes as well as provide a career path for talented umpires and coaches.

5. Facilities – to collaborate on facility development for the community football network of leagues, clubs and schools.

6. Fan Development – to build relationships with the community to develop fans of the game.

7. People & Culture – to attract, develop & retain quality people and develop a high performance culture in line with our values.


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PURPOSE

The purpose of the Review was too;

(i) To examine current governance and structures of football in country Victoria, including AFL Victoria Development and NAB AFL Auskick, TAC Talent Programs and pathways, the VCFL and its affiliated bodies, and the AFL Engagement programs, to determine;

- the effectiveness of these structures; - the level of duplication of resources and administration effort; and - the levels of collaboration between various stakeholders;

and assess their impact on firstly achieving the seven key development objectives, and secondly, ensuring the AFL grants and investment provided to country Victoria is being used most effectively;

(ii) To make recommendations to the AFL and the VCFL and its members as to how the

governance and structures between these bodies may be improved in order to maximise collaboration between all parties, and thereby ensure;

- the seven key development objectives in country Victoria can be achieved; and - the governance and structures are most cost effective.

The AFL and AFL Victoria recognise that member leagues of the VCFL, and the VCFL itself, are autonomous bodies responsible for the management and conduct of football competitions under their jurisdiction.

BACKGROUND

In his report in October 2001 titled “Investing in the Future of Australian Football”, then AFL Commissioner Colin Carter recommended as one of his ten initiatives the following;

Exploring more efficient ways of working together: The structures that govern football were put into place many decades ago. We want to initiate a discussion with our state and local league partners to assess what organisational relationships will best serve football in coming years. The football system now employs substantial staff and resources. Our focus should be on improving the system’s effectiveness, putting into place more rigorous performance measurement systems and reducing duplication of effort.

This recommendation was based on his findings under the heading of “Football’s governance structures are costly and out of date”. Some extracts under that heading are as follows;

Football, especially in the traditional states, is built around structures – leagues, regional and state bodies – that reflect our long history and have grown ‘from the bottom up”.... So much of what happens in football’s ‘development industry’ reflects these inherited organisational structures and administrative arrangements.

It is clear that the many levels of Australian football have not worked well together. The code has long operated as a series of ‘silos’, between states, leagues and clubs, and even inside the AFL competition. Turf has been protected, and potential partners ‘in the greater cause’ have been treated as enemies. There has not been a concerted ....approach to developing the game.

Political differences between national, state and regional bodies consume energy and block change.


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“For an AFL development initiative to have any influence on a participant in country Victorian football, it has to get past 6 levels of governance. First the board of Football Victoria, then the Development body, then the VCFL Board, Regional Board, League Board and finally the Club Board” – interview with Administrator

As a result, various states and leagues duplicate their efforts and typically fail to share ideas, resources and strategies, despite commonality in issues and interests.... This lack of co-ordination is costly......The result of the lack of co-ordination is more costly and poorer delivery of services to local football clubs and leagues....The vision should be for more collaboration....

The dominant themes underlying a structure would be collaboration and sharing, to ‘think national and act locally’.

Our overall conclusion is that Australian football should not waste its limited resources by constantly re-inventing the wheel. The challenge is to adopt a co-ordinated, unified approach to tackling the issues. ‘Silos’ are no longer affordable. Performance and outcomes must be measured and communicated.

That report was adopted by the AFL. Then Chairman Ron Evans at a pivotal meeting of the AFL and AFL Clubs made the now well known statement ‘Ultimate competition on the field - Ultimate collaboration off it’. This has lead to a greater level of collaboration at the highest level.

AFL Development has adopted the theme on a national level, with the concept of ‘think national, act locally’.

However, it is not apparent that the level of collaboration and sharing has improved and the removal of costly ‘silos’ has occurred in Victoria generally. This was apparent in discussions with stakeholders in metropolitan areas during the transition from Football Victoria Limited to AFL Victoria Limited.

Some initiatives have been taken in country Victoria. In 2005 the VCFL structure was changed from 10 regions to 4 Areas, each with an Area Manager. Central administration hubs have also been created to reduce administration effort and costs. However, in terms of governance, Football Geelong is the only ‘hub’ that runs with an independent commission that oversees more than one league. All other hubs still have independent governance structures for participating leagues.

It is also most apparent that Melbourne is undergoing one of the most significant demographic changes in its history. This is being reflected not only by the fact that Western Melbourne is now officially the fastest growing region in Australia, but also by other growth corridors extending into what were once regarded as country regions. As a result, the boundaries between metropolitan and country in some areas of Victoria have become blurred; as has the concept of whether leagues in these regions are now metropolitan or country leagues, or a mix of both.

In 2003-2004 the Victorian Government conducted an inquiry into country football through the Rural and Regional Services and Development Committee. An extract of the Chair, Mr Ben Hardman MP, forward contained in the final report December 2004, included:

Although country football clubs and leagues have amply demonstrated their ability to ‘help themselves’, there remains areas where additional support would be welcomed. The Committee has made a range of recommendations directed at football’s peak bodies and local and state government, which are designed to provide this support. It is apparent that volunteers in sporting clubs would benefit from additional assistance to meet their many financial and legal obligations. It is also clear that the huge potential of country football is being constrained by the often poor and inadequate state of some grounds and facilities. The Committee has made funding recommendations to address both of these issues. However, the injection of additional funds into


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country football will not be sufficient to ensure its continued success. The Committee also believes the Australian Football League, Football Victoria and the Victorian Country Football League should continually review and improve aspects of their operations to ensure that they are adequately responding to the needs of people in rural and regional Victoria who play and support grassroots football’.

The intent of this review is to ensure that football’s peak bodies adequately respond to the future needs of country football.

THE VICTORIAN COUNTRY FOOTBALL LEAGUE (VCFL)

Under its Statement of Purpose, the VCFL has the responsibility to “promote, control, manage, encourage, develop and foster the Australian game of football”.

The VCFL Constitution states this purpose is to be conducted in “The State of Victoria with parts of New South Wales and South Australia (which) shall be divided into amalgamated areas to be known respectively as East, North East, North West/Central and South West or such other areas as may be determined by the Directors from time to time.”

Eligible bodies that may be affiliated with the VCFL include

“All:

(i) Country Football leagues and associations which conduct a competition of the Australian game of Football within Victoria and in parts of New South Wales and South Australia; and

(ii) other country football associated bodies (including umpire associations),

in all such cases as determined by the Directors from time to time..........”

The VCFL 2011 Handbook lists the contact details for 79 VCFL Leagues, of which 25 fall under the administration of other leagues, presumably as part of ‘hubs’. It lists 30 Umpiring Associations.

The handbook also lists 19 staff of VCFL, 13 of whom are listed as being employed in Melbourne.

There is one Area Manager for each of the regions specified above; a total of 4 Area Managers for country Victoria. The role of these Area Managers is;

Clubs & leagues first port of call for all day to day matters

The communication channel to the VCFL and from the VCFL to its affiliates

This Review will seek submissions and feedback from all VCFL Leagues and Umpiring Associations. In many cases this will include face to face interviews, however, where that is not practical for timing reasons, the Review will seek written feedback based on a ‘to be determined’ format.

TAC TALENT PROGRAMS

There are 6 AFL Victoria TAC Regions in Victoria that are responsible for talent programs and pathways in country Victoria, being Bendigo Pioneers, Geelong Falcons, Gippsland Power, Murray Bushrangers, North Ballarat Rebels and the Dandenong Stingrays. Each TAC Region is managed by a Region Manager and has 2 or 3 Development Officers. The Region Managers report to AFL Victoria Head Office.


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The Review will seek feedback from the Regions and the Leagues in each region, as to the effectiveness of the programs and pathways, including the adequacy of programs post the TAC for players not drafted to the AFL.

AFL VICTORIA DEVELOPMENT

There are 13 AFL Victoria Development Regions within the larger 6 TAC Regions, managed by Development Managers who report to the Head Office of AFL Victoria.

Core development activities include NAB AFL Auskick, coaching programs, school football, AFL player appearances and assisting with TAC development squads.

The review will seek feedback from the Regions and the Leagues in each region, as to the effectiveness of development programs and impact on the quantity and quality of participation across the age levels.

COMPETITORS & OTHER STAKEHOLDERS

The Review will seek feedback from other key external stakeholders to football including State Government and various local councils/municipalities.

The Review will also look at the structures and programs of major competitor sports, notably Football Federation Victoria, to assess the effectiveness of these against those of Australian football.

OUTCOMES

The Review will assess and provide recommendations specifically against the following key issues;

The level of common understanding in all stakeholders on the key issues and development objectives;

The level and effectiveness of communication and collaboration between all stakeholders in football in country Victoria, including AFL Victoria head office, its regional development and talent network, the VCFL and its affiliates;

The cost of providing services to all these stakeholders, including the level of duplication, and whether an alternative governance structure can provide more cost effective services and/or those additional services and programs required to achieve the seven development objectives;

The effectiveness of relationships with key external stakeholders in terms of gaining support for game and facilities development;

The adequacy of human resources, including the location of those human resources, to; - effectively service VCFL Leagues and Clubs; and - implement the programs to achieve the seven AFL development objectives

How the demographic changes of Melbourne are impacting on the delivery of services to particular leagues and stakeholders, and whether more effective structures will deliver better results in these particular regions;

How the programs and structures in Australian football compare with those of our major competitors and what threats, if any, exist;


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TIMING

A report with recommendations will be provided to the AFL by 31st August 2011. The final recommendations will be communicated to all stakeholders by 30th September 2011.


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4. GLOSSARY OF TERMS

Review The Review team AFL Development Objectives Country Football Development Region or ‘Region’

The term Review refers to ‘the Review of Football in Country Victoria’ as explained in the terms of reference The Review team was made up of –

- Peter Jackson (AFL Victoria Chairman) - Jim Cail (AFL Victoria) - Mark Riddiford (AFL)

Assistance with data collection and analysis was also provided by Darryl Collings (AFL Victoria). These objectives have been developed by the AFL Development Department in conjunction with all state football bodies. Each state aligns their development strategies with these objectives

1. Participation – to develop and support pathways from NAB AFL Auskick to open age football that maximise participation.

2. Community – to support leagues, clubs and schools to provide quality environments and management to motivate volunteers, umpires, coaches, teachers and sports trainers for all levels of Australian football.

3. Engagement – to develop community engagement initiatives that add social value and support access to broader pathways for inclusive environments, particularly in the indigenous and multi-cultural communities.

4. Talent & Second Tier – to establish best practice talent pathway and enhance Second Tier competitions to identify, attract and develop first choice athletes as well as provide a career path for talented umpires and coaches.

5. Facilities – to collaborate on facility development for the community football network of leagues, clubs and schools.

6. Fan Development – to build relationships with the community to develop fans of the game.

7. People & Culture - to attract, develop & retain quality people and develop a high performance culture in line with our values.

For the purposes of the Review, Country Football has been taken to include the 13 AFL Victoria Development Regions that have VCFL affiliated leagues located in them. (The Review team notes there are a small amount of VCFL affiliated clubs in some of the other AFL Victoria Metropolitan Development Regions). AFL Victoria is broken into 19 Development Regions. These are geographically based regions based on Local Government Area (LGA) boundaries or part LGA boundaries.


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Country Development Regions

Of the 19 AFL Victoria Development Regions, 12 are considered Country Development Regions by AFL Victoria. They are -

- South West - Hampden - Geelong - Ballarat - Wimmera - Sunraysia - Central Murray and North Central - Bendigo - Goulburn Murray - North East Border - Latrobe Valley - East Gippsland

The Review team also included the South East Region as a Country Region for the purposes of this Review (unless otherwise advised), due to the number of VCFL affiliated leagues within this region. The map below illustrates the AFL Victoria Country Development Regions and some of the VCFL Leagues and Umpire Associations the Review team met.


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Metropolitan Development Regions TAC Talent Program TAC Regions RDM RM Region GM

Of the 19 AFL Victoria Development Regions, 7 are considered Metropolitan Development Regions by AFL Victoria. They are-

- South East (included as a Country Region for the purposes of this Review)

- Eastern - Northern - Central - Inner Southern - North West - Western

This term refers to all aspects of the AFL Victoria TAC Talent Programs which are aimed at developing and improving young players in a high performance environment. The program looks to provide players with development opportunities on and off the field, and is a pathway to the AFL’s elite competition. This term refers to the 12 TAC Regions across Victoria. In Country Victoria each TAC Region is made up of 2-3 AFL Victoria Country Development Regions, and in Metropolitan Victoria, one Metropolitan Development Region makes up one TAC Region. The Country TAC Regions are -

- Bendigo Pioneers (Bendigo, Central Murray/North Central, Sunraysia)

- Geelong Falcons (Geelong, ½ Hampden) - Ballarat Rebels (½ Hampden, Ballarat, South West, Wimmera) - Murray Bushrangers (North East Border, Goulburn Murray) - Gippsland Power (East Gippsland, Latrobe)

Region Development Manager – AFL Victoria employs one Region Development Manager in each of the 19 designated Development Regions across Victoria. Their role is to coordinate and manage the delivery of NAB AFL Auskick, School Programs, Coach Education and assist with the TAC Talent Program. Region Manager – AFL Victoria employees one Region Manager in each of the 12 designated TAC Regions across Victoria. Their role is to coordinate and manage all aspects of the TAC Talent Program within their region, in particular managing in the TAC Cup U18 team. The term Region GM refers to the new positions recommended to be appointed in larger Development Regions.


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CDO VCFL VCFL affiliated leagues and clubs VCFL Area Managers CAH NV FFV AFL National Census AFL Victoria Census

The Community/Club Development Officers positions refer to new positions recommended to be employed in each Development Region to support volunteers, umpiring development, community engagement, coach education and club development. Victorian Country Football League Refers to the leagues and clubs affiliated to the VCFL. There are 82 leagues, 702 clubs and 28 umpiring associations. The VCFL has 4 Area Managers each based in designated areas of Victoria. Their role is to service the affiliated leagues and clubs within their Area. They work mostly on rules and regulations, and training and development for leagues and clubs A ‘Central Administration Hub’ provides administration and day to day management services to locally based leagues and umpire associations within a centrally located area. Netball Victoria Football Federation Victoria This refers to the ‘National Census of Australian Football Participation and Players’, which is compiled by an independent body – Street Ryan. Street Ryan has completed the Census since 1997, and completes Census collection for other major sporting codes such as Cricket Australia, Golf Australia and Hockey Australia. This refers to an internal AFL Victoria database which records Census information relating to Football Participation and Players in Victoria. This is compiled by AFL Victoria staff and uses information supplied by the VCFL to determine country football numbers.


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5. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Victorian country football is a critically important asset for the AFL. It has about 78,000 players (excluding VCFL affiliated clubs in defined AFL Victoria metropolitan regions) or about 12% of the total players in Australia. This is almost the same as the number of players in the whole of SA and about 75% of the number of players in the whole of WA. The number of players in country Victoria is over twice the number in either country SA or country WA.

Country Victoria has provided 22% (279 of a total of 1281) of the draftees into the AFL competition since 1997.

There are 82 leagues, 702 clubs, and 2,867 teams affiliated with the VCFL. There were 16,364 NAB AFL Auskick participants in country Victoria in 2010.

FINDINGS

The overall conclusion drawn by the Review team is that, irrespective of how the VCFL or AFL Victoria are seen to be operating now, country football needs a change of governance structures to provide greater strategic focus, more effective decision-making at a regional level, and an investment of resources directly in regions. The sooner this can occur the better. Until this happens, the AFL Development objectives will not be achieved across country Victoria.

There is a view by some within various levels of football governing bodies, that clubs and leagues are very resilient. Despite the challenges, they will find a way to keep things going. This is true to a degree, but there are cracks in the system, and they need to be repaired. Planning for changes to governance structures and the commencement to invest in new resources needs to start now.

The major individual conclusions are as follows;

The reported growth in VCFL participation is not as strong as it appears, in that it is built in the main on growth in U/9 & U/10 teams, at the expense of NAB AFL Auskick numbers.

The four major regions of Ballarat, Geelong, South East, Bendigo, most of which are experiencing strong population growth from the urban sprawl and/or changing demographics of Melbourne, account for virtually all growth in country Victoria across all age groups. There has been a decline in the number of teams across the other Country Development Regions.

The role NAB AFL Auskick plays in strengthening community clubs needs to continue to be a focus. NAB AFL Auskick participation has slowed due in part to the growth in U/9 & U/10 teams, but is also due to a lack of sufficient focus by AFL Victoria RDM’s on NAB AFL Auskick, a lack of collaboration between RDM’s and local junior leagues/clubs, and the fact there is no incentive for VCFL leagues/clubs to help grow NAB AFL Auskick numbers.

Participation growth in Schools football in country Victoria is poor when measured against other traditional states of SA and WA.

Participation trends in any region are not directly related to trends in population. Participation appears to be as much dependent on available resources, the skills of those resources, and the level of collaboration in a region.

There are local issues in many regions that are impacting the achievement of the AFL Development objectives. In those regions issues need to be addressed locally in a pro-active manner without having to rely on centrally based governing bodies. This pro-


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active behaviour includes priority setting, independent decision-making and resource allocation for the overall benefit of the game in that region.

There are a number of individual organisational and competition structural problems that are impeding the achievement of the AFL Development objectives. They include;

o The separation of duties of AFL Victoria RDM’s from local leagues/clubs and the distraction of a disproportionate amount of their time into the TAC Talent Program. This results from a lack of effective management from head office due the head office structure, and a perception of the lack of importance and seniority of the RDM role. The overall performance of RDM’s in NAB AFL Auskick and Schools football indicates greater focus on these markets is necessary.

o The location of too many of the available resources in both VCFL and AFL Victoria in head office, and their inability, despite their best intent, to effectively cover the country regions with the level of support that is required.

o A lack of resources in country regions, working directly for leagues/clubs to provide the level of support required. The VCFL Area Managers in the main work diligently and are respected, but clearly are stretched too far given the areas they cover, so as to be ineffective.

o Apart from a few examples, and only two major examples, an overall lack of collaboration between leagues in most regions which results from the current structure of 82 leagues and 28 umpire associations. As a result, the vast majority of effort in country Victoria is focussed on operational issues and little if any effective strategy. Under this structure, the AFL Development objectives cannot be achieved.

That number of leagues and umpire associations means the number of people that need to be found to fill governance positions in these organisations is probably not sustainable and is a reason succession planning of league and umpire associations’ volunteers is a problem.

The collaboration that is happening in the examples noted is by way of a Central Administration Hubs (CAH). CAH are beneficial to a degree because they significantly reduce the administration cost to leagues and clubs. However, going forward, the key need in regions will be greater collaboration, more strategic focus, better decision-making in the interests of the game itself, and improved relationship building particularly with local councils.

CAH’s on their own do not achieve all these things. The two best examples, Geelong and Ballarat, provide additional and more skilled resources and as a result, are able to focus to a greater extent on strategic issues in their region. However, not to the level that the Review team believe will ultimately be required.

There is not a forum in place for ‘shared learning’s’ across leagues and umpire associations, which is a reflection of the general lack of collaboration that exists due to the current governance structures.

o In many regions, ineffective relationships with major local councils, and in some regions, a dysfunctional relationship, because council has to deal with approaches from all leagues, umpire associations and in many cases clubs themselves, to discuss facility development. In those cases, discussions are not strategic for the benefit of football as a whole, but based on own interests.

o Player payments are putting undue strain on many clubs. The current league structure only adds to the problem as leagues compete for players. The effort and


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funds directed to recruiting players is at the expense in some cases of junior development programs, so the need to recruit outside players via payments becomes self-perpetuating.

This problem, together with league structures and competition structures, also does not easily allow clubs to find their own niche in terms of their preferred culture (e.g. winning flags or family environment). A solution needs to found that caters for both requirements.

The situation with volunteers is potentially a crisis. Whereas the current structure has enough volunteers in place to operationally manage community leagues and umpire associations, it was evident the majority of volunteers are older, in some cases elderly, tired and cannot see a succession plan to replace or support them. There is very little strategic thinking going on anywhere except those two regions where the substantial hubs already exist (Geelong and Ballarat). It is not a crisis right at this time, but unless a volunteer strategy is developed and resourced, encompassing recruitment, development and training programs, and implemented consistently over the next 5-10 years, then a crisis will develop.

Volunteers will remain a critical plank in the development and growth of country football, but they need support through greater access to resources employed in the field and their own personal development.

A similar conclusion has been formed in relation to umpires. There is evidence that umpire numbers in many regions have dropped over the last 10-15 years. In some associations numbers have more than halved with the same faces now as were there all those years earlier; hence umpire groups are also dramatically aging. A similar strategy encompassing recruitment, development and retention needs to be implemented over the next 5-10 years.

The administration effort that goes into maintaining independent umpire associations needs to be minimised, firstly, to reduce the deductions from umpire pays (average at least 20% on total cost of $4 million across country Victoria) to provide a greater return to umpires; and secondly, to provide more focus on strategy, including recruitment and retention rather than operational matters.

The situation in umpires and volunteers highlights the ineffectiveness of head office structures. Resources exist in both head offices, but they are not seen often enough by individual country regions and not on a consistent basis. Program implementation becomes a ‘tick and flick’ exercise simply due to the inability of individual resources to cover the regions involved.

The operation of TAC Talent Programs is left largely to the Region Managers. As a result there are inconsistencies in the way regions are operated, and few examples of shared learning’s implemented across all regions. This also highlights the ineffectiveness of head office structures, given the challenge of head office management getting out into the regions to see the real picture.

The TAC Talent Programs operate largely independently from local leagues and clubs. As a result, there is a lot of frustration, probably unfairly, at league/club levels with the talent program and clubs that could be readily addressed with more communication, collaboration and acknowledgement.

AFL Victoria seemingly operates all the TAC Talent Programs under a generic budgeting model. However, like the country regions have local issues, so do the individual TAC Talent Programs depending on the region they are in. AFL Victoria needs to look at each region individually and address the strategic and funding needs of each region accordingly.


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Long term, individual TAC Talent Programs and probably metropolitan TAC Talent Programs, should formally become much more closely aligned to the local community governance structures that are recommended in this Review. This however is at least 3-5 years away and cannot be considered before regions can demonstrate they have the capacity and capability to do so.

A formal talent program is required beyond the TAC Talent Program at least in northern Victoria to cater for those young men 18-23 year olds from the Pioneers and Bushrangers programs. There will be players from these programs who might have struggled due to the travel burden, physical and emotional immaturity, the need to complete years 11 & 12, or all of the above. These players may also struggle to travel to Melbourne to take up an opportunity in a VFL club, given it means leaving home young, and opportunities may not be readily available in aligned clubs. They need to be given the opportunity to still make it to the AFL level. Any program developed for 18-23 year olds needs to be aligned to the existing TAC Talent Program and work in conjunction with a VFL club(s) to provide a VFL pathway.

There is virtually no resource or strategy being directed towards community player pathways; that is, from NAB AFL Auskick to Juniors; from Juniors to Youth; and from Youth to Seniors. The drop off through each pathway is significant and the reasons have become folklore, but are not substantiated by fact.

There is no reasonable data tracking system, no collaborative strategy to address it and no resource dedicated to it. There are minimal individual regional strategies to improve pathways.

It is obvious the higher the percentage of players through each pathway, the higher the overall participation. The higher the participation, the higher is the revenues to clubs and probably the higher number of volunteers – even possibly the higher the number of umpires from people who switch from playing to umpiring.

The results are not guaranteed because the folklore reasons for drop offs are valid to a degree. However, as an industry in Victoria, we are not trying to address the issue.

Netball is critically important to the sustainability of clubs. The vast majority of leagues and clubs recognise this point. There are real frustrations with Netball Victoria (NV) because of the lack of support in return for the fees collected and paid. The threat to NV is football leagues running their own netball leagues, and that extending in to metropolitan leagues.

NV is conducting its own strategic review. It recognises like this Review does, that having all 40 of its staff in head office is not sensible or sustainable.

NV and AFL Victoria should form a much closer strategic relationship to work collaboratively to put more resources in regions to support leagues/clubs and work strategically with local councils to develop facilities.

The 2004 Parliamentary Inquiry made a lot of recommendations; some have been addressed. Unfortunately, many recommendations relate to issues that are still apparent around this Review, in particular volunteers. The governing bodies need to do something this time round.


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RECOMMENDATIONS

There are a number of challenges for football in country Victoria to be addressed and whereas there are some common themes across all regions, the geographical diversity of Victoria combined with the lack of effectiveness of head office structures and resources, and the existence of issues unique to each region, mean that any solution must be locally focussed. The AFL Development credo of Think National: Act Local absolutely applies, and is a major principle behind the recommendations.

Country football needs a change of governance structures to provide greater strategic focus, more effective decision-making at a regional level, and an investment of resources directly in regions.

The recommended changes are a reflection of what is needed over the next 10-20 years given the issues confronting football and clubs in country Victoria.

The principles behind the Review team’s recommendations are as follows;

a). Sustainability of clubs is the critical issue, not necessarily the sustainability of leagues or governing bodies. For country Victoria to maintain its status, and indeed grow, the clubs must be vibrant and financially sustainable. This means putting support resources more directly at their disposal, providing training and development more directly, and reducing the cost of participating in competitions. It is incumbent on administrators of all governing bodies, including leagues and umpire associations, to consider this for the future well-being of the clubs and the game;

b). Decentralise resources to provide more direct support to the volunteers and stakeholders in the field. This will necessitate an increase in the number or resources in regions as well as provide efficencies in head office;

c). Decentralise authority where practical to do so to let local representation make decisions in accordance with local needs. As part of this, to have independent commissions to address strategic issues as well as make decisions in the best interest of the game/competitions locally.

The recommendations are;

Decentralise Authority

1. Merge the VCFL and AFL Victoria to achieve efficiencies in head office resources, by eliminating duplication of resources to free up funds to employ more resources directly in the regions.

2. Establish independent commissions in all regions, representing all stakeholders in the region, with the authority to develop the strategic plan for the regions and make independent local decisions.

Representation should include all leagues and an umpire association representative in the region, as well as some independent directors. The chairman should preferably be independent from any existing league.

The structure of the current leagues under this independent commission is ultimately to be determined by the representative commission and leagues locally.

There should be 8 larger regions and 5 smaller regions. The 8 larger regions will include Geelong, Ballarat, Bendigo, Hampden/SW, Goulburn Murray, North East (Albury, Wangaratta) Gippsland and South East (Frankston, Mornington Peninsula)

The larger regions should incorporate a central administration hub (CAH) as part of their structure. A larger region has greater capacity to employ administration resources and


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establish modern and professional systems. There is little sense in attempting to duplicate this across all 13 regions, given the lack of financial resources in the smaller regions. However, as appropriate, a larger region should undertake the administration effort of an adjacent smaller region on a fee for service basis.

The establishment of 8 administration hubs will reduce the administration cost and effort of all leagues across country Victoria. The results achieved in Ballarat and Geelong confirm this.

The independent commission and decision making authority will remain for the smaller regions.

3. AFL Victoria to provide $50,000 funding to each larger region as a contribution to the cost of employing a Region General Manager (Region GM) for the region.

The Region GM will report to the independent commission as well as an AFL Victoria Country Football General Manager to be employed at AFL Victoria reporting to the GM of AFL Victoria. The Region GM will be responsible for implementing the region strategic plan, administering the region and developing collaborative relationships within the region.

The independent commission to nominate the person to be appointed as Region GM but the appointment is subject to ratification by AFL Victoria.

Additional Resources for Regions

4. AFL Victoria Region Development Managers continue to be employed by AFL Victoria, however report directly and be accountable to the Region GM and be responsible for growing junior participation, including NAB AFL Auskick and schools, but also junior/youth competitions and the pathway from NAB AFL Auskick to juniors to youth.

This makes the regions directly responsible for outcomes in NAB AFL Auskick, Schools and coach accreditation as well as junior clubs and pathways.

5. Utilise the player registration fees after insurance currently paid to the VCFL, to employ at least one, and preferably 2, Community/Club Development Officers (CDO) in each larger region and 1 CDO in each smaller region. The final numbers employed in the larger regions will depend on the player registration fees currently being paid by each larger region.

Any surplus fees from the larger regions will be used to subsidise the employment of a CDO in a smaller region, if that smaller region currently does not pay sufficient fees to meet the cost of a CDO.

CDO’s to be responsible for umpire/volunteer programs, community engagement and club development programs. Where 2 CDO’s are employed, the Region GM to define individual responsibilities.

A template for the recommended structure in a region is attached in appendix six.

The current commercial operations of VCFL to be continued, including sponsorship and merchandise operations.

Umpires & Volunteers

6. Develop integrated state-wide umpire and volunteer programs, to address recruitment, induction, retention, development & training.

These programs to be adequately funded by AFL Victoria (estimate of $100,000 pa) with a time frame of 5 years minimum.


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The program implementation to be the responsibility of regions and to be implemented in each region by the CDO’s.

Affiliation

7. It be a condition of funding and additional resources that each region and commission be affiliated directly with AFL Victoria, and both parties sign a new affiliation agreement that includes specific performance conditions, including but not restricted to,

o Establishment of a representative independent commission including definition of the commission’s authority to make decisions locally;

o Appointment of a Region GM approved by AFL Victoria; o Preparation of a strategic plan for the region that includes achieving the seven AFL

Development objectives; o Assessment of current league and competition structures and plans for the future.

NAB AFL Auskick

8. In conjunction with the AFL, AFL Victoria to design an incentive program during the ‘detailed design’ phase of this Review, so that regions benefit financially from growth in NAB AFL Auskick numbers.

9. In conjunction with the AFL, AFL Victoria review with the current NAB AFL Auskick program to identify whether or not it requires refreshing and re-launching.

AFL Victoria Talent Program

10. AFL Victoria to continue to be vigilant in monitoring the TAC Talent Program boundaries in those areas where demographic changes are occuring and previous country areas are now becoming metropolitan. AFL Victoria must also look to ensure on a ‘case by case’ basis that players are provided with the best possible opportunity to participate in the TAC Talent Program.

11. AFL Victoria to review the current budget and funding philosphy for individual TAC Talent Programs and ensure they take into account regional issues, and reduce the burden on families of young men participating.

12. Develop a talent program to cater for young men 18-23 years old not initially drafted to the AFL in their final TAC Talent Program year. The priority regions for this program to be the Bendigo Pioneers and Murray Bushrangers regions. The program needs to be aligned to the existing TAC Talent Program and work in conjunction with a VFL club(s) to provide a VFL pathway.

13. In due course, when the region and commission concerned can demonstrate their capacity to do so, the AFL Victoria Region Manager continue to be employed by AFL Victoria, but he and TAC Talent Program report through to the Region GM.

14. AFL and AFL Victoria in conjunction with AFL Clubs develop a program aimed at further acknowledging a drafted players junior football club and the volunteers that assisted him in reaching the elite competition.


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VCFL

15. The merger of the VCFL and AFL Victoria will mean the VCFL and its board does not need to exist into the future after the implementation of these recommendations. This will ultimately mean the VCFL should be wound up and its assets and liabilities transferred to AFL Victoria. This should be initiated by the VCFL Board on a planned basis depending on the timing the recommendations are implemented.

16. AFL Victoria to guarantee the cash and assets in the VCFL (about $1 million) transferred to AFL Victoria be used as an initial fund for facilities grants to country regions and not be used to fund the implementation of these recommendations. AFL Victoria to meet the costs of funding these recommendations.

17. The independent Appeals Board be retained to consider appeals from regions, leagues and clubs.

18. AFL to ensure the current and future level of funding provided to the ‘Country Football

Netball Program’ continue as in previous years.

19. VCFL representatives as appropriate be utilised on the Implementation Project Team and also where appropriate, act as independent directors on region commissions.

Netball

20. AFL Victoria Chairman and General Manager approach Netball Victoria with a view to developing an integrated strategic relationship, including NV also providing additional resources in the major regions working directly with the regions, to strengthen and grow both sports in country Victoria.

Other

21. AFL Victoria set up a committee of country and metropolitan league representatives to consider and design a state-wide points system similar to that adopted in South Australia, in order to address the issues identified by player payments.

22. AFL Victoria to set up a forum to ensure ‘shared learnings’ accross all Country and Metropolian Development Regions.

23. AFL and AFL Victoria develop a consolidated HR system for all full-time employees in regions, that includes personal development and career pathway programs, to be implemented by the Region GM.

24. AFL Victoria review the current arrangements with Sporting Pulse and the impact on leagues and clubs, and where appropriate make changes to that arrangement.

25. AFL Victoria develop an improved participation data tracking system so the success of programs can be measured, particularly pathways between age groups.


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What do these recommendations mean for football in Country Victoria?

These recommendations are designed to put additional resources and greater responsibility for country football into country regions. They are designed to have country people maintain authority for the governance of football in regions. They are not about a takeover of country football by the AFL or any other sole governing body. They are designed to provide a more strategic focus, more effective decision-making and greater collaboration in each region, something that does not exist at present, but something that is essential for the vibrancy of the game in the future.

An additional 17 people (CDO’s) will be employed in the regions in country Victoria to complement the 4 Area Managers currently employed by VCFL; 21 in total directly supporting leagues and clubs in country football.

As well, there is provision to employ an additional 6 skilled and qualified Region GM’s with much broader job responsibility, similar to those GM’s currently employed at Football Geelong and Ballarat FNL.

Further, 14 Region Development Managers currently employed by AFL Victoria are to be re-allocated under the supervision of the regions, responsible for the collaboarative development of junior football and pathways, as well as greater engagement levels in NAB AFL Auskick and schools.

The establishment of independent commissions in 13 regions should ultimately see a reduction from 82 league boards and 28 umpire association boards, thus making governance, strategic focus and decision-making much more effective. The timing of the constitutional consolidation of leagues in a region under one commission is up to the local stakeholders and will depend on the level of confidence established in the commission. It is likely the commission will be established first and commence to manage football in the region, with leagues maintaining constitutional independence for a period until that confidence is attained. Funding by AFL Victoria will however depend on the clear intent of all stakeholders in a region to work towards this structure as the long term objective.

What will be AFL Victoria’s contribution?

AFL Victoria’s additional investment in country football will be about $750,000. The timing of this investment will depend on the timing of individual regions committing to move towards this governance structure.

This investment is made up of a grant of $50,000 for each larger region (8) to appoint the Region GM; an allowance for an incentive or financial return to regions to develop NAB AFL Auskick participation (about $150,000); funding the development of the umpire & volunteer development programs and strategies (about $100,000); and the implementation costs of the Review recommendations (about $100,000).

It is intended the player registration and affiliation fees currently paid by leagues, clubs and players to the VCFL be allocated to the employment of CDO’s in the regions.

It is anticipated, based on the Review team’s analysis of the public VCFL reports that efficiencies can be achieved in the VCFL and AFL Victoria through the merger of those two governing bodies, such that the balance of the VCFL services and commercial operations can be maintained. It is also expected that in time, additional revenues can be generated by running the commercial operations under the national AFL brand as distinct from the more narrowly defined VCFL brand.

These views need to be confirmed by detailed financial analysis.


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IMPLEMENTATION

There are two parts to the implementation of these strategies;

Part 1 - Detailed design

This will involve the detailed preparation and analysis that is necessary to build the framework for implementation of the recommendations. It will include;

- Develop a detailed implementation plan including cost and timetable; - Confirmation of governance structure template for a region; - Legal documentation such as affiliation agreement with AFL Victoria; - Detailed financial analysis to identify efficiencies in head office structures of VCFL and AFL

Victoria; - Work with VCFL Board to plan the impact of these recommendations on the VCFL as an

entity; - Develop a 3 year financial plan for the implementation of the recommendations; - Prepare Expressions of Interest for regions to submit.

Part 2 – Support Regions to Implement Recommendations

This will involve working with and supporting regions; initially those that indicate their intent to adopt these recommendations. Expressions of Interest will be invited from regions which would involve leagues in a region collaborating to make a joint submission.

The support provided to those regions that submit an Expression of Interest will include assistance to;

- Establish a representative commission to be appointed; - Prepare a strategic plan for the region, including a financial plan; - Appoint key people, including initially the Chairman, Region GM, and CDO’s.

Timing

It is expected Part 1 of the implementation will take most of the first half of 2012, so that Part 2 can commence and be completed in those regions that adopt the recommendations in time for the 2013 football season.

This will require an Implementation Project Team to be established during the latter part of 2011 and to establish that Team’s Terms of Reference.

The Implementation Project Team should consist of AFL Victoria, VCFL and region representatives. It should include a Steering Committee and a people responsible for the implementation.

The Steering Committee should include;

- Chairman of AFL Victoria to operate as Chairman of Steering Committee - 1 VCFL Board representative - AFL Victoria General Manager - 1 Football Geelong representative, given that region is already well down the path to this

recommended governance structure and can contribute the experiences and lessons learned; - 2 representatives from other regions that have not yet moved towards this structure.


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The implementation team should report to the Steering Committee and consist of 3 people including;

- VCFL CEO - 1 AFL Victoria employee - 1 Region employee seconded to the team.

Other people can be seconded during the implementation stage as appropriate.


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6. SCOPE OF WORK

The review commenced in June 2011, and was conducted by a 3 person team made up of –

- Peter Jackson (AFL Victoria Chairman) - Jim Cail (AFL Victoria) - Mark Riddiford (AFL)

Assistance with data collection and country analysis was also provided by Darryl Collings (AFL Victoria).

The team visited 13 AFL Victoria Development Regions that have VCFL affiliated leagues, and held face to face meetings with over 90 key stakeholders in the regions, including the major leagues, district leagues, junior leagues, umpire associations, AFL Victoria Region Managers (RM) as relevant, AFL Victoria Region Development Managers (RDM), VFL clubs where relevant, and 8 major councils. The map below highlights the AFL Victoria Development Regions and some of the leagues and umpiring associations involved in the review process.

Figure 1 – AFL Victoria Country Development Regions


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Figure 2 – Schedule of visits to country Victoria

Other interviews as part of the review process included;

- Victorian Country Football League – Nicholas Rolfe (President), Gerard Lucas (Vice President) and Steven Reaper (CEO).

- AFL Victoria Region Development Managers based in country Victoria - Tim Shearer (Ballarat), Tony McNamara (Bendigo), Trevor Mellington (North Central), John Edsall (Geelong), Greg Liddell (Goulburn Valley), Alan Thompson (Hampden), Rob Reid (Gippsland), Jeff Chandler (North East), Jock Whiting (South West), Geoff Burdett (Wimmera).

- AFL Victoria Region Managers based in country Victoria – Phil Partington (Ballarat Rebels), Ray Byrne (Bendigo Pioneers), Mick Turner (Geelong Falcons), Peter Francis (Gippsland Power), Andrew Carson (Murray Bushrangers), Mark Wheeler (Dandenong Stingrays).

- City of Ballarat – Ashley Pittard, City of Greater Bendigo – Pat Jess, City of Greater Geelong – Paul Jane, Greater Shepparton City Council – Brendan Gosstray, Rural City of Wangarrata – Doug Sharp, Albury City Council – James Jenkins, Glenelg Shire Council – Kerry Geyer, Mildura Rural City Council – Ray Lyons.

- Others included – WorkSafe – Julie Bond, Caroline Smyth and Steve Gosbells, Bendigo Bank – Nick Carter, Tracy Kulbars and Dennis Bice, ESP – Craig Kelly, AFL Umpiring Consultant – David Levens, Eastern Football League – Rob Sharpe, South East Juniors – Shaun Connell, Western Australian Football Commission – Grant Dorrington, South Australian Community Football League – Glen Rosser and David Shipway, Wonthaggi Power Football Netball Club – Neale Blair and Brett Tessari.


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In addition, written submissions were invited from all interested stakeholders. In all, approximately 50 written submissions were received. Please see below for a list of organisations that provided a written submission either via the developed template or in a less formal document. (Appendix 1 is a sample of the template provided to leagues for written submissions).

Figure 3 – Written Submissions list

Football Leagues Umpiring

Associations Local Councils Others

Ballarat Football League Central Highlands District Football League Loddon Valley Football League Bendigo Football Netball League Golden Rivers Football League Central Murray Football League North Central Football League North Gippsland Football League Football Geelong Goulburn Valley Football League Murray Football League Shepparton and District Junior Football

League Hampden Football League Warrnambool and District FNL Alberton Football League Gippsland Football League Ellinbank and DFL Ovens and Murray Football League Frankston District Junior Football League Mornington Peninsula Nepean FL Western Border Football League South West District Football Netball

League Sunraysia Football Netball League Sunraysia Junior Football League Mallee Football League Wimmera Football League Horsham and District Football League

Yarra Valley Mountain District Football League

Geelong and District Football League Sale and District Junior Football

Association South East Juniors

Northern District Umpires Association

Southern Umpires Association

Western District Umpires Association

Wimmera Football League Umpires Group

Geelong Football Umpires League

Albury City Council

City of Greater Bendigo

City of Ballarat

Mildura Rural City Council

Warrnambool City Council

Bendigo Pioneers Sandhurst Football

Netball Club Murrabit Football

Club North Ballarat

Football Club Wonthaggi Power

FNC Frankston YCW FC Penshurst FNC SMW Rovers FC Ouyen FC

Victorian Country Football League


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ANALYSIS

Participation Data

Extensive analysis of participation data, including NAB AFL Auskick and country junior, youth and senior participation has also been undertaken to identify trends over the period 2004-2010.

Data has been sourced from the AFL National Census document, the AFL Victoria participation data base and other AFL Victoria historical participation reports. Accessing accurate and consistent data has been an issue throughout this review process, with Footyweb still not in a position to provide ‘clean’ reports that are reflective of all participants within all competitions in country Victoria, and all other parts of Australia. There are currently also inconsistencies between the VCFL and AFL Victoria in relation to how they count a ‘club’ based participant. Currently the VCFL count every player that is registered to their affiliated clubs, however AFL Victoria multiply each team by 25 players to achieve their overall club participation figures. While there are arguments on both sides regarding the best method, for the purposes of this report we have accounted for our figures in line with AFL Victoria, as this is also the process used by the AFL National Census.

The analysis of team numbers as opposed to conducting any analysis on club numbers has been completed to avoid the distortion that can occur with club numbers when junior and senior clubs merge to become one entity. An example of this occurred in 2008 when club numbers in Geelong were at 98, however in 2009 through mergers between junior and senior clubs (in order to become one incorporated body), the Geelong region had reduced its club numbers to 57.

The lack of up to date data regarding school participation is also a concern and needs to be addressed. Data relating to the number of schools, how many children in those schools, what type of football program each school conducted was difficult to obtain.

Participation data relating to Soccer was provided by Wayne Street, who coordinates the AFL National Census.

Financial Analysis

We have attempted to analyse the financial impact of our recommendations on the VCFL and affiliated leagues. To do this, we have relied on public financial statements and annual reports which by the very nature, are broad based financial reports. More detailed financial analysis will be required using detailed financial accounts in order to totally confirm the impact of the recommendations.

We have also attempted to identify what synergies and potential efficiencies might result from a more streamlined governance structure between the VCFL and AFL Victoria, and in doing so, have relied only on the published organisation structures of each governing body. We have not analysed detailed job descriptions for each employee. That will need to be done to confirm efficiencies that are possible.


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7. FINDINGS

7.1 Participation Trends

1) Juniors and NAB AFL Auskick 2) Youth 3) Seniors 4) Schools

7.2 Local Game Development Issues

7.3 Structural Issues 1) AFL Victoria Region Development Managers Separation of Duties 2) Location of Employed Resources 3) Lack of Resources in Regions 4) Leagues & Umpire Associations 5) Working with Local Councils 6) Player Payments 7) Competition Structures 8) Junior and Youth Age Groups

7.4 Volunteers

1) Succession Planning & Recruitment 2) Training 3) Compliance 4) Litigation 5) Observations

7.5 Umpires

1) Recruitment 2) Retention 3) Training & Development 4) Observations

7.6 AFL Victoria Talent Program

1) Regional Boundaries 2) Consideration of Local issues 3) Acknowledgement of Junior Clubs/leagues 4) Development of Players post TAC Talent Program 5) Long Term Structure of TAC Talent Programs

7.7 Player Pathways 7.8 Netball 7.9 Soccer 7.10 2004 Parliamentary Inquiry 7.11 Other 7.12 Conclusions


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7.1 PARTICIPATION TRENDS

The Review team analysed the participation trends for VCFL affiliated clubs for the period 2004-2010. It included those VCFL affiliated clubs in the 12 AFL Victoria Country Development Regions plus those VCFL affiliated clubs in the AFL Victoria South East (Mornington Peninsula) Region and Eastern Development Region. (It does not include the 8 – 10 clubs located in various other AFL Victoria Metropolitan Development Regions).

The data was sourced from the AFL National Census for the AFL Victoria Country Development Regions and from the AFL Victoria Census documents for the South East and Eastern Development Regions.

The results are discussed under the following headings;

- Juniors U9 – U/12 and NAB AFL Auskick - Youth U/13 – U/18 - Seniors - Schools

The analysis has focussed in the main on the number of VCFL affiliated teams and NAB AFL Auskick participation numbers. The number of teams have been analysed by age groups, including Juniors (U/9-U/12), Youth (U/13-U/18) and Seniors. This data has been compared to population trends in each AFL Victoria Development Region by age group.

The tables showing the summarised data are attached as Appendix 2.

It has been previously reported that country football is in ‘good shape’ based on the growth in the number of teams. Closer analysis of the data suggests this is too positive a conclusion. The reported growth is the result in the main of growth in the U/9 &U/10 age groups, but this has often been at the expense of NAB AFL Auskick participation. The growth is also mainly in the larger development regions subject to population growth and/or with additional resources available.

The total number of teams has grown in the period 2004-2010 by 172, as follows;

Age Group

2004 2010 Growth

Juniors 571 715 144

Youth 1213 1258 45

Seniors 898 881 -17

Total 2682 2854 172

1) Juniors and NAB AFL Auskick

The junior growth in teams can be broken down into age groups as follows;

Age Group 2004 2010 Growth

U/9 & U/10 191 306 115

U/11 & U/12 380 409 29

Total 571 715 144

In the time that U/9 & U/10 teams have grown, NAB AFL Auskick participation numbers have declined significantly. In the ‘traditional’ 12 Country Development Regions, that is excluding


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South East and Eastern, the overall decline of NAB AFL Auskick is 9.3% since 2004 whereas population in country Victoria for 5-12 year olds has only decreased 3.7% during the same period.

NAB AFL Auskick 2004 2010 Growth

Country Development Regions (excl South East and Eastern)

18032 16364 -1668

There has been further decline in NAB AFL Auskick numbers in 2011 in the 12 Country Development Regions to 16,048, making the total decline since 2004 almost 2000 or 11%.

Four regions account for the majority of the reported growth in total VCFL affiliated junior teams, and is as follows;

Region U/9 & U/10 U/11 & U/12 Total

Bendigo 23 -1 22

Ballarat 18 16 34

Geelong 22 5 27

South East 18 11 29

Total 4 Regions 81 31 112

Total Country 115 29 144

Thus, a net decline in U/11 & U/12 teams in the rest of country Victoria.

The growth that has been achieved in some regions in the U/9 & U/10 teams appears to have been at the expense of NAB AFL Auskick numbers.

Region U/9-U/10 Growth

(Teams)

NAB AFL Auskick ’04-‘10

(Numbers)

Sunraysia 15 -240

Ballarat 18 -164

Latrobe Valley 12 -435

Goulburn Murray 15 -645

The other three major regions (Bendigo, Geelong and South East) generally increased both U/9-U/10 teams and NAB AFL Auskick numbers over this period to 2010, although Bendigo (187 or 18% decline) and Geelong (145 or 5% decline) did experience declines in NAB AFL Auskick in 2011.

In highlighting this comparison between NAB AFL Auskick trends and growth in U/9-U/10 teams, the Review team notes there is little incentive for Development Regions to develop NAB AFL Auskick participation, and in fact there is far greater incentive for the leagues and clubs to start up and develop U/9 & U/10 teams. It is the result of a lack of collaboration between AFL Victoria, VCFL leagues and local clubs. AFL Victoria and its Region Development Managers need to take the leadership on this matter. This is commented on further elsewhere in the report.


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These trends in team and NAB AFL Auskick numbers in the 12 Country Development Regions have been achieved against an overall decline in population of 5-12 year olds of 3.7% for the period 2004-2010. There is no doubt this increases the challenge in some regions and to some extent accounts for the decline in numbers. However, there is no definitive correlation between team numbers and population trends. Ballarat (6% pop decline) and Bendigo (13% pop decline) both had declines in population (5-12yo) but managed significant increase in net participation (ie teams and NAB AFL Auskick combined). Other Regions held numbers relatively well despite significant declines in 5-12 year old populations – Hampden (10% pop decline), South West (27% pop decline) and NE Border (2% pop decline).

The conclusions the Review team reached on the trends in junior football is as follows;

- The majority of the reported growth in junior teams in fact has come from U/9 & U/10 teams at the expense of NAB AFL Auskick numbers;

- The 4 major regions, being in the main growth regions in Victoria, are underwriting any real growth that has been achieved;

- Greater collaboration is needed between AFL Victoria and VCFL leagues and clubs, including an incentive for country clubs and leagues to develop NAB AFL Auskick;

- Population trends on their own are not the sole explanation for the individual regions performance in participation.

2) Youth

The reported growth of 45 teams in the period 2004-2010 is due in the main to growth in the same four major regions that accounted for the Junior growth, as follows;

Region 2004 2010 Growth of Team Numbers

Bendigo 84 93 9

Ballarat 86 92 6

Geelong 111 126 15

South East 132 150 18

Total 4 Regions 413 461 48

All Regions 1213 1258 45

Three other regions have achieved some growth in this period – Central Murray/North Central (8 teams), Goulburn Murray (6 teams) and Eastern (7 teams). The other Country Development Regions thus accounted for a loss of 24 teams.

These results were achieved with an overall net increase in population in the 12 Country Development Regions for 13-18 year olds of 1685 or 2.7%. Less than half of that growth was accounted for by 3 larger country regions of Bendigo (which in fact had 8% pop decline), Ballarat (only 0.4% pop growth) and Geelong (13.5% pop growth). In fact the only country regions that experienced population declines in this period were South West (pop decline 16% and net loss of 2


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teams), East Gippsland (pop decline 6% and net loss of 2 teams) and Goulburn Murray (pop decline 5.6% but increase of 6 teams).

It is apparent from this relative performance, as it was for Juniors, that population trends are not a sole explanation for growth or decline in Youth teams. This is commented on more expansively later in the report, but the Review team notes there is no resource directly accountable across Victoria for Junior and Youth pathways, as distinct from say NAB AFL Auskick, Women’s Football, School football or AFL 9s. The relative performance within regions seems to be more dependent on the available resources and skills of those resources in each region.

3) Seniors

There has been little or no growth achieved in Senior teams in any region for the period 2004-2010, with the exception of North East Border, which has increased by 8 teams.

Overall, there are 17 less Senior teams across VCFL affiliated leagues. The overall population trend across the 12 Country Development Regions for 19-39 year old was a decline of 4480 or 2.6%.

The proposition presented to the Review team was that this population trend in country regions accounted for the trends in team numbers, but as with Juniors and Youth, this cannot be substantiated by the data. In fact, some regions have experienced significant growth in population but have not achieved a commensurate growth in Senior teams. It might be able to be argued that in the best interests of game development, these regions with population growth, or being urbanised, should have created new clubs and teams.

Those regions include Geelong (population increase of 2326 or 7.7% but nil increase in Senior teams) and South East (pop increase of 18,687 or 23.5% and an increase of 2 Senior teams).

On the other hand, Latrobe Valley has had population increase but lost Senior teams (pop increase 1,430 or 7.4%, but 11 less Senior teams).

However, it is probably reasonable that Senior team numbers won’t increase without very significant growth in urbanisation because the number of clubs with Senior teams tend to maintain the current status over the long term. This may change in the future in some regions as urbanisation increases.

4) Schools

The Review team analysed school participation trends during the period 2005-2010. It included all Country Development Regions, but does not include the South East and Eastern Regions as unlike NAB AFL Auskick this has minimal impact on VCFL affiliated club based participation figures.

The data was sourced from the AFL National Census and from full time staff members within AFL Victoria, South Australian National Football League (SANFL) and the Western Australia Football Commission (WAFC).

The analysis focussed on three main areas –

1. Overall Participation in Schools (6 weeks or more) 2. Number of School Football Teams in country areas (6 weeks or less) 3. Number of Schools involved in some form of Football Program

The data has also been compared to other ‘traditional’ football states.


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Overall Participation in Schools (6 weeks or more)

A critical component of the AFL’s 2007-2011 Next Generation Strategy was to enhance the presence of football in primary and secondary schools. The school system continues to be an integral element in providing opportunities for all students (girls and boys) to participate in Australian Football. In recent years the national growth of Australian Football has been underpinned considerably by school participation. However, the analysis we undertook indicated this growth in school based participants was not being generated from Victoria.

For the period 2005 – 2010 school participation rates across all of Victoria increased by 2.78%. Other ‘traditional’ football states such as South Australia (60% increase) and Western Australia (57% increase) recorded more significant increases. In fact, Western Australia had over 20,000 less school participants than Victoria in 2005; however by 2010 they have overtaken Victoria by more than 3,000. Even though these two states (SA and WA) have a smaller participant base to build from, such a result is a reflection of the investment and strategic priority implemented in particular with WA. See table below.

State Primary Secondary Total %

2005 2010 2005 2010 2005 2010

SA 11,530 29,615 3,665 8,590 15,195 38,205 60.23%

VIC 25,950 25,250 13,350 15,175 39,300 40,425 2.78%

WA 10,250 26,895 8,625 16,630 18,875 43,525 56.63%

Note – a school participant is based on being involved in a football program of 6 weeks or more, or on 6 occasions or more. (This doesn’t include dedicated girl school participants or multicultural program participants)

The increase in school participant numbers by WA and SA can also be seen through an overall increase in the % of population involved in their schools program. The below table indicates in 2005 in SA, 10% of males aged 5 -18 years old were ‘classed’ as a school football participant. In 2010, they have managed to grow this to 25%. WA has achieved similar growth, while Victoria has remained the same.

Year SA VIC WA

2005 10.1% 7.9% 8.9%

2010 25.5% 7.8% 19.1%

Note – this table indicates the % of population (males aged 5 – 18 years old) involved in a school football program.


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The table below also shows how the growth of school participants in SA and WA has played a significant part in the overall growth of participation for these states. The majority of Victoria’s growth (which is 12,286 less than SA and 22,125 less than WA) has come from club based participants (11,675). WA and SA’s club based participation has grown by 4,750 (WA) and 5,254 (SA).

State Overall Participation Growth since 2005

Overall Growth in School Participants since 2005

The % of growth since 2005 that has been provided by school participants

The % of School participants in overall participation total in 2005

% of School participants in overall participation total in 2010

SA 30,210 23,010 76% 21% 38%

VIC 17,924 1,125 6.3% 18.3% 17.4%

WA 40,049 24,650 61% 22.3% 34.9%

Since 2005, country Victoria has grown its school participant numbers by 2,950, which when compared to metropolitan Victoria is a reasonable result. However, country Western Australia during the same period of time has grown by 6,405 participants to a total country Western Australia participation figure of 11,855. Country Victoria’s total school participation figure is 6,475. See below for the country Victoria breakdown.

Country Regions

School Participants

2005 Primary

2010 Primary

Growth of Primary

Participants 2005 – 2010

2005 Secondary

2010 Secondary

Growth of Secondary

Participants 2005 - 2010

Bendigo 0 275 275 50 50 0

Sunraysia 0 650 650 0 0 0

North Central 0 450 450 0 750 750

Ballarat 0 275 275 725 750 25

South West 450 475 25 0 0 0

Wimmera 125 125 0 0 0 0

Hampden 475 500 25 0 0 0

Geelong 1125 500 -625 425 450 25

Latrobe 0 0 0 0 0 0

East Gippsland 0 650 650 0 0 0

North East 0 100 100 150 125 -25

Goulburn Murray 0 350 350 0 0 0

TOTAL 2175 4350 2175 1350 2125 775

Note – a school participant is based on being involved in a football program of 6 weeks or more, or on 6 occasions or more. (This doesn’t include dedicated girl school participants or multicultural program participants)

Four regions (Bendigo, Sunraysia, North Central and East Gippsland) who between them only had 50 primary school based participants in 2005 and in North Central, Sunraysia and East Gippsland’s circumstances may find it more difficult due travel and isolation to grow school based participation have actually accounted for 94% of the growth in country Victoria since 2005. This is against


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Bendigo, North Central and East Gippsland reporting a combined population decline of 540 people aged between 5 -18 years old. This would indicate that as with club based participation and NAB AFL Auskick participation that population trends on their own are not a sole explanation for an individual regions performance.

It is also clear that while country Victoria makes up approx 36% of the overall participation total of Victoria, in relation to school participants it only makes up 14% in Victoria.

Number of School Football Teams in Country areas

There are two figures used by the AFL National Census when analysing school football team numbers. One figure is for those teams involved in a competition/program of less than 6 weeks and the other is those teams involved in a competition/program more than 6 weeks. The above mentioned participation figures are a reflection of those involved in a competition/program of more than 6 weeks, so for the purposes of this section we will focus on team numbers involved in competitions/programs of less than 6 weeks or 6 matches.

The below table indicates school teams in competitions of less than 6 weeks

Regions Less than 6 weeks Less than 6 weeks

2005 Primary School Teams

2010 Primary School Teams

Growth in Primary School Teams

2005 Secondary

School Teams

2010 Secondary

School Teams

Growth in Secondary

School Teams

Bendigo 37 56 19 54 52 -2

Sunraysia 29 0 -29 17 22 5

North Central 33 29 -4 30 37 7

Ballart 46 57 11 18 17 -1

South West 12 10 -2 34 34 0

Wimmera 26 21 -5 42 46 4

Hampden 35 30 -5 39 42 3

Geelong 44 74 30 62 66 4

Latrobe 48 52 4 51 61 10

East Gippsland 62 61 -1 41 39 -2

North East 51 35 -16 42 43 1

Goulburn Murray 44 42 -2 62 52 -10

Total 467 467 0 492 511 19

As can be seen above, there has been no increase in primary school team numbers in country Victoria since 2005. Geelong has provided the most significant growth in primary school teams with 30; however 8 of 12 regions recorded a decline in team numbers. In relation to secondary school teams, Sunraysia, North Central and Wimmera have provided 84% of the growth in this area, even against either a decline in population of 13 – 18 year olds or minimal growth in each of those regions.

Primary school teams (less than 6 weeks) in country Western Australian since 2005 have risen from 193 teams to 350 or (81% increase) and from 0 teams to 139 teams in country South Australia. In regards to Secondary school teams (less than 6 weeks), country Western Australia has risen from 29 teams in 2005 to 110 teams in 2010, while country South Australia has risen from 75 teams in 2005 to 354 teams in 2010.


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The below table indicates less than 6 week competition team numbers -

State Primary School Teams Secondary School Teams Overall Growth in

Teams 2005 2010 2005 2010

Country Western Australia 193 350 29 110 238

Country South Australia 0 139 75 354 418

Country Victoria 467 467 492 511 19

Number of Schools involved in some form of Football Program

Based on 2010 census figures an average of 77% of country primary schools (822) had some form of football program within their school in 2010. Out of these 822 primary schools, only 123 are involved in a program of greater than 6 weeks in duration, and 197 schools partake in no football program at all.

Secondary school football program involvement levels can be broken down into year levels. Once again, there are minimal programs within secondary schools that are greater than 6 weeks, with only nine schools having programs for years 7 – 10, and 14 schools having a football program greater than 6 weeks for years 11 – 12. See below.

Primary Year 7 Year 8 Year 9 - 10 Year 11 - 12

Less than 6 weeks 502 71 125 143 117

More Than 6 Weeks 123 9 9 9 14

No School Program at all 197 123 69 51 60

Total Number of Schools 822 203 203 203 191

Of most concern however, is the number of country secondary schools which have no involvement in football at all. For example, year 7 Australian Football programs (including 6 weeks or less) are only implemented in 80 of the 203 secondary schools in country Victoria. The below table indicates the breakdown of school programs at Year 7 level for each AFL Victoria Country Development Regions in 2010.

Less than 6 weeks

More than 6 weeks

No School Program at

all

Total Number of

Schools

Bendigo 14 0 5 19

Sunraysia 0 0 16 16

North Central 0 0 17 17

Ballart 4 6 2 12

South West 0 0 11 11

Wimmera 4 0 10 14

Hampden 7 0 12 19

Geelong 16 2 2 20

Latrobe 0 0 22 22

East Gippsland 0 0 14 14

North East 10 1 8 19

Goulburn Murray 16 0 4 20

Total 71 9 123 203


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The Review team recognises and was told about the challenges involved in engaging the school

sector in a football program. Some of the main impediments the Review team was told about

include;

- Schools now have to deliver an array of programs to their students (crowded curriculum) - Curriculum outcomes are seen as a priority over sport based experience outcomes - Influence of school principals in determining sport participation levels - Increased sporting options available to students - Opportunities to participate are limited due to distance and funding of buses - Motivation of teachers - Fewer qualified P.E teachers at the primary sector - Logistics and capacity of AFL Victoria staff to get to and service schools face to face - Funding for time release and Professional Development of teachers is extremely limited - Schools preferring round robin/gala day experiences rather than the traditional season based

interschool competition.

Country Victoria has underperformed over the past 5 years in growing school participation when compared to other traditional states. Figures suggest population trends in most regions are not an explanation for growth or decline, as some more isolated areas of country Victoria have actually provided the majority of growth over the past 5 years. Unlike participation, school growth figures aren’t being underpinned by the major regional centres.

Schools participation appears to be reliant on the historical nature of school football within a region, as opposed to the creation of new opportunities. The Review team understands the above mentioned impediments make engaging schools challenging, however the Review team is of the opinion that a higher percentage of schools in country Victoria should be involved in some form of football program regardless of its length of time.

The inconsistency regarding where growth has occurred and in which school program segment leads the Review team to believe there needs to be a coordinated and state wide strategic approach to growing school football in country Victoria. It is the Review team’s opinion that further emphasis on school football is an important factor in the future growth of football in country Victoria.


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7.2 LOCAL GAME DEVELOPMENT ISSUES

There are common game development issues across all or most regions that need to be addressed and are documented in the report, such as volunteers, umpires, player payments, and junior age groups. However, there are also game development issues that are local to particular regions and need to be addressed locally in terms of priority setting, independent decision-making and resource allocation.

Some of the issues the Review team identified are summarised below. The issues referred to are ‘big picture’ issues that are likely to affect game development in a particular region on the bigger scale. The Review team is not referring to the myriad of local issues that already exist that are the domain of individual leagues.

Population growth has been identified by the Ballarat FNL as ‘the biggest challenge for the league going forward’. The Ballarat FNL administers a league that includes clubs from the City of Ballarat itself, with projected growth to the west of Ballarat, the Shire of Melton, Moorabool Shire which includes Bacchus Marsh, and the City of Hume that includes Sunbury. Gisborne is also immediately adjacent to Sunbury, however Gisborne plays in the Bendigo FNL. These Shires are some of the fastest growing shires in Australia, let alone Victoria. They are also immediately adjacent to Western Melbourne, which is officially the fastest growing region in Australia. In fact, parts of the area covered by the Ballarat FNL make up parts of the larger area known as ‘Western Melbourne’. Both the AFL and AFL Victoria have identified Western Melbourne as an absolute priority for game development. From a community football viewpoint, parts of this area of Western Melbourne are covered by the Western Region Football League (WRFL) which is a metropolitan league affiliated directly to AFL Victoria. The WRFL itself is under-resourced, in terms of both game development personnel and facilities, hence its priority to AFL Victoria. Clearly some of the areas ’between’ WRFL and Ballarat FNL will effectively become urban areas of Melbourne over the coming years. Just as the capacity of WRFL needs to be developed to cater for this growth, so must the capacity of the Ballarat ‘Hub’. It cannot be looked at as just a Central Administration Hub (CAH) in the same manner as other CAH’s in traditional country regions that are affiliated with VCFL.

The comments applied to Ballarat FNL equally apply to the Geelong Region, South East Region and West Gippsland (Latrobe Valley Region). They are ‘country’ regions that are very quickly becoming urbanised as a result of the very significant growth in Melbourne. The AFL and AFL Victoria must ensure these regions are adequately resourced, and most importantly, are pro-active in their strategic planning for the future growth of the game.

“Armstrong Creek (Geelong) to have 65,000 (extra people) in 15 years, master plan has 22 ovals, Torquay, Drysdale, Ocean Grove, Lara massive growth going on” – Football

Geelong written submission.

The mid and western end of Gippsland has some of the densest areas in Victoria in terms of number of leagues and clubs. It includes the Gippsland Football League that stretches from Wonthaggi to Bairnsdale; the Alberton Football League; the Ellinbank & District Football League; the Mid Gippsland Football League; and the North Gippsland Football League. There are also 3 independent junior leagues within this territory.

“Clubs have to pass other clubs to play” – Alberton Football League representative (20th

July, 2011).


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This structure of leagues is not effective in terms of game development in the region. There is little collaboration between the various leagues, even though there is general acknowledgement that there should be more collaboration. “Five leagues very close, but never really talk” – North Gippsland Football Netball League

representative talking about the closeness of the leagues (19th July, 2011).

The problem undoubtedly is that the constitutional obligation of league officials includes looking after the best interest of the organisation they administer; namely the league. This makes it extremely challenging to make decisions in the best interests of the game itself. This is similar to the problem of club delegate based boards on leagues, and the Review team noted the overwhelming trend in recent times to move away from delegate based boards to independent league boards. The Review team was approached by Wonthaggi Power FC to make us aware of their case. This club was made to move from the Alberton Football League to the ‘major’ Gippsland Football League because it was considered too strong for the Alberton Football League. The club’s representatives anticipate the club will not be sustainable in two years, because the travel involved means it is now finding it difficult to attract and retain juniors. Increased player payments have also been required, which will increase even further if the junior program is not effective. A map (appendix three) highlights the travel challenge for the club, where Bairnsdale is equal-distance from Wonthaggi as towns like Mansfield, Ballarat and Apollo Bay. The geography of Gippsland to the south also means travel is not efficient. The close proximity of the Mornington Peninsula Nepean Football League suggests an alternative is possible. However, rather than leaving it to the club to decide its future in isolation, it seems clear that some independent thinking on the competition structure in Gippsland is warranted. The analysis of junior and youth teams in the previous section shows that growth and declines in team numbers are not always directly related to population trends. The Review team acknowledges there are also other external factors that might cause a drop off in player numbers, such as weekend work, other sports and activities. However, we were also made aware of other examples that are controllable, such as the distance travelled and age grouping. The Gippsland Region may well be an example that needs to be addressed in terms of league and competition structures to retain juniors and youth players in the game in this region.

North Central Region and in particular the North Central Football league (NCFL) is one of the more interesting regions in terms of local issues. An insight into the challenges the league faces can be seen from a Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (DEECD) ‘Review of the North Central Cluster Schools”. These seven schools include secondary colleges and primary/secondary colleges in towns that also have clubs that make up the bulk of the NCFL – Boort, Charlton, Donald, St Arnaud, Wedderburn, Wycheproof. The other school is in Pyramid Hill that provides a club in the Loddon Valley Football league.


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This DEECD review is examining the challenges presented by “enrolments in the cluster schools falling on average by 20% over the last 6 years...(and) will see a decline in potential enrolments of one third over the 20 year period to 2026. This decline will fall unevenly....depending on local circumstances, but the overall pattern is clear”. The next observation is interesting – “The schools are fortunate in that they already have in place a mutually supportive culture and some elements of a collective approach....” This Review team noticed a similar supportive culture in the league administration. We were impressed by the innovation of having hockey teams within each club, expanding the portfolio of activities to football, netball and hockey. The league’s view is that this increases members, volunteers, crowds, gates and overall revenues. All clubs are considered to be financially sound and sustainable as a result. The facts speak for themselves. In a region facing population decline (1844 or 12.7% 2004-2010), and the challenges that presents, as also recognised by other community institutions in the region, the North Central Region has managed to have a net growth in 8 teams and 200 participants, in the period 2004-2010, supporting the view that trends in participation don’t have to be dictated by population trends. This is a good example of how local authorities can address local issues, and should be supported effectively by governing bodies.

The Sunraysia Region is probably the most isolated region in country Victoria. It includes the Sunraysia League with 8 clubs as well as the Sunraysia JFL with 8 clubs, and the Millewa League with 7 Clubs.

Being so isolated, this region is not serviced well by either AFL Victoria or the VCFL. The AFL Victoria Region Development Manager is only employed 3 days per week and is heavily involved in the talent program as well as junior participation. The talent pathway into the Bendigo Pioneers is challenging for players and families due to travel and cost involved. The nature of the community means there are many retirees, and fruit growing means not a lot of manufacturing, and therefore not much commercial activity to support clubs through sponsorship. Hence the lack of revenue means a lot of the administration must be done by volunteers and not paid administrators. To the point the leagues question the viability of a CAH due the cost of setting it up and running it. Game development in Sunraysia is clearly going to need resources employed locally and decisions made locally if it is to prosper. Administration may need to be outsourced if it is to be at the most professional standard possible and to allow current volunteers to focus on strategic and game development issues rather than operating administration.


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7.3 STRUCTURAL ISSUES

There are a number of organisational and competition structural issues the Review team believes are impeding the development of the game, including maximising participation numbers. The organisational impediments include;

1) The separation of duties of AFL Victoria Region Development Managers ; 2) The location of employed resources, both for the VCFL and AFL Victoria; 3) Lack of resources in regions and focus devoted to maximising pathways; 4) Lack of resources in regions devoted to umpires and volunteer recruitment and

retention; 5) League & umpire association structures, and the resultant lack of collaboration,

including no forum for shared learning’s, and lack of independent decision-making in the best interests of the game in a region;

6) The lack of strategic focus and collective effort in dealing with local councils.

The competition impediments include;

7) Player payments; 8) Competition structures; 9) Junior Age Groups.

Each of these is discussed separately below.

1) AFL Victoria Region Development Managers (RDM’s)

AFL Victoria RDM’s operate in the main separately from VCFL leagues and clubs. They are primarily employed to develop NAB AFL Auskick participation, schools football, run coach accreditation programs, and assist Region Managers with talent programs. They don’t have a direct responsibility in transitioning NAB AFL Auskick participants to junior clubs.

A lot of concern was expressed about the lack of access to coach accreditation courses after the initial course before the start of the season (many junior clubs have not appointed coaches at that time). The concerns raised also centred on the RDM’s spending too much of their spare capacity on the talent program. This issue was also raised in the VCFL submission –

“In seeking feedback from Leagues and Clubs many of them believe that when Regional Development

Managers have spare capacity that it is more often than not directed to their respective TAC Cup

teams instead of assisting leagues and clubs” – VCFL submission.

This issue of ‘talent’ being a priority over RDM’s core functions was also raised in the 2004 Parliamentary Inquiry into Country Victorian Football. The Review team noted that to varying degrees, RDM’s do spend a disproportionate amount of time assisting the talent clubs, and was told of little change in this area in the last six years.

This tendency towards talent as opposed to RDM’s core development objectives is the result of ‘talent’ being seen as the ‘sexy’ part of the role and moving into the talent program is the only perceived career pathway for many RDM’s.

The results in NAB AFL Auskick participation since 2004 and the growth in U/9-U/10 teams and the results in Schools football indicate the separation of duties and accountability of RDM’s is not working.


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The Review team believes this issue needs to be rectified if participation growth is to increase in country Victoria. Over time the role of the RDM has been down played and lacked acknowledgement, even though in many instances it is considered a harder position and a more time consuming position than the Region Manager. The RDM’s are also paid less, and seem to have limited career opportunities should their Region Manager stay in their position for a long period of time (which tends to occur).

Greater acknowledgement and career pathway opportunities would reduce the RDM’s tendency to become involved in talent programs and greater collaboration with regions would provide greater participation outcome within regions.

Greater accountability regarding the performance measures currently in place for regionally based staff is required. The Review team observed current RDM’s and RM’s seem to have different understandings of what their key performance measures are in relation to their role. Each role seems to have evolved over time, and these inconsistencies are making the measurement of performance difficult for managers.

An improved staff performance management system would allow greater ‘reward for effort’ to occur and for high performing employees to be acknowledged and rewarded in line with their achievements.

To be effective, RDM’s need to work directly alongside local resources, to build junior participation and junior pathways. This was also noted in the VCFL submission -

“The VCFL believes that the AFLV Regional Development Managers have the ability to play a greater

role in the development of Leagues and Clubs throughout country Victoria” – VCFL submission.

2) Location of Employed Resources

The VCFL has 19 staff and only 5, being 4 Area Managers and an Umpiring Development Manager, who are based full-time in the country Victoria. This is a structure that has apparently evolved within the VCFL to reduce governance costs.

It is the opinion of the Review team it is impossible for the 4 Area Managers to cover the area of country Victoria and provide the level and nature of support local leagues and clubs require. In the main, these Area Managers work diligently but simply cannot cover the load.

Consider the following quotes from regional meetings with league representatives;

- “Having our VCFL Area Manager 2 hours away is not ideal – we really need one in Bendigo” – Bendigo Junior Football League representative (6th July, 2011).

- “We don’t see our Area Manager enough, but it’s not his fault it’s just that he has such a huge area to look after” – Loddon Valley Football League representative (6th July, 2011).

- “The work loads of area managers is too much and the area they cover is too big” – South West District Football Netball League representative (25th July, 2011).

- “We see the VCFL representative once a year, if that” – local league representative - “The area they have to travel is ridiculous” – Omeo and District Football League

representative (19th July, 2011). - “Don’t see area managers much” – South East Region representative (4th August, 2011).

- “Area Manager really has got far too much area to cover” – Mallee Football League

representative (26th July, 2011).

- “Very good on the phone and email, but we just don’t see him” – Mininera Football League representative (26th July, 2011).


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- “We never see the VCFL Area Manager” – East Gippsland Region League representative (19th July, 2011).

Appendix Four is a map of the 4 designated VCFL areas. The impact of the centrally located resources extends beyond the Area Managers. For example, VCFL have one full-time Training & Education Manager. The VCFL’s own submission to the Review quotes:

“Given the high numbers of affiliates that exist within the VCFL and the provision of training to on average over 15,000 volunteers and administrators on annual basis, the ability to deliver face to face programs can be limited with some programs only being able to be delivered every other year.”

The VCFL recommend heading towards on-line training to address this issue. On-line may increase the effectiveness of training but it is not an answer on its own. There will always need to be effective face to face interactions. To this end, the comments made in relation to Area Managers and training were also made generally about VCFL umpiring staff, directors and management. Rather than view this as criticism however, it would be more productive to consider it as in many cases a cry for help, and identifying the need for a better structure.

This problem is not isolated to the VCFL. It applies equally to AFL Victoria. Region Managers and Region Development Managers are not getting a lot of direct face to face support and monitoring, with most communication only happening in group sessions at head office. As a result, as mentioned previously, there is inconsistency in the job being performed around the regions and performance management is inadequate. Effective leadership of these resources is not possible if RM’s and RDM’s continue to report to head office managers who do not have the capacity to cover the area of Victoria effectively.

3) Lack of Resources in Regions

There is also a lack of resources in the regions themselves to implement the AFL Development objectives.

The following sections of the report discuss issues in Volunteers, Umpires, and Player Pathways. Those issues cannot be addressed unless there are an adequate number of resources in place in the regions to implement whatever programs and strategies are put in place.

At present, with the exception of two regions where major CAH’s exist and therefore more resources exist, being Geelong and Ballarat, the vast majority of administrators in country Victoria are focussed on operational matters involving their leagues, and are not focussed much if at all on strategic issues and planning for the future. They therefore have little capacity other than to maintain the status quo and certainly little capacity to address the AFL Development objectives.

Of the 26 written submissions we received from local football leagues, 8 indicated that had a working strategic plan. The Review team was told by some leagues they didn’t really have a vision for where they wanted their league to be in 5 years time. Such was the nature of ‘survival’ regarding some leagues, one league president when asked the question of ‘where do you want to be in 5 years time’, indicated “exactly where we are now”.

Consider the following quotes during meetings with some league representatives -

- “There is no collaboration. It is a real issue. Brought about by the need for survival” –

Wimmera Football League written submission.


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- “Operational aspects of boards make it hard to recruit volunteers” – Bendigo Junior Football

League representative (6th July, 2011).

- “We have no strategic plan...the plan for us is survival” – South West Victoria League


- “We just try and go week to week – no 5 year plan” – North Eastern Victoria League

representative. (14th July, 2011).

The VCFL itself does not have a strategic plan. The VCFL submission quotes:

- “In early 2011 the VCFL Board directed a review of the organisation’s strategic plan...... however it had not come to fruition prior to recent management re-structure & review being announced....The VCFL plans to work on a strategic plan for the period 2012-2016 that will include collaboration and input from key stakeholders. The plan will be closely aligned to the AFL’s seven game development objectives” – (VCFL written submission).

With some leagues operating from one round of football to the next, discussions with some leagues around ‘growth’ and ‘growing the game in the region’ was limited. Some leagues indicated their growth strategy related to attracting another club from another league and therefore growing the number of clubs for that individual league. However, this growth strategy obviously impacts negatively on a neighbouring league, and has no impact on growth state wide.

The Review team observed current growth strategies relating to country football in the most part were being driven by AFL Victoria’s eight Program Managers who oversee activities such as NAB AFL Auskick, Indigenous participation, Multi-cultural participation, AFL 9s, Women’s Football, Schools football, Coaching, and Player Appearances.

The league administrators recognise these AFL programs are important for their clubs’ future sustainability, to drive up numbers in their clubs. The Review team also observed a willingness to embrace the seven AFL Development objectives which were displayed in the original terms of reference. However, presently leagues have marginal capacity at best to achieve these objectives and introduce any of the existing programs, let alone any new programs coming from this report.

If the issue of additional resources in the regions is not addressed, country football will not grow in overall terms and nothing will eventuate from this Review.

4) League & Umpire Associations Structures

The VCFL is comprised of 82 leagues and 28 umpire associations. Collaboration only exists where some leagues and to a lesser extent some umpire associations have formed CAH’s. Ballarat and Geelong are the only examples where the results of forming a CAH are showing any significant strategic benefits of close collaboration. Other CAH’s reduce administration costs to leagues and clubs which is beneficial, but the need going forward will be much greater collaboration, strategic focus and relationship building in regions.

According to the VCFL submission, there are other CAH’s in different forms including Bendigo, Central Murray, East Gippsland, Hampden, North East Border, Wimmera and the Yarra Valley. According to the VCFL, Football Geelong is the only example of an independent commission making decisions on behalf a number of leagues. The VCFL submission goes on to recommend that over time CAH’s look to form one overriding commission to oversee all members of the CAH.


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Ballarat FNL provided an extremely detailed and professional submission to the Review. That in itself is an indication of the benefits of the structure in Ballarat; the fact that the resources are available and sufficiently skilled to make such a submission. The Ballarat CAH oversees the Ballarat Football League, Ballarat Youth Girls Competition, Maryborough Castlemaine DFNL and the Ballarat Umpires Association.

The Ballarat FNL submission outlines what they consider are the proven benefits of the Hub structure. Some of those benefits include;

- Economies of scale in resources leading to reduced administration costs of associated leagues;

- Skilled resources available to increase sponsorship, improve professionalism of publications; - Increased League revenue from $433k in 2004 to $1.15 million in 2010; - Reduced fees to clubs of associated leagues.

Ballarat quoted a case study as follows;

In 2007, (prior to Hub Administration) the Maryborough Castlemaine DFNL recorded a loss of approximately $13,000 – which was indeed a conservative figure. In 2008 the Hub administered the Maryborough Castlemaine District FNL, and without any increase in club fees the Maryborough Castlemaine District FNL recorded a profit of approx $32,000. This was done via increased Sponsorship, Advertising (better Footy Record), increase Finals income (via tighter cash controls, less free tickets and increased promotion) and increased diligence in reducing expenses across the league. (Ballart FNL written submission).

Football Geelong has a similar track record of success.

Football Geelong’s independent commission oversees the governance of a number of leagues in the area, and through the establishment of a CAH have 5 full time staff and 3 part time resources. Their mission is: “To foster the absolute viability and vitality of Football and Netball throughout the Geelong region through efficient administration and effective leadership”.

Current Football Geelong commissioner Peter Kelly stated the reasons for heading towards their independent commission included;

- The duplication of roles and responsibilities across different leagues - Cost savings – e.g. honorariums and salaries etc - The operational focus of leagues - League members are often volunteers doing it as a hobby - Volunteers are becoming increasingly more difficult to find.

Football Geelong’s ability to manage growth in football, “4613 (2005) to 6100 (2010)” (FG submission), has no doubt been enhanced by an independent commission making decisions in the best interest of football in the region. The Review team observed Football Geelong’s 5 year strategic plan outlines some aggressive growth strategies aimed at encompassing developments such as Armstrong Creek which is estimated to have 65,000 more residents within 15 years.

One major challenge with the majority of existing league & umpire association structures is that, assuming on average each board/executive of each league or umpire association has 8-10 positions, then upwards of 1,000 governance positions need to be filled to service these boards/executives. That is not a sustainable position for the long term. It is already evident the representatives in these positions who the Review team met tended to be older and have generally served in those positions for some considerable time. Succession planning by their admission is challenging.


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Further to the above point, the Review team as mentioned previously observed most leagues seem to have moved to an independent representative board, or were in the process of trying to move to this, and therefore away from their delegates system. There was however some leagues still working via a delegates system which in the opinion of the Review team makes decision making difficult and can see league progress stagnate.

Those leagues not involved in any CAH tended to work out of board member’s homes or in work offices owned/rented by a board member or sponsor. The Review team observed it was these leagues that tended to get by on extremely dedicated volunteers who received little to no payment for their services to the league.

One Upper Murray representative indicated he was originally concerned about a CAH, however he has changed his view;

“It’s just become so easy to have professionals to do it” – Upper Murray representative discussing

the success of the North East Administration hub.

The current league and umpire association structure is completely untenable going forward. There is hardly any meaningful collaboration apart from a few notable examples. The focus of volunteers is almost entirely on operating issues and not forward planning or strategic issues. There is difficulty in filling volunteer positions.

The Review team is of the view that CAH’s are good up to a point, but on their own, they are not the answer. CAH’s do offer administration efficiencies and access to better skilled resources. However, they are still in the main operational focussed. They may provide an environment that may ultimately lead to greater collaboration by leagues in a region.

However, the critical issue for the future is the strategic focus and the ability to make decisions in any given region in the best interests of the game as a whole. This requires a structure that provides the resources needed and empowers a region have the authority to make decisions.

5) Working with Local Council

The Review team met with representatives from 8 local councils throughout country Victoria, with representatives holding positions such as CEO, Director of Community and Recreation, Manager of Recreation and Open Space Planning, Manager Recreation and Parks, and Sport and Recreation Manager.

Our findings into local council’s perception of the current state of football in country Victoria is based on what we were told, the 5 written submissions we received from local councils, and the Review teams observations.

The consensus feedback from councils was the need for greater collaboration between local football representatives, and the development of locally based strategic plans for the growth of Australia Football in each region.

Many council representatives are frustrated by the lack of collaboration that occurs between local football bodies in their region. Local councils were often being approached by individual clubs, leagues and umpiring associations all looking for support for their own facility. With each football body approaching council separately with their ‘own interests at heart’, there is no overall development plan in mind for Australian Football. Councils believe with greater collaboration between local football bodies and the development of a local direction/vision regarding priorities for facility development; they can start to invest in the best interest of the game.


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Consider the following quotes from council representatives -

- “With no plan or blue print from the governing body, we are not sure about where to invest, as we refuse to waste money... we don’t have strategic conversations with clubs about facility development” – Shepparton City Council representative (13th July, 2011).

- “Council has spent considerable effort with individual clubs to create Master Plans for facilities however it is difficult to do this in the absence of clear strategy for the sport’s growth” – Albury City Council representative (written submission).

- “AFL Victoria could provide an awareness at a local level to encourage a more strategic approach from a central body or representative group such as a central football hub to strategically plan and work in partnership with Council to develop facilities, etc.” – Mildura City Council representative (written submission).

- “Without a formal structure to facilitate strategic discussions, the current situation is likely to continue – ie individual clubs making decisions in their interest rather than in the interest of the sport and the community in general, and proposals for reform /change being stymied through self-interest” – Warrnambool City Council (written submission).

- “The current governance model for football in Albury cannot support planning for future growth...strategic planning should be discussed at League or even regional level” – Albury City Council representative (14th July, 2011).

- “A collaborative approach between the City and all football bodies would enable stronger growth and improved facilities in the region...in the last month we’ve had the BFL, BJFL, BUA and the Bendigo Bombers all come to us individually all asking for funding.” – City of Greater Bendigo representative (6th July, 2011).

So many different Australian Football stakeholders within one region makes developing a strategic approach to facility planning nearly impossible.

“There are 12 Australian Football Associations which would need to be consulted in relation to future growth if a strategic plan was to be developed for managing growth of Australian Football in Albury.

These 12 associations do not include school sports or netball which are usually associated with country football. However there is no strategic plan in relation to Australian Football as a whole” –

Albury City Council (written submission).

It appears to be the opposite in relation to soccer. Soccer has demonstrated an ability in some regions to work collaboratively across their associations and with council (e.g. Shepparton, Mildura, Albury) to develop strategic plans for facility development that “focus on assisting the local associations to accommodate and continue capitalising on the popularity of the sport as well as ensuring a strategic direction for the development of facilities for football in the future”. (Shepparton City Council – Football Strategy, 2009).

Consider the following quotes from council representatives regarding soccer;

- We received “a really good presentation from Football Federation Victoria...really professional approach to facility development” – Mildura City Council representative (16th July, 2011).

- “If planning does not happen, any existing capacity will be taken up by growth in soccer...

recently a partnership with Melbourne Heart has also been arranged” – Albury City Council


- “With soccer having a strategy for the region...the council have developed one for soccer in line with it” – Shepparton City Council representative (13th July, 2011).

- “Soccer in the region has got their act together” – City of Ballarat representative (5th July, 2011).


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In order to achieve greater collaboration and direction on facility planning at local levels, representation of all leagues or a ‘single point of contact’ would make dealings with council more effective.

“The City of Greater Geelong enjoys dealing with one football body (Football Geelong) on a strategic

level” - City of Greater Geelong representative (28th June, 2011).

The Review team observed Australian Football continues to be fortunate to have a strong relationship with local council representatives mainly due to a history and culture, and council’s recognition of the integral role football plays in the health and wellbeing of communities.

Consider the two quotes below from interviews with council representatives;

- “We have a history and culture of looking after (Australian) football” – Wangaratta City Council representative (14th July, 2011)

- “Football is a major player in strengthening communities” – City of Greater Geelong representative (28th June, 2011)

Australian Football is fortunate councils have provided the leadership on facility development. However in 10 – 15 years this may not be the case if soccer continues to provide a strategic collective approach and Australian Football continues with a dysfunctional and non-strategic approach.

Further to the above point, the Review team notes a general inability of volunteers to effectively articulate the benefits the game provides the community. All levels of government recognise “clubs are the centre of the community’s social network” and “encouraging physical activities also helps address the lifestyle-related diseases” (The Victorian Liberal Nationals Coalition Plan for Sport and Recreation). Regions need to be better able to measure football’s impact on communities to enhance the support Australian Football receives from national, state and local council.

“Councils are in the health game” – City of Ballarat representative (5th July, 2011).


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Impediments the Review team found to local competitions included -

6) Player Payments

The issue of player payments was raised continually by leagues and councils. The cost of putting a competitive team on the field in some competitions is placing volunteers under enormous pressure to continually raise money to pay players. The Review team was told raising money to pay players was rated the number one most time consuming task facing volunteers within community clubs.

With virtually no divisional (relegation/promotional) systems in place in country Victoria, and the geographic nature of competition structures, clubs are forced to compete against rivals regardless of financial stability and capacity to raise revenue.

Some regions of country Victoria are also experiencing issues relating to the standard of player vs. the standard of competition. Players within a major league, who are say the 10th best player at a club and on $150 per game, are being attracted by district clubs in which they become the 2nd best player and paid $350 per game. This causes friction between leagues and clubs and inflates the value of players within the region.

Some isolated country clubs also now rely on players travelling to play for a club due to insufficient players in the local town. Paying players is the only way to sustain a football club in the town, and is seen by locals as an investment in the town’s future and the ‘social’ engagement of the community. Some council’s observed this is placing extra stress on some facilities in major regional centres as these players train at these central venues and only play locally. Millewa Football League is an example of this where most of their clubs now train in Mildura.

Some local council representatives noted the perception by some local councillors that clubs who are capable of paying $70,000 (average player payments for a major league club – WorkSafe VCFL Player Remuneration Guide – 2010) worth of player payments per year should be investing more significantly in their own facilities, and as such some councils may choose to support other sports.

In order to address the issue of player payments the VCFL introduced a salary cap in 1994 in an effort to control player payments throughout their affiliated leagues. The player payment limits were originally set at $50,000 for a major league club and $30,000 for a district league club, however “due to the proliferation of cash around football clubs, the inability of the system to capture cash payments, in kind payments and payments from 3rd parties, the policing of the cap was close to impossible” (Worksafe VCFL – Player Remuneration Guide). Following a survey of VCFL clubs and leagues the cap was removed in 2004.

Some leagues have implemented a player points system which is essentially aimed at ‘containing’ player payments and rewarding/encouraging clubs to develop their own players through a strong junior development program. It was noted to the Review team a well managed ‘points system’ should provide a greater level of competitiveness within a league and assist in reducing the on-field gap between the wealthy clubs and the financially poor clubs.

This issue needs further investigation especially into a state wide points system. There is no doubt it is the responsibility of clubs to manage their own financial situation and ensure their financial position is sustainable, however a safe guard that encourages greater financial responsibility and encourages the investment of both time and funds in game development opportunities, in particular junior development programs, would be a good outcome.

Currently South Australia has a state wide points system for community football in which leagues can adjust to suit their local situation, and while it has only been in operation this year feedback


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provided to the Review team by the SACFL - Community Football Manager was extremely positive. The South Australian point’s system summary is appendix five of this report.

7) Competition Structures

The Review team also discussed issues relating to ‘divisional’ or ‘relegation/promotional’ systems in local competitions with league representatives. The Review team was told these competition models are rare in country football at the moment due to a number of reasons including historical, geographical and the large number of independent local leagues that usually operate with 7 – 14 clubs each, meaning they are usually too small to implement a new competition structure.

“Our biggest problem is we have two 6 team competitions side by side” – Football Netball East Gippsland (19th July, 2011).

The Review team noted currently the relegation and promotional system is used in all six major metropolitan leagues to assist the competitiveness of each competition. The metropolitan leagues currently have an advantage in relation to the relatively small travelling distances between clubs and the large number of teams within each league e.g. Eastern Football League has 44 senior clubs.

While further investigation is needed this concept could have merit within some country regions as it provides clubs with an ability to find their competitive niche and participate against clubs of a similar playing standard and financial capability. Those clubs who may have the ‘drive’ and capabilities to raise significant revenue to pay high quality players can compete against each other, while those clubs more interested in ‘just fielding a team’ and providing people with the opportunity to participate will get the opportunity to play against each other. This may be particularly relevant in those regions with strong population growth or where clubs and leagues overlap geographically.

Changing competition structures is not something a governing body should force on any region, and is not recommended in this report. However, it is an example of how local region issues may warrant such a decision in the best interests of football in that region, and if that were the case, a body needs to be able to make that decision in that region.

8) Junior/Youth Age Groups

The differences and inconsistencies in junior and youth age groups across country Victoria is significant. The Review team observed in most cases, junior and youth age groups are decided by the league or board at the time. They are set for a variety of reasons including to avoid conflicting with another league, due to player numbers within that year, or to avoid the creation of ‘super teams’ which is often why age groups are set at ½ a year level e.g. U16 ½.

With greater collaboration between leagues and some further investigation, an opportunity exists to create improved consistency in the way junior and youth football is played within country Victoria. It is important to ensure it is as easy as possible for juniors to move through the ‘community player pathway’ and be retained as a participant for as long as possible. Greater collaboration will also enhance the implementation of the AFL’s Junior Football Match Policy.

In Geelong at the moment all their youth and junior teams from U16 down, which are spread across 3 different leagues are graded at the start of the year and placed into divisions. This provides a great level of competition for good players to get better due to increase competition, while not as skilled players enjoy their football more in a less competitive environment.


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7.4 VOLUNTEERS

“As a past player and now a volunteer, playing the game is much easier than administering it” – local league administrator.

The Review team met mainly those volunteers who hold governance positions in leagues and umpire associations e.g. league presidents, secretaries, board members, executive committee members, league delegates, general managers and other league administrators.

Our section into Volunteers is based on what these people told us, plus what we observed.

The feedback we received was focused on 4 major areas -

1. Succession Planning and Recruitment 2. Training 3. Compliance 4. Litigation

1) Succession Planning and Recruitment

The Review team was told by leagues the recruitment of volunteers to fill administration and operations roles within football clubs and leagues is becoming more and more difficult. Also, once a volunteer is recruited into a role they are often forced to stay longer than they wish, due to a lack of succession planning. The Review team was told there is very little strategic planning relating to the recruitment of volunteers.

Consider the following quotes from league representatives during regional meetings –

- “Won’t be lack of numbers, but lack of volunteers that will kill football” – Ovens and Murray

Football League representative (14th July, 2011).

- “Their availability is getting less...it’s now getting left to too few” – Geelong and District

Football League representative discussing a lack of volunteers (25th August, 2011).

- “It is more difficult than it used to be...they are an aging group” – Horsham District Football

League representative talking about volunteers (26th July, 2011).

- “Volunteers...clubs struggle” – Mininera and District Football League representative (26th

July, 2011).

- “Our major challenge is volunteers on a match day...clubs struggling to get the 6 volunteers

needed to get the game going” – Millewa Football League representative (16th August, 2011)

- “Junior football has a revolving door of volunteers due to the nature of the competition...we

haven’t had a secretary for 8 years because people won’t volunteer at league level” –

Warragul and District Junior Football League representatives (20th July, 2011).

- “The greatest challenge is being able to find support for the volunteers of clubs...Whilst many

of these key people have been long term servants for their clubs and communities it is at

times very difficult to find someone to replace them or younger people who are willing to

become involved to the same extent” – Central Highlands Football League (written

submission).


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2) Training

With a large turnover rate of volunteers, (30% per year on average according to the AFL Victoria Community Development Manager), a consistent training and education program is critical to ensure key people within the league or club environment have the skills to coordinate their league/club effectively. Currently the coordination of volunteer training is completed centrally via a VCFL ‘Education and Training Manager’ and delivered in most cases in conjunction with the Area Managers. Feedback indicates training is well received; however some issues raised by leagues include the dates sessions are delivered, and the ‘one off’ nature of training sessions. Some leagues told the Review team training felt like a ‘tick and flick’ exercise, with VCFL staff and other training specialists arriving for a day, delivering the session, and then heading home. Due to the head office structure in place, leagues indicated to the Review team the follow up relating to volunteer training is minimal (besides phone contact), with volunteer league and club administrators often reliant on their own skill set to get through.

However, as referred to in the previous section, the Review team supports the VCFL’s intentions to move forward with online training, which can complement face to face interactions.

3) Compliance

“They are legislating volunteers out of the game” – Murray Football League written submission.

The Review team was told on several occasions ensuring volunteers get back to doing what they enjoy doing is critical to the games ability to retain volunteers to service the game. The Review team was told issues around ‘compliance’ were putting added strain on volunteers who don’t always have time to commit to accreditation courses. Many leagues recognised the importance of courses relating to coach accreditation, food handling, responsible service of alcohol and others that look to improve the club environment and reduce risk; however it was still a burden on volunteers.

One accreditation course that did receive considerable comment by league representatives was the delivery and timing of coach accreditation courses, which are run by AFL Victoria Region Development Managers. The Review team was told coaching course dates were being set in some areas without any consultation. Many leagues complained courses were generally held too early before coaches were appointed to junior teams. Due to this, coaches who missed a course within their region had to travel into another region to attend a course held later in the year.

4) Litigation

The final main area of concern for leagues was the fear of litigation was affecting the recruitment of volunteers.

It was recommended in the ‘2004 Parliamentary Inquiry’ into country football that all clubs be made aware ‘in simple terms the protection afforded volunteers under the Wrongs Act 1958 (Vic)’, however there is still a misconception in country football and those who could potentially volunteer, that if something goes wrong they could be liable.

Under the Wrongs Act 1958 section 35, ‘a volunteer is an individual who provides a service in relation to community work on voluntary basis’. The term ‘community work’, can relate to a person who volunteers ‘for the purpose of sport, recreation, tourism or amusement’, hence people who volunteer in a community football club are covered by this act. The relevant section of the act stipulates –

37 Protection of volunteers from liability


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“A volunteer is not liable in any civil proceeding for anything done, or not done, in good faith by him or her in providing a service in relation to community work organised by a community organisation.”

While this information was communicated in a letter to clubs as part of the 2004 review and may have had an impact at the time, the Review team was told there is still not enough awareness of the legislation. In many ways the letter was actually preaching to the converted, as it was sent to people already volunteering. Further awareness relating to the legislation is required.

5) Observations

Through our regional visits the Review team observed many of the volunteers holding governance positions are older, in some cases elderly. This reinforces the issue surrounding succession planning. In saying this, there is no doubt some volunteers hold onto positions due to the social recognition that comes with some roles, as it was not uncommon for the Review team to meet volunteers who had held positions for over 20 years.

Previously, we have noted under the heading of ‘League and Umpire Associations Structures’ that upwards of 1,000 volunteer positions need to be filled just for governance positions for Leagues and Umpire Associations. This requirement alone places undue burden on succession planning and recruitment let alone the volunteers required for training and match day functions.

Consider the following quotes made during regional interviews;

- ‘We are wearing out good people’ – Murray Football League representative (13th July, 2011).

- “Clubs burn out volunteers” – Mid Gippsland Football League representative (19th July,

2011).

- “Football is becoming a business and these volunteers don’t have the time – (Loddon

Valley Football League representative (6th July, 2011).

Creating greater efficiencies in the way football is governed in country Victoria will assist in taking some strain out of the volunteering issue. By reducing the amount of governance positions across local leagues football can identify the best people for those roles instead of placing undue pressure on those who may not feel they have the time or the skills, or would prefer to revert to other volunteering roles around football.

There is also a need for greater strategic thinking about the recruitment of volunteers at all levels of football, and further education regarding what motivates volunteers to become involved. The development of succession planning strategies is critical to volunteer recruitment.

More resources based locally to provide training and education for volunteers would remove the current ‘tick and flick’ nature of training at the moment. It would allow training to occur more regularly, at more convenient locations, and provide the opportunity for ongoing support.

The current delivery of level one coaching courses to volunteers needs further investigation. Coaches are currently being deemed competent without being observed in the match day environment. These courses are critical to the growth of football, as the coach is the most important person in a club in relation to setting the standard for the match day environment. Coaches need to be observed meeting the accreditation competencies in the match day environment, with all the pressures involved with coaching.

“They come in and do a one day course and then we send them out and put them in charge of our

most important people...kids” – AFL Victoria Region Development Manager.


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7.5 UMPIRES

The Review team met with 16 country Umpiring Associations, with representatives holding positions of president, secretary, executive members, general manager, administrator and coach.

Our section into umpiring is based on what these people told us, plus our observations.

The feedback we received was focused on 3 main areas –

1. Recruitment 2. Retention 3. Training and Development

1) Recruitment

The Review team was told the issue of recruitment was the number one concern for umpiring administrators and Umpire Associations we interviewed.

Umpiring Associations indicated it was difficult to recruit umpires, with many telling the Review team they simply don’t have the resources to actively target and recruit people to join their umpiring group. Umpiring Associations indicated a willingness to approach schools and other organisations as part of a recruiting strategy, but they don’t have the resources or people to implement any strategy.

Consider the following quotes from interviews with Umpire Associations regarding recruitment and retention -

- “Issues...numbers, recruitment and retention” - Goulburn Valley Umpires Association representative (13th July, 2011).

- “The major issue is recruitment and retention” – Western District Umpires Association representative (25th July 2011).

- “Retention is the biggest issue” – Sunraysia Umpiring Association representative (16th

August, 2011).

- “Recruitment and retention are our biggest issues” – Latrobe Valley Umpires Association


- “No engagement with schools...however we would like to” – Bendigo Umpires Association

representative (6th July 2011).

- “Board representatives are full time (employment) and can’t get to schools...we need a full

time locally based resource” – North East Umpires Board representative (14th July 2011).

The Review team was told local advertising campaigns aimed at umpire recruitment were costly, and had little or no impact on recruitment numbers. The Review team was also told generally the recruitment of former players into umpiring had not worked, with players either not physically able to run around and umpire, or not willing to subject themselves to the umpiring environment which may involve abuse from players or supporters.

Consider the following quotes from interviews with Umpire Associations in relation to unsuccessful

recruitment strategies -

- “Former players aren’t the answer as they don’t want to do it” – North Central Umpires

Association representative (9th August, 2011).


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- “Recruiting old footballers is not the answer” - Goulburn Valley Umpires Association


- “Spent 3K on an advertising campaign and not one umpire” – Latrobe Valley Umpires

Association representative (19th July, 2011).

- “Never recruited anyone from radio advertising” - North Central Umpires Association

representative (9th August, 2011).

One recruitment strategy that has had some success is the recruitment of female umpires. Some groups indicated positive growth in this area, and the introduction of ‘all female panel days’ to further promote the recruitment of female umpires.

2) Retention

The retention of umpires is also a concern for some Umpiring Associations, as the turnover rate amongst some groups is considered high by representatives. (Umpiring Associations obviously understand if they can retain more umpires the need to recruit will be reduced).

Umpiring Associations indicated the hardest umpires to retain were usually aged between 18 – 30 years old. Umpiring Associations told the Review team, while the match day environment and in particular ‘abuse’ had improved over the past 5 years, (through certain AFL programs and the elite competitions strict rules), it was still an issue at community level in relation to retaining some umpires, and as a representative from the Sale Umpires Association indicated “abuse still causes people to leave”.

Consider the following positive quotes from interviews with Umpiring Association representatives relating to an improved match day environment -

- “The match day environment is getting better” – Representatives from the North East

Football Netball Administration ‘hub’ (14th July, 2011).

- “Abuse issue is better...always going to get one or two” - Western District Umpires


- “Abuse is not as big an issue as a few years ago” – North Central Umpires Association

representative (9th August, 2011).

- “Abuse has improved over the years” – Sunraysia Umpires Association (16th August,

2011).

- “The match day environment is definitely improving” – Bendigo Umpires Association


Most Umpiring Associations indicated to the Review team the important role local leagues and club administrators played in creating a positive match day environment and therefore supporting umpiring. Umpire Associations told the Review team well administered and monitored ‘codes of conduct’, and a leagues ability to enforce these, assisted greatly an Umpires Associations ability to retain umpires.

Consider the following quotes from meetings with Umpiring Associations and Leagues;

- “Local leadership from leagues is needed to drive improvement” - Gippsland Umpires

Association representative discussing the match day environment (20th July, 2011).

- “Good match day environments are driven by leagues” – Wimmera Football Umpires



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- “Codes of conducts is a huge priority...and it’s lead by leagues” – North Gippsland

Football League representative (19th July, 2011).

- “Our league drives the code of conduct” – Yarra Valley Mountain District Football League

representative (2nd August, 2011).

The other aspect of retaining umpires was the environment created by the local Umpire Association. The Review team was told most Umpiring Associations are working hard at creating a positive and friendly environment for umpires during training sessions and social functions.

3) Training and Development

The training and development of umpires is provided mainly by the local umpires coach. The Review team was told the local coach is usually paid a small sum of money by the Umpire’s Association and is responsible for the delivery of umpire accreditation, education and other training and development activities. Support for Umpire Coaches through the AFL’s Umpire Coach Professional Development Program is well received.

“The AFL Umpire Coach Professional Development Program must continue...it really is having a great impact on the environments within groups” – Bendigo Umpires Association representative during a

meeting held on 6th July 2011.

The Review team was told the training and development of club based umpires was a concern to some Umpire Associations. Umpire Associations indicated it was difficult to engage club based umpires in training and education programs; however they all recognised the important role club based umpires are playing in community football.

Some Umpiring Association’s indicated to the Review team the VCFL umpiring development resources are focussed mainly on umpiring talent academies and representative football, as opposed to recruitment and retention issues. It was also discussed that as like the previously mentioned Area Managers, the area and work load needed to be covered by 3 staff (2 of whom are based in Melbourne) is too large.

- “Umpiring Development Officer’s are only really seen for academy training...he’ll come

down when required” – South West Victoria - Umpires Association representative

- “Support is limited to their programs...they always need to get back to Melbourne” –

North East Victoria - Umpires Association representative discussing the VCFL umpiring

resources

- “There are people working in umpiring, but no one working on umpiring to drive

strategy” – Southern Victoria - Umpires Association representative

- “Two blokes out on the road...too big an area to look after” – Eastern Victoria - Umpires

Association representative

- “Plenty of emails, but we just don’t see them” – Eastern Victoria - Umpires Association

representative

- “Don’t really see anyone from the VCFL” – Southern Victoria - Umpires Association

representative

4) Observations

As with volunteers, it appeared the people holding governance positions in some Umpire Associations had held those positions for some time which indicated a lack of succession planning.


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One Umpiring Association explaining how they were concerned for the future once the current board retired;

- “Can’t see our association going more than a couple of years” – Northern Victoria

Umpiring Association representative.

The Review team also observed the general stand-alone nature of Umpiring Associations; with most groups we interviewed having their own facility, training ground, coaching and administration resources. These items all come at a cost to the individual umpire members as Umpire Associations on average taking 20% of an umpires pay per match to pay for these items.

With most Umpiring Associations appearing to operate at arm’s length from football leagues, the issue of umpire recruitment is the sole responsibility of Umpire Associations. However, with the resources Umpire Associations do have being directed towards administration and facility costs, most Umpire Associations lack the capacity to implement a successful recruitment and retention strategy. The Review team observed when a recruitment strategy was implemented it was mostly in late February as a response to low umpiring numbers.

The Review team also observed a general reduction in umpiring numbers over recent years throughout remote areas of country Victoria. Simply by -

1) Viewing team umpiring group photos within association club rooms – see below 2) Viewing registration books.

Below are two photos on the wall at the Sunraysia Umpires Association, with one being from 1997 and the other from 2009.

The Review team believes local Umpiring Associations have a part to play in the future of football in country Victoria, especially in relation to creating a positive training and social environment. However, greater efficiencies relating to the administration of Umpire Associations could assist their ability to put more resources towards recruitment, retention and development issues, and could decrease the amount deducted from an individual member.

The Review team was told the current annual cost of umpires to country football is about $4 million dollars. On average 20% of this is being deducted by umpire associations, which means about

40 umpires in the team photo in 2009 88 umpires in the team photo in 1997


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$800,000 is currently being spent each year on administration, facilities and coaching etc. The Review team was told by some Umpiring Association they had over $100,000 in the bank.

With greater efficiencies in administration, more money could be returned to umpires, and invested into improve umpire development programs.

An example of this occurring is in the Yarra Valley Mountain District Football League who told the Review team they currently complete the administration and other business activities for their umpires group -

CASE STUDY - The YVMDFL employ the umpires coach and only deduct 12.5% (which includes

work cover) off umpires pay as the league complete all the administrational aspects for the

association. They believe they service all their umpires well, and are very hard on driving the

match day code of conduct. They are able to fill all of their field umpire positions and have

no more club based field umpires, or any past players umpiring.

The Ballarat Football Netball League written submission also outlined –

“The Ballarat FNL is of the view that if the Umpires were administered from the “Hub” that it can reasonably expect that through better utilization of resources that the amount deducted from Umpire payments could be reduced to possibly 10% - which locally would see an increase in payments made straight to Umpires pockets of $43,000 – or an amazing $400,000 state-wide!”

Closer links between professional football administrations and Umpire Associations could also assist in leagues playing a more active role in the monitoring of the match day environment, and the implementation of league ‘codes of conduct’.

Further assistance for umpiring development is also required to ensure umpiring numbers keep pace with the growth of the game. State wide recruitment and retention strategies aimed at improving the ‘image’ of umpiring and ensuring greater advocacy of the personal development skills (such as leadership, decision making, communication etc) could also enhance umpiring recruitment strategies.

Locally based umpiring resources with the ability to implement local strategies and engage local schools in the recruitment of umpires are also needed. The Review team noted full time AFL Victoria RDM’s going into schools to promote football, but in many instances not advocating or promoting umpiring.


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7.6 AFL TALENT PROGRAM

The AFL Talent Program is discussed under 5 headings, namely;

1) Regional boundaries; 2) Consideration of local issues; 3) Acknowledgement of junior clubs/leagues; 4) Development of players post TAC Talent Program; and 5) Longer term structure of TAC Talent Programs.

1) Regional Boundaries

Over the longer term, boundaries will need constant review with population shifts and the increased urban sprawl of Melbourne. This may eventually require a total review of all TAC Talent Program boundaries, both metropolitan and country, and include consideration of new clubs, to cater for regional growth and provide talented players with the greatest opportunity to reach the elite competition.

In terms of current boundaries and the immediate future, the issue was raised numerous times during the Review.

The Review team was also told by some AFL Victoria Region Mangers and league representatives the lack of consistency of TAC Talent Program boundaries is impacting on some TAC players. One case sees players who go to school in one development region having to travel 90 km from school back past their own house into another football region to train and play.

While the review team understands there is a need to ensure a level playing field and a competitive competition, it needs to be balanced against ensuring playing in the TAC Talent Program is not too onerous on parents.

“The system should be what’s best for the player – should be a case by case basis” – AFL Victoria

Region Manager discussing issues relating to TAC Cup boundaries (14th July, 2010).

Also, further clarification and greater communication appears to be needed along the Murray River especially in places such as Albury, regarding the access Greater Western Sydney has to players, and which program talented young players are to participate.

- How do we work better with GWS” – AFL Victoria Region Development Manager (14th

July, 2011).

- “Us and them mentality is starting to develop” – Murray Bushrangers Region Manager

discussing issues relating to GWS and Bushrangers competing for the same kids. (14th

July, 2010).

2) Consideration of Local issues

The current AFL Victoria budget allocation is similar for all individual TAC Talent Programs, in what appears to be a generic approach to funding by AFL Victoria. There are local considerations, often to do with travel that are not allowed for in this approach and as a result, may be restricting the development of talent.

This is highlighted in areas such as the Sunraysia, North Central and other remote areas. With significant travelling times to training and games, extra consideration is needed to the support


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provided to parents and players in remote regional areas to ensure they have the capacity to allow their talented player to participate.

In the case of Bendigo Pioneers, the generic approach to budgeting may be contributing to lower talent outcomes. In the Sunraysia Region, AFL Victoria employs the RDM part-time on 3 days per week. This role is also supposed to contribute to supporting VCFL affiliates including the Umpire Association. The workload across talent, NAB AFL Auskick, schools and community engagement, plus the distance needed to be travelled, prevents this role being effective, and as a result, probably harms the AFL brand more than it helps.

Further the isolation of the Sunraysia region places undue burden on parents, in terms of both time and cost. Consider that it takes 4 hours to drive to Bendigo (less to Adelaide) just for training and home games, let alone away games in Melbourne or beyond. It is too big a burden to place on families and young men in years 11 & 12, without additional support from AFL Victoria.

The Bendigo Pioneers currently have a part-time coach to cover this geographical region.

Similar challenges exist in other country TAC Regions but perhaps not to the same degree. AFL Victoria needs to consider a budget framework that addresses these issues.

Consider the following quotes from league representatives in regional meetings;

- “Kids drop out due to distance” – Central Murray Football League representative talking

about kids having to travel to Bendigo to play TAC Cup (9th July, 2011)

- “Kids can’t afford to play for the Bendigo Pioneers due to travel” – North Central Football

League representative (9th July, 2011).

3) Acknowledgement of Junior Clubs/Leagues

The Review team received many complaints about the lack of acknowledgement and recognition for an AFL drafted player’s original junior club. Reference to a young AFL player is all about the individual TAC Talent Program he was drafted from. Clubs do recognise they receive a portion of the transfer fee (this has been reduced over time and apparently absorbed by governing bodies). The desire for recognition is not necessarily by way of an increased transfer fee. However, they believe greater recognition in some form by the AFL is warranted.

This may appear to be a minor point for governing bodies and TAC Talent Programs. However, in an environment of pressure on volunteers and high turnover, recognition of the work they do in the early years of a player’s journey to guide, mentor and develop a young player is needed as a reward to volunteers.

“More promotion and rewards for the ORIGINAL clubs that these kids come from should be on the agenda for the AFL” – Murray Football League written submission.

There is a perception, probably as a result of this lack of recognition that the TAC Talent Program is not good for local football because they ‘steal’ the best local players who then never return to their original club. Most leagues do recognise talented players must participate in the program to reach the AFL, however the lack of collaboration and communication in some regions is causing frustration.

The reality of the players’ pathways after the TAC Talent Program is shown in the following table – 34% of players return to their original club, which is the highest of any possible pathway.


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4) Development of Players post TAC Talent Program

The pressure on young men to participate in the TAC Talent Program while completing years 11 & 12 at school is generally recognised. The increased number of mature age draftees and rookies through the VFL and interstate second tier competitions is evidence that AFL Clubs are recognising many players mature physically and emotionally beyond 18 years old.

The VFL competition provides a pathway opportunity for players after the TAC Talent Program in Victoria, although this is not directly supported and formalised by AFL Victoria. It is generally dependent on the young man himself to pursue this pathway. Further, the structure of aligned AFL/VFL clubs reduces the number of opportunities at many VFL clubs, which together with the need to do this as an individual, may discourage many young men pursuing this pathway.

The added impediments in country regions are likely to be much greater than in metropolitan regions.

As discussed above, for many young men and their families, the burden of participating in the TAC Talent Program itself will be greater, to the point there may be burn out by the time he exits the TAC Talent Program. Further, for a young country man to participate in the VFL pathway, he is in all likelihood required to leave home as an 18/19 years old. He has only 2 country options, being Bendigo Bombers and North Ballarat, otherwise he must relocate to Melbourne. Bendigo Bombers has not been a realistic option due to the fact it has been effectively a stand-alone team for Essendon FC, and opportunities are minimal.

We were also advised on many occasions of post TAC Talent Program ‘welfare’ issues in country regions as young men attempt to deal with not reaching the AFL level.

There is a case to be made that a post TAC Talent Program for 18-23 year olds is required in a country region, particularly to the north of the state, to accommodate young men who participate in the Bendigo Pioneers and Murray Bushrangers programs. The program should be aligned to an existing TAC Talent Program. There may be cases for other country development programs as well and the Review team believes AFL Victoria should explore this seriously.


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5) Long Term Structure of TAC Talent Programs

This Review is about the governance and structures of football in country Victoria. The team has already noted the problems caused by separation of duties between the AFL Victoria RDM’s and the VCFL leagues, and believes much closer collaboration and communication is necessary.

We have noted also the problems caused by locating most resources in head office structures. The current centralised structure of AFL Victoria is resulting in inadequate performance management and strategic direction of RDM’s in terms of their job description and priorities.

The same two issues do exist to a degree, but not to the same extent, with AFL Victoria Region Managers who manage the individual TAC Talent Programs. They are effectively left to their own devices to run their TAC Region, and to be frank, management in AFL Victoria cannot be certain of the performance of the regions compared to the potential.

We have noted above some issues that arise in country regions as a result of lack sufficient collaboration and communication. It is not any particular party’s fault; it is just symptomatic of the structures and governance that is in place now throughout country Victoria.

The desirable longer term governance structure, in order to minimise cost, improve accountability, collaboration and communication, is to absorb the Region Manager and individual TAC Talent Program into a local regional structure, as outlined in the Review team’s recommendations. That is not possible in the short term because regions do not have the capacity or capability to do this, even if they do immediately set up regional structures as recommended. Regions will need to demonstrate governance capacity and capability, and if and when they can, AFL Victoria should seriously consider incorporating the TAC Talent Program into the structure. This is likely to be at least 3 years away for all regions and probably 5 years for most regions.


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7.7 PLAYER PATHWAYS

The Review team is of the view there is insufficient collective effort and expertise being devoted to all community football player pathways, being;

- NAB AFL Auskick to Junior clubs; - Junior teams to Youth teams; and - Youth teams to senior clubs/teams.

It is obvious that the higher the percentage of players that progress through each pathway, the greater the overall participation in the game at all levels.

It is also reasonable to suggest that the higher the participation numbers, the more volunteers there will be at all levels of the game, as family members are attracted to support their children/partners.

It is also intuitively reasonable to suggest the higher the participation at all levels, the more umpires that may ultimately be attracted to the game because of the significance of the game to the community and/or the ability to pay higher rates from higher registration fees, and/or the more people that switch from playing to umpiring the game.

Therefore, the lack of collective effort and collaboration, and the lack of resources dedicated directly on maximising pathways, makes little sense. Consider the following quotes from regional meetings with league representatives:

- “Transition responsibility doesn’t fall into Greg’s or the area managers responsibility” -

Picola District Football Netball League representative (13th July, 2011) – discussing how it

seems neither the local RDM nor the area managers responsibility to transition kids

through the player pathway.

- “Transition from junior to senior is really struggling” – Mininera and District Football

League (26th July, 2011).

- “Transition from underage (U16’s) into senior football” – Wangaratta City Council CEO

Doug Sharp discussing where transition is going wrong in his region (14th July, 2011).

- “70% of kids don’t go past U18 football” – what an Ovens and Murray Football Netball

League representative told the Review team (14th July, 2011).

- “We want to see assistance in transition” – Yarra Valley Mountain District Football

League (4th August, 2011).

The result of this lack of collaboration and resources is obvious and known to all. Participation numbers, whether they be players or teams, measured as a percentage of population, decline from junior to youth to senior age groups.

There are some external factors that undoubtedly contribute to this decline. Everyone knows what they are. They include;

- Population declines in some regions; - The need to undertake weekend casual work; - Alternative activities and sporting interests; - Relocation for education.

The frustrating thing for the Review team is that many people involved in governing bodies and leagues seem to accept these factors and their impact on participation numbers as inevitable. The participation trends reported in the first section of the Review team’s findings shows the impact is


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not necessarily inevitable. It is apparent that where resources exist and collaboration exists, team numbers and therefore obviously participation numbers, can move in opposite directions to population trends.

The lack of collective effort and collaboration is partly due to current structures of community football, some of which have been noted previously in this report. They include;

- Separation of duties and accountability between AFL Victoria RDM’s and Junior leagues. As a result, success in NAB AFL Auskick is measured by absolute participation numbers in NAB AFL Auskick and not the number of players that progress to junior clubs.

- Junior clubs and/or leagues in many regions operating independently of senior clubs; - League structures that result in independent operations of ‘major’ leagues and ‘district’

leagues, and in some cases open competition for clubs and players; - Increased travel for parents in junior leagues as a result of current league structures in

some regions; - Junior age groups that make the jump in age and standard of football, including the

physical requirements, too confronting for younger and/or smaller players.

As mentioned previously, AFL Victoria has 8 program managers focussing on new forms of game development and participation. VCFL also has resources devoted to umpiring, training and development. All these resources are fine, but there is no state-wide data reporting system, no resource dedicated to measuring the effectiveness of different programs, and there is no focussed strategy to improve pathway numbers.

The definition of insanity – Do the same thing over and over again and expect a different result!


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7.8 NETBALL

At the initial meeting in Carlton with VCFL affiliated leagues to outline the Terms of Reference of the Review, leagues made it very clear the Review needed to include a review of Netball in country Victoria; and that netball is very important to the sustainability of clubs and football.

The Review team of course has no authority to ‘review’ netball. Netball is administered under its governing body, Netball Victoria. The team did however raise the issue at all regional visits to identify the issues from football leagues’ perspective, and did subsequently meet with a representative of Netball Victoria to discuss the issues that were raised.

From football leagues’ perspective, there are three common themes raised around country Victoria;

1) The importance of netball to the sustainability of country football and clubs; 2) Frustration with Netball Victoria, due firstly to lack of support in return for player and

affiliation fees paid; and secondly, for added administration burden due to separate systems in player registration and insurance; and

3) The need for the two governing bodies, VCFL and Netball Victoria, to develop a closer and more strategic relationship.

The importance of netball to the sustainability of football and clubs is illustrated in the sample quotes below;

- “We don’t exist without them” – Mininera Football League representative talking about Netball (26th July, 2011).

- “People love being involved because of the connection to the club environment” - City of

Greater Geelong representative (28th June, 2011).

- Netball is just as important as football...so AFL Vic better get just as close with Netball

Victoria” – North East Football Netball representatives (14th July, 2011).

- “Netball and Football need each other to survive. Our objective is to foster a family environment with Netball participation a major part of that” – North Gippsland Football Netball League written submission.

- “Just want an acknowledgement at how good netball is for football” - Gippsland League


The frustration expressed by many leagues about the different systems is not as significant as the frustration due to the lack of support. It may be unrealistic to expect in the short term to have one system for player registration, although both governing bodies could work towards rationalising insurance providers.

The lack of support provided by Netball Victoria in return for the fees paid is a genuine and understandable frustration. The quotes below are representative of the general feeling throughout country Victoria.

- “Netball Victoria provides no support to leagues” - Ballarat Football Netball representative

(5th July, 2011).

- “Netball...lack of collaboration” - Ovens and Murray Football Netball League representative

(14th July, 2011).

- “Frustrated with Netball’s ability to support and provide direction” – Football Netball East

Gippsland (19th July, 2011).


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The Review team conveyed this to Netball Victoria including the risks that might arise for Netball Victoria if they don’t address the matter. Those risks are that the leagues in the major regions may collaborate to form their own netball leagues independent of Netball Victoria. It is also possible that major metropolitan leagues may see the advantage and growth potential for their clubs to become football & netball clubs as in country Victoria and also establish independent netball leagues.

Netball Victoria’s response was that they are conducting their own strategic review of the structure of netball in Victoria. Of interest to the Review team is the fact that all of Netball Victoria’s 40 staff are based in head office with no staff in the regions, either in metropolitan or country regions. Netball Victoria itself appears to believe this is not sustainable and has indicated resources need to be relocated into regions to support local leagues/clubs and/or associations.

Netball Victoria also has the challenge of ensuring facilities and participation numbers are developed in the growth areas of Melbourne, including those country areas being ‘urbanised’.

The 2004 Parliamentary Inquiry discussed the relationship between football and netball, and stated “there is considerable potential for the VCFL to consult more widely and more effectively with peak state and national bodies...” The Inquiry also recommended the implementation of ‘Country Football Netball Program’ aimed at facility development.

However, it is apparent a much closer and mutually beneficial strategic relationship can be developed and both AFL Victoria and Netball Victoria as the main governing bodies ought to look to doing so in the best interests of their sports, but more importantly in the best interests of local communities and volunteers.

This should include Netball Victoria locating any resources it does re-locate from head office to regions within the offices of the region football operations, so closer collaboration is attainable.

“Netball is an integral part of the Leagues growth strategy into the future...Leagues need a greater relationship between football and netball at a national and state level” – Ovens and Murray Football

Netball League written submission.


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7.9 SOCCER

Some local league and local council representatives believe soccer is a genuine threat to the growth of Australian Football in country Victoria. In particular, concerns related to junior soccer, the growth of women’s soccer and council investment in new soccer facilities. 15 written submissions rated soccer as a threat to Australian Football within their region.

Consider the following quotes from regional meetings –

- “AFL has always been number one, however they are now being well and truly challenged by

soccer” – Albury City Council representative (14th July 2011).

- “Soccer is growing...the damage is getting done in after school programs” – South West AFL

Victoria Region Development Manager (26th July, 2011).

- “Soccer could be a genuine threat if they get their administration together”- Central Murray

Football League representative (9th August, 2011).

- “If soccer get’s their pathway together after U12’s it could be a real issue” – South East Metro

AFL Victoria Region Manager (2nd August, 2011).

- “Soccer...Bunyip just got a soccer club and are attracting kids hand over fist...they are at

shows, fete’s etc with a stand actively recruiting players” - Gippsland League representative

(20th July, 2011).

- “A number of AFL grounds are not AFL grounds anymore” – Albury City Council representative

discussing soccer’s growth (14th July 2011).

The VCFL through its submission also indicated –

“This threat (soccer) is of a genuine nature and one that will need unity from all football

organisations to overcome” – VCFL written submission.

Currently, there is an estimated 60,689 soccer participants within Victoria, with 16,855 of these being based in 4 designated Football Federation Victoria ‘country’ zones. The largest country zone is essentially made up of the Wimmera, Geelong, Hampden, South West and Ballarat and had 4,556 participants in 2010. See table below.

Note: this table is a breakdown of total participants in the 4 country zones. In 2010 there were 1730 more participants who weren’t allocated to a country region.

In relation to junior soccer participation across all of Victoria, there were 31,549 junior club based soccer participants in 2010, which is up from 10,385 participants in 2004. In country area only, junior soccer participation (male and female) was approximately 8,973 participants in 2007, and through 31% growth went to approx 11,722 in 2010. (In 2009, soccer in country Victoria had approx 12,236 junior participants, which may have occurred on the back of World Cup qualification in June of 2009).

Country Victoria Regions 2007 2009 2010 % Growth since 2007

Wimmera-South Coast 3,459 4,497 4,556 32%

Loddon Mallee 4,151 4,377 3,813 -8%

Goulburn North East 1,944 4,102 3,981 105%

Gippsland 2,024 2,812 2,775 37%

TOTAL 11,578 15,788 15,125 31%


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The below table compares the combined ‘NAB AFL Auskick and junior club based participation’ figure to Soccer’s junior club based participation figure in 2007 and 2010. Note – soccer’s figures don’t include 5,380 indoor participants in 2010.

Country Victoria Regions AFL 2007

Soccer 2007

AFL 2010

Soccer 2010

AFL Growth

Soccer Growth

Wimmera-South Coast 12,621 2680 13,045 3531 3% 32%

Loddon Mallee 4950 3217 5145 2955 4% -8%

Goulburn North East 5856 1507 5710 3085 -2% 105%

Gippsland 5624 1569 5664 2151 1% 37%

TOTAL 29,051 8973 29,564 11,722 2% 31%

Note – regional boundaries not exactly the same.

This increase in junior soccer participants could be impacting on country Victoria’s participation numbers. In the Goulburn Murray and North East Border regions where junior soccer has risen by 1,578 participants since 2007, junior club football and NAB AFL Auskick participants have declined by approximately 146.

The growth figures are impressive, albeit off a low base. Whereas Australian Football governing bodies may want to dismiss soccer as a real challenge at this stage, there are valid reasons to believe soccer can be a generational threat to Australian Football – the cheaper cost of facilities for councils given the less land required; the perception of some parents (mothers) it is a safer game; the fact it is easier to set up as a recreational game in schools or neighbourhoods.

Soccer in partnership with the two A-League clubs are also implementing community engagement strategies, with the Melbourne Heart recently completing a “Westpac Community Football Festival”. This involved playing regional practice matches in Wodonga, Morwell and Shepparton.

As mentioned earlier in this report, the Review team also observed soccer working closely with specific local councils to create new soccer facilities in country areas e.g. Bendigo. These facilities have been supported through the development of ‘strategic facility plans’ which local council have developed in partnership with soccer’s governing body.


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7.10 STATE GOVERNMENT INQUIRY INTO COUNTRY FOOTBALL – 2004

In 2004 the State Government through the Rural and Regional Services and Development Committee, conducted an Inquiry into Country Football. The report from the Inquiry made 34 recommendations to assist football and address some of the challenges it was facing at the time. In summary the recommendations ranged from issues relevant to volunteers and coaching, umpiring, local schools and club infrastructure and were to be delivered through a combination of football bodies and Government initiatives. Some of the recommendations made focused on the increased compliance issues faced by volunteers and including the protection afforded to volunteers, addressing the impact new legislation may have on volunteer recruitment and retention and providing greater assistance with detailing financial compliance of football clubs. Recognition and development programs were also a focus of the recommendations in a range of areas, including umpiring, volunteering and schools. AFL club support in designated regions, increased involvement and promotion of football in schools in regional Victoria and providing additional funding and streamlining the grants application process for Club infrastructure were also a focus of the recommendations. Whilst a number of initiatives were developed in the area of club infrastructure from the 2004 inquiry, many of the areas targeted in the recommendations of that Parliamentary Review have been raised again as a focus of our Review into country football, most particularly the support for volunteers and a presence in schools in regional areas. This may indicate not enough was done by the governing bodies VCFL and Football Victoria/AFL Victoria as a result of that Parliamentary Inquiry. This Review team suspects that is a result of the structural issues identified in this Review, including location of resources in head offices, lack of resources in regions and lack of a collaborative effort in most regions.


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7.11 OTHER

Sporting Pulse/Footyweb

The feedback the Review team received around Sporting Pulse and their competition management arm ‘Footyweb’ has been positive in one regard. Leagues indicated they enjoy the program’s ability to manage competitions and with the diligent work of state and league based employees; its implementation seems to be nearly completed.

However, the website component of Sporting Pulse was raised as an area of concern by league representatives in terms of revenue sharing. Leagues had an expectation based on representations made that they would have received some remuneration (profit sharing) by now, for allowing Sporting Pulse to sell advertisement on their Sporting Pulse constructed websites. At this stage, there has been none forthcoming.

Considering the following quotes from regional meetings;

- “We’ve never seen a dividend...never seem to get answers on the issue” – Mornington Peninsula Nepean Football League representative (4th August, 2011).

- “No dividend. It was promised Sporting Pulse would be a profit centre, but how do they (Sporting Pulse) define costs” – Yarra Valley Mountain District Football League (4th August, 2011).

The concern about Sporting Pulse is that leagues had to forgo space to promote and advertise their own sponsors, and now have to buy space back at ‘market rates’ if they want to promote sponsors. The promised return from Sporting Pulse was supposed to offset this loss. Leagues are inhibited in their ability to generate their own commercial returns.

The Review team is not aware of the current situation and whether distributions from Sporting Pulse are likely soon. However, we make the point generally that governing bodies ought to be careful about the real impact they have on community football when pursuing such commercial opportunities. No doubt there are some opportunities that could provide a real and increased return to community leagues and clubs, provided the distributions are made. However, in considering all such opportunities requires having empathy for the challenges faced by community leagues and clubs, assessing the viability of supposed opportunities from community football with a heavy dose of reality, and committing to distributions.


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7.12 CONCLUSIONS

The major individual conclusions from these findings are summarised below.

However, the overall conclusion drawn by the Review team is that, irrespective of how the VCFL or AFL Victoria are seen to be operating now, country football needs a change of governance structures to provide greater strategic focus, more effective decision-making at a regional level, and an investment of resources directly in regions, and the sooner that can happen the better. Until this happens, the AFL Development objectives will not be achieved across country Victoria.

There is a view by some within various levels of football governing bodies, that clubs and leagues are very resilient. Despite the challenges, they will find a way to keep things going. This is true to a degree, but there are cracks in the system, and they need to be repaired. Planning for changes to governance structures and the commencement to invest in new resources needs to start.

The major individual conclusions are as follows;

The reported growth in VCFL participation is not as strong as it appears, in that it is built in the main on growth in U/9 & U/10 teams, at the expense of NAB AFL Auskick numbers.

The four major regions of Ballarat, Geelong, South East, Bendigo, most of which are experiencing strong population growth from the urban sprawl and/or changing demographics of Melbourne, account for virtually all growth in country Victoria across all age groups. There has been a decline in the number of teams across the other country regions.

The role NAB AFL Auskick plays in strengthening community clubs needs to continue to be a focus. NAB AFL Auskick participation has slowed due in part to the growth in U/9 & U/10 teams, but is also due to a lack of sufficient focus by AFL Victoria RDM’s on NAB AFL Auskick, a lack of collaboration between RDM’s and local junior leagues/clubs, and the fact there is no incentive for VCFL leagues/clubs to help grow NAB AFL Auskick numbers.

Participation growth in Schools football in country Victoria is poor when measured against other traditional states of SA and WA.

Participation trends in any region are not directly related to trends in population. Participation appears to be as much dependent on available resources, the skills of those resources, and the level of collaboration in a region.

There are local issues in many regions that are impacting the achievement of the AFL Development objectives. In those regions issues need to be addressed locally in a pro-active manner without having to rely on centrally based governing bodies. This pro-active behaviour includes priority setting, independent decision-making and resource allocation for the overall benefit of the game in that region.

There are a number of individual organisational and competition structural problems that are impeding the achievement of the AFL Development objectives. They include;

o The separation of duties of AFL Victoria RDM’s from local leagues/clubs and the distraction of a disproportionate amount of their time into the TAC Talent Program. This results from a lack of effective management from head office due the head office structure, and a perception of the lack of importance and seniority of the RDM role. The overall performance of RDM’s in NAB AFL Auskick and Schools football indicates greater focus on these markets is necessary.

o The location of too many of the available resources in both VCFL and AFL Victoria in head office, and their inability, despite their best intent, to effectively cover the country regions with the level of support that is required.


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o A lack of resources in country regions, working directly for leagues/clubs to provide the level of support required. The VCFL Area Managers in the main work diligently and are respected, but clearly are stretched too far given the areas they cover, so as to be ineffective.

o Apart from a few examples, and only two major examples, an overall lack of collaboration between leagues in most regions which results from the current structure of 82 leagues and 28 umpire associations. As a result, the vast majority of effort in country Victoria is focussed on operational issues and little if any effective strategy. Under this structure, the AFL Development objectives cannot be achieved.

That number of leagues and umpire associations means the number of people that need to be found to fill governance positions in these organisations is probably not sustainable and is a reason succession planning of league and umpire associations’ volunteers is a problem.

The collaboration that is happening in the examples noted is by way of a Central Administration Hubs (CAH). CAH are beneficial to a degree because they significantly reduce the administration cost to leagues and clubs. However, going forward, the key need in regions will be greater collaboration, more strategic focus, better decision-making in the interests of the game itself, and improved relationship building particularly with local councils.

CAH’s on their own do not achieve all these things. The two best examples, Geelong and Ballarat, provide additional and more skilled resources and as a result, are able to focus to a greater extent on strategic issues in their region. However, not to the level that the Review team believe will ultimately be required.

There is not a forum in place for ‘shared learning’s’ across leagues and umpire associations, which is a reflection of the general lack of collaboration that exists due to the current governance structures.

o In many regions, ineffective relationships with major local councils, and in some regions, a dysfunctional relationship, because council has to deal with approaches from all leagues, umpire associations and in many cases clubs themselves, to discuss facility development. In those cases, discussions are not strategic for the benefit of football as a whole, but based on own interests.

o Player payments are putting undue strain on many clubs. The current league structure only adds to the problem as leagues compete for players. The effort and funds directed to recruiting players is at the expense in some cases of junior development programs, so the need to recruit outside players via payments becomes self-perpetuating.

This problem, together with league structures and competition structures, also does not easily allow clubs to find their own niche in terms of their preferred culture (e.g. winning flags or family environment). A solution needs to found that caters for both requirements.

The situation with volunteers is potentially a crisis. Whereas the current structure has enough volunteers in place to operationally manage community leagues and umpire associations, it was evident the majority of volunteers are older, in some cases elderly, tired and cannot see a succession plan to replace or support them. There is very little strategic thinking going on anywhere except those two regions where the substantial hubs already exist (Geelong and Ballarat). It is not a crisis right at this time, but unless a volunteer


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strategy is developed and resourced, encompassing recruitment, development and training programs, and implemented consistently over the next 5-10 years, then a crisis will develop.

Volunteers will remain a critical plank in the development and growth of country football, but they need support through greater access to resources employed in the field and their own personal development.

A similar conclusion has been formed in relation to umpires. There is evidence that umpire numbers in many regions have dropped over the last 10-15 years, in some associations numbers have more than halved with the same faces now as were there all those years earlier; hence umpire groups are also dramatically aging. A similar strategy encompassing recruitment, development and retention needs to be implemented over the next 5-10 years.

The administration effort that goes into maintaining independent umpire associations needs to be minimised, firstly, to reduce the deductions from umpire pays (average at least 20% on total cost of $4 million across country Victoria) to provide a greater return to umpires; and secondly, to provide more focus on strategy, including recruitment and retention rather than operational matters.

The situation in umpires and volunteers highlights the ineffectiveness of head office structures. Resources exist in both head offices, but they are not seen often enough by individual country regions, and not on a consistent basis. Program implementation becomes a ‘tick and flick’ exercise simply due to the inability of individual resources to cover the regions involved.

The operation of TAC Talent Programs is left largely to the Region Managers. As a result there are inconsistencies in the way regions are operated, and few examples of shared learning’s implemented across all regions. This also highlights the ineffectiveness of head office structures, given the challenge of head office management getting out into the regions to see the real picture.

The TAC Talent Programs operate largely independently from local leagues and clubs. As a result, there is a lot of frustration, probably unfairly, at league/club levels with the talent program and clubs that could be readily addressed with more communication, collaboration and acknowledgement.

AFL Victoria seemingly operates all the TAC Talent Programs under a generic budgeting model. However, like the country regions have local issues, so do the individual TAC Talent Programs depending on the region they are in. AFL Victoria needs to look at each region individually and address the strategic and funding needs of each region accordingly.

Long term, individual TAC Talent Programs and probably metropolitan TAC Talent Programs, should formally become much more closely aligned to the local community governance structures that are recommended in this Review. This however is at least 3-5 years away and cannot be considered before regions can demonstrate they have the capacity and capability to do so.

A formal talent program is required beyond the TAC Talent Program at least in northern Victoria to cater for those young men 18-23 year olds from the Pioneers and Bushrangers programs. There will be players from these programs who might have struggled due to the travel burden, physical and emotional immaturity, the need to complete years 11 & 12, or all of the above. These players may also struggle to travel to Melbourne to take up an opportunity in a VFL club, given it means leaving home young, and opportunities may not be readily available in aligned clubs. They need to be given the opportunity to still make it to the AFL level. Any program developed for 18-23yo’s needs to be aligned to the existing TAC Talent Program and work in conjunction with a VFL club(s) to provide a VFL pathway.


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There is virtually no resource or strategy being directed towards community player pathways; that is, from NAB AFL Auskick to Juniors; from Juniors to Youth; and from Youth to Seniors. The drop off through each pathway is significant and the reasons have become folklore, but are not substantiated by fact.

There is no reasonable data tracking system, no collaborative strategy to address it, and no resource dedicated to it. There are minimal individual regional strategies to improve pathways.

It is obvious the higher the percentage of players through each pathway, the higher the overall participation. The higher the participation, the higher is the revenues to clubs and probably the higher number of volunteers – even possibly the higher the number of umpires from people who switch from playing to umpiring.

The results are not guaranteed because the folklore reasons for drop offs are valid to a degree. However, as an industry in Victoria, we are not trying to address the issue.

Netball is critically important to the sustainability of clubs – the vast majority of leagues and clubs recognise this point. There are real frustrations with Netball Victoria (NV) because of the lack of support in return for the fees collected and paid. The threat to NV is football leagues running their own netball leagues, and that extending in to metropolitan leagues.

NV is conducting its own strategic review. It recognises like this Review does, that having all 40 of its staff in head office is not sensible or sustainable.

NV and AFL Victoria should form a much closer strategic relationship to work collaboratively to put more resources in regions to support leagues/clubs and work strategically with local councils to develop facilities.

The 2004 Parliamentary Inquiry made a lot of recommendations; some have been addressed. Unfortunately, many recommendations relate to issues that are still apparent around this Review, in particular volunteers. The governing bodies need to do something this time round.


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8. RECOMMENDATIONS

There are a number of challenges for football in country Victorian to be addressed and whereas there are some common themes across all regions, the geographical diversity of Victoria combined with the lack of effectiveness of head office structures and resources, and the existence of issues unique to each region, mean that any solution must be locally focussed. The AFL Development credo of Think National: Act Local absolutely applies, and is a major principle behind the recommendations.

Country football needs a change of governance structures to provide greater strategic focus, more effective decision-making at a regional level, and an investment of resources directly in regions.

The recommended changes are a reflection of what is needed over the next 10-20 years given the issues confronting football and clubs in country Victoria.

The principles behind the Review team’s recommendations are as follows;

a). Sustainability of clubs is the critical issue, not necessarily the sustainability of leagues or governing bodies. For country Victoria to maintain its status, and indeed grow, the clubs must be vibrant and financially sustainable. This means putting support resources more directly at their disposal, providing training and development more directly, and reducing the cost of participating in competitions. It is incumbent on administrators of all governing bodies, including leagues and umpire associations, to consider this for the future well-being of the clubs and the game.

b). Decentralise resources to provide more direct support to the volunteers and stakeholders in the field. This will necessitate an increase in the number or resources in regions as well as provide efficencies in head office;

c). Decentralise authority where practical to do so to let local representation make decisions in accordance with local needs. As part of this, to have independent commissions to address strategic issues as well as make decisions in the best interest of the game/competitions locally.

The recommendations are;

Decentralise Authority

1. Merge the VCFL and AFL Victoria to achieve efficiencies in head office resources, by eliminating duplication of resources to free up funds to employ more resources directly in the regions;

2. Establish independent commissions in all regions, representing all stakeholders in the region, with the authority to develop the strategic plan for the regions and make independent local decisions.

Representation should include all leagues and an umpire association representative in the region, as well as some independent directors. The chairman should preferably be independent from any existing league.

The structure of the current leagues under this independent commission is ultimately to be determined by the representative commission and leagues locally.


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There should be 8 larger regions and 5 smaller regions. The 8 larger regions will include Geelong, Ballarat, Bendigo, Hampden/SW, Goulburn Murray, North East (Albury, Wangaratta) Gippsland and South East (Frankston, Mornington Peninsula)

The larger regions should incorporate a central administration hub (CAH) as part of their structure. A larger region has greater capacity to employ administration resources and establish modern and professional systems. There is little sense in attempting to duplicate this across all 13 regions, given the lack of financial resources in the smaller regions. However, as appropriate, a larger region should undertake the administration effort of an adjacent smaller region on a fee for service basis.

The establishment of 8 administration hubs will reduce the administration cost and effort of all leagues across country Victoria. The results achieved in Ballarat and Geelong confirm this.

The independent commission and decision making authority will remain for the smaller regions.

3. AFL Victoria to provide $50,000 funding to each larger region as a contribution to the cost of employing a Region General Manager (Region GM) for the region.

The Region GM will report to the independent commission as well as an AFL Victoria Country Football General Manager to be employed at AFL Victoria reporting to the GM of AFL Victoria. The Region GM will be responsible for implementing the region strategic plan, administering the region and developing collaborative relationships within the region.

The independent commission to nominate the person to be appointed as Region GM but the appointment is subject to ratification by AFL Victoria.

Additional Resources for Regions

4. AFL Victoria Region Development Managers continue to be employed by AFL Victoria, however report directly and be accountable to the Region GM and be responsible for growing junior participation, including NAB AFL Auskick and schools, but also junior/youth competitions and the pathway from NAB AFL Auskick to juniors to youth.

This makes the regions directly responsible for outcomes in NAB AFL Auskick, Schools and coach accreditation as well as junior clubs and pathways.

5. Utilise the player registration fees after insurance currently paid to the VCFL, to employ at least one, and preferably 2, Community/Club Development Officers (CDO) in each larger region and 1 CDO in each smaller region. The final numbers employed in the larger regions will depend on the player registration fees currently being paid by each larger region.

Any surplus fees from the larger regions will be used to subsidise the employment of a CDO in a smaller region, if that smaller region currently does not pay sufficient fees to meet the cost of a CDO.

CDO’s to be responsible for umpire/volunteer programs, community engagement and club development programs. Where 2 CDO’s are employed, the Region GM to define individual responsibilities.

A template for the recommended structure in a region is attached in appendix six.

The current commercial operations of VCFL to be continued, including sponsorship and merchandise operations.


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Umpires & Volunteers

6. Develop integrated state-wide umpire and volunteer programs, to address recruitment, induction, retention, development & training.

These programs to be adequately funded by AFL Victoria (estimate of $100,000 pa) with a time frame of 5 years minimum.

The program implementation to be the responsibility of regions and to be implemented in each region by the CDO’s.

Affiliation

7. It be a condition of funding and additional resources that each region and commission be affiliated directly with AFL Victoria, and both parties sign a new affiliation agreement that includes specific performance conditions, including but not restricted to,

o Establishment of a representative independent commission including definition of the commission’s authority to make decisions locally;

o Appointment of a Region GM approved by AFL Victoria; and o Preparation of a strategic plan for the region that includes achieving the seven AFL

Development objectives; o Assessment of current league and competition structures and plans for the future.

NAB AFL Auskick

8. In conjunction with the AFL, AFL Victoria to design an incentive program during the ‘detailed design’ phase of this Review, so that regions benefit financially from growth in NAB AFL Auskick numbers.

9. In conjunction with the AFL, AFL Victoria review with the current NAB AFL Auskick program to identify whether or not it requires refreshing and re-launching.

AFL Victoria Talent Program

10. AFL Victoria to continue to be vigilant in monitoring the TAC Talent Program boundaries in those areas where demographic changes are occuring and previous country areas are now becoming metropolitan. AFL Victoria must also look to ensure on a ‘case by case’ basis that players are provided with the best possible opportunity to participate in the TAC Talent Program.

11. AFL Victoria to review the current budget and funding philosphy for individual TAC Talent Programs and ensure they take into account regional issues, and reduce the burden on families of young men participating.

12. Develop a talent program to cater for young men 18-23 years old not initially drafted to the AFL in their final TAC Talent Program year. The priority regions for this program to be the Bendigo Pioneers and Murray Bushrangers regions. The program needs to be aligned to the existing TAC Talent Program and work in conjunction with a VFL club(s) to provide a VFL pathway.


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13. In due course, when the region and commission concerned can demonstrate their capacity to do so, the AFL Victoria Region Manager continue to be employed by AFL Victoria, but he and TAC Talent Program report through to the Region GM.

14. AFL and AFL Victoria in conjunction with AFL Clubs develop a program aimed at further acknowledging a drafted players junior football club and the volunteers that assisted him in reaching the elite competition.

VCFL

15. The merger of the VCFL and AFL Victoria will mean the VCFL and its board does not need to exist into the future after the implementation of these recommendations. This will ultimately mean the VCFL should be wound up and its assets and liabilities transferred to AFL Victoria. This should be initiated by the VCFL Board on a planned basis depending on the timing the recommendations are implemented.

16. AFL Victoria to guarantee the cash and assets in the VCFL (about $1 million) transferred to AFL Victoria be used as an initial fund for facilities grants to country regions and not be used to fund the implementation of these recommendations. AFL Victoria to meet the costs of funding these recommendations.

17. The independent Appeals Board be retained to consider appeals from regions, leagues and clubs.

18. AFL to ensure the current and future level of funding provided to the ‘Country Football

Netball Program’ continue as in previous years.

19. VCFL representatives as appropriate be utilised on the Implementation Project Team and also where appropriate, act as independent directors on region commissions.

Netball

20. AFL Victoria Chairman and General Manager approach Netball Victoria with a view to developing an integrated strategic relationship, including NV also providing additional resources in the major regions working directly with the regions, to strengthen and grow both sports in country Victoria.

Other

21. AFL Victoria set up a committee of country and metropolitan league representatives to consider and design a state-wide points system similar to that adopted in South Australia, in order to address the issues identified by player payments.

22. AFL Victoria to set up a forum to ensure ‘shared learnings’ accross all Country and Metropolian Development Regions.

23. AFL and AFL Victoria develop a consolidated HR system for all full-time employees in regions, that includes personal development and career pathway programs, to be implemented by the Region GM.


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24. AFL Victoria review the current arrangements with Sporting Pulse and the impact on leagues

and clubs, and where appropriate make changes to that arrangement.

25. AFL Victroria develop an improved paricipation data tracking system so the success of programs can be measured, particularly pathways between age groups.

What do these recommendations mean for football in Country Victoria?

These recommendations are designed to put additional resources and greater responsibility for country football into country regions. They are designed to have country people maintain authority for the governance of football in regions. They are not about a takeover of country football by the AFL or any other sole governing body. They are designed to provide a more strategic focus, more effective decision-making and greater collaboration in each region, something that does not exist at present, but something that is essential for the vibrancy of the game in the future.

An additional 17 people (CDO’s) will be employed in the regions in country Victoria to complement the 4 Area Managers currently employed by VCFL; 21 in total directly supporting leagues and clubs in country football.

As well, there is provision to employ an additional 6 skilled and qualified Region GM’s with much broader job responsibility, similar to those GM’s currently employed at Football Geelong and Ballarat FNL.

Further, 14 Region Development Managers currently employed by AFL Victoria are to be re-allocated under the supervision of the regions, responsible for the collaboarative development of junior football and pathways, as well as greater engagement levels in NAB AFL Auskick and schools.

The establishment of independent commissions in 13 regions should ultimately see a reduction from 82 league boards and 28 umpire association boards, thus making governance, strategic focus and decision-making much more effective. The timing of the constitutional consolidation of leagues in a region under one commission is up to the local stakeholders and will depend on the level of confidence established in the commission. It is likely the commission will be established first and commence to manage football in the region, with leagues maintaining constitutional independence for a period until that confidence is attained. Funding by AFL Victoria will however depend on the clear intent of all stakeholders in a region to work towards this structure as the long term objective.

What will be AFL Victoria’s contribution?

AFL Victoria’s additional investment in country football will be about $750,000. The timing of this investment will depend on the timing of individual regions committing to move towards this governance structure.

This investment is made up of a grant of $50,000 for each larger region (8) to appoint the Region GM; an allowance for an incentive or financial return to regions to develop NAB AFL Auskick participation (about $150,000); funding the development of the umpire & volunteer development programs and strategies (about $100,000); and the implementation costs of the Review recommendations (about $100,000).

It is intended the player registration and affiliation fees currently paid by leagues, clubs and players to the VCFL be allocated to the employment of CDO’s in the regions.


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It is anticipated, based on the Review team’s analysis of the public VCFL reports that efficiencies can be achieved in the VCFL and AFL Victoria through the merger of those two governing bodies, such that the balance of the VCFL services and commercial operations can be maintained. It is also expected that in time, additional revenues can be generated by running the commercial operations under the national AFL brand as distinct from the more narrowly defined VCFL brand.

These views need to be confirmed by detailed financial analysis.


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9. IMPLEMENTATION

There are two parts to the implementation of these strategies;

Part 1 - Detailed design

This will involve the detailed preparation and analysis that is necessary to build the framework for implementation of the recommendations. It will include;

- Develop a detailed implementation plan including cost and timetable; - Confirmation of governance structure template for a region; - Legal documentation such as affiliation agreement with AFL Victoria; - Detailed financial analysis to identify efficiencies in head office structures of VCFL and AFL

Victoria; - Work with VCFL Board to plan the impact of these recommendations on the VCFL as an

entity; - Develop a 3 year financial plan for the implementation of the recommendations; - Prepare Expressions of Interest for regions to submit.

Part 2 – Support Regions to Implement Recommendations

This will involve working with and supporting regions; initially those that indicate their intent to adopt these recommendations. Expressions of Interest will be invited from regions which would involve leagues in a region collaborating to make a joint submission.

The support provided to those regions that submit an Expression of Interest will include assistance to;

- Establish a representative commission to be appointed; - Prepare a strategic plan for the region, including a financial plan; - Appoint key people, including initially the Chairman, Region GM, and CDO’s.

Timing

It is expected Part 1 of the implementation will take most of the first half of 2012, so that Part 2 can commence and be completed in those regions that adopt the recommendations in time for the 2013 football season.

This will require an Implementation Project Team to be established during the latter part of 2011 and to establish that Team’s Terms of Reference.

The Implementation Project Team should consist of AFL Victoria, VCFL and region representatives. It should include a Steering Committee and a people responsible for the implementation.

The Steering Committee should include;

- Chairman of AFL Victoria to operate as Chairman of Steering Committee - 1 VCFL Board representative - AFL Victoria General Manager - 1 Football Geelong representative, given that region is already well down the path to this

recommended governance structure and can contribute the experiences and lessons learned; - 2 representatives from other regions that have not yet moved towards this structure


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The implementation team should report to the Steering Committee and consist of 3 people including;

- VCFL CEO - 1 AFL Victoria employee - 1 region employee seconded to the team.

Other people can be seconded during the implementation stage as appropriate.


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10. CLOSING REMARKS

I was clear from the start that the Review was not just about the VCFL, or clubs and leagues affiliated with the VCFL. The Review was to be about all aspects of football in country Victoria. This is because Victorian country football is a critically important asset for the AFL. It is not about any distinction between VCFL and AFL Victoria.

The recommendations we have made look at country Victoria as a whole with no clear distinction between the VCFL and AFL Victoria. We are firmly of the view that for football to flourish in country Victoria, it requires a ‘whole-of-state’ approach.

We are unashamedly focussed on the sustainability of the clubs. For country Victoria to maintain its status, and indeed grow, the clubs must be vibrant and financially sustainable.

We all owe the volunteers and administrators who have put such a huge amount of their personal time and effort into the game a great debt of gratitude. They do it for the love of the game and certainly not for any personal financial return.

There is a view by some within various levels of football governing bodies, that clubs and leagues, and the volunteers who administer them, are very resilient. Despite the challenges, they will find a way to keep things going. This is true to a degree. The volunteer network is the key factor behind the historical success and sustainability of community football in Victoria.

However, the challenges are becoming greater, to the point the game may decline over the next decade or two if the status quo is retained.

In our view, this requires a change in the current governance structures around country Victoria, and it is incumbent on administrators of all governing bodies, including leagues and umpire associations, to consider this for the future well-being of the clubs and the game. The recommended changes are not so much a reflection of what is wrong, or a response to criticism of the current governance structures, but a reflection of what is needed over the next 10-20 years given the issues confronting football and clubs in country Victoria.

Country football needs a change of governance structures to provide greater strategic focus, more effective decision-making at a regional level, and an investment of resources directly in regions. The AFL Development objectives will not be achieved across country Victoria without a structure that allows this and indeed encourages it.

I wish to thank the AFL for the opportunity to undertake this Review. It has been a very interesting and fulfilling exercise, and one I trust that will ultimately be considered worthwhile by all stakeholders of country football in Victoria.

On behalf of the Review Team

Peter Jackson Chairman AFL Victoria


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11. APPENDICIES

Contents Page

Appendix One - Written Submission Template 87

Appendix Two - Participation Data and Trends 94

Appendix Three - The distance Wonthaggi has to travel 96

Appendix Four - The 4 VCFL Areas Map 97

Appendix Five - South Australian Community Football – 98 Player Points System

Appendix Six - Proposed Regional Structure Template 102

Appendix Seven - Regional Meeting Notes 103

Appendix Eight - Regional Meeting Quotes 138


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APPENDIX ONE – WRITTEN SUBMISSION TEMPLATE

Personal Details: (Fill in or write in shaded areas)

Title Person/organisation making the submission

Name

Position

Organisation

Organisation Address

Signature

(The text boxes will expand down as you type your responses. You will be able to start typing by clicking on the ‘ ’ icon).

Organisational Resources:

In terms of support provided to manage and administer your organisation or development program.

1. How much operational support does your organisation receive from AFL Victoria?

2. What additional support do you require from AFL Victoria?

3. How much operational support does your organisation receive from the Victorian Country

Football League (VCFL)?

Please begin typing your response here...



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4. What additional support do you require from the Victorian Country Football League?

5. Do you see any evidence of collaboration across the different levels, or between the

different bodies of football in your region?

6. If there is not much collaboration, how do you think this inhibits growth in your region?

7. What are some examples of what you hope to achieve through greater collaboration

between football bodies in your region?

8. Depending on your answers to the previous questions, how do you see further collaboration

occurring across the different levels, or between different bodies of football in your region?








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9. As an organisation, how often would you collaborate with a similar organisation outside of

your region? Would this assist in the operations of your organisation?

Growth:

10. Could you please provide details of any growth or decline that has occurred within your

organisation in the last 5 years:

11. What do you think are the reasons for this growth or decline?

12. Do you have a strategic plan for creating growth within your organisation? What are the key

elements for your region? (Are you able to attach a copy of your strategic plan to this

submission?)

13. Within your organisation, what is the major competition or threats to growth? This could

include other sports, greater growth in non-traditional recreational based activities, facility

restrictions etc...







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14. Has your organisation developed any strategies aimed at increasing the growth of your

organisation through the specific recruitment of people from non English speaking

backgrounds or those with an indigenous background?

15. What strategies does your organisation use (if any) to engage female participants either as

players, coaches, volunteers, board members etc

Infrastructure and Facilities:

16. Generally describe the infrastructure and facilities in your region?

17. Can the current infrastructure and facilities accommodate growth? Please outline the

reasons?

18. What is the relationship between your organisation and local Council? Is there a high level of

collaboration in relation to infrastructure and facility planning?







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19. Depending on your answer to the previous question, how could greater collaboration

between local council and football bodies within your region be achieved in order to create

more football related infrastructure and facilities?

Governance:

20. Are demographic changes within Melbourne (e.g. urban spread) or other population changes

within your region impacting on the structure of your organisation and/or the potential for

growth or decline?

21. What is the capacity of your organisation to support growth in the areas of demographic

change?

22. Do you see the current governance model of football in your region as having the ability to

manage sustainable growth?

23. Depending on your answer to the previous questions, what governance model could you see

implemented that may assist in ensuring the growth of football within your region is

sustainable?







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24. Do you see the current governance model of football at VCFL and AFL Victoria level (and the

development structure in place) as having the capacity to manage and support sustainable

growth in your region?

AFL development objectives understanding:

25. Whilst understanding you may not have seen the seven core AFL development objectives in

the form that they appear in the Overview or Terms of Reference documents, how aligned

do you think your organisation is to these objectives?

26. Depending on your answer to the previous question, how easily do you think it would be for

your organisation to adopt these objectives as their key development objectives?

General:

27. What is your organisations relationship with Netball, and is this relationship important in the

future growth of your organisation?

28. What are the current strengths of your organisation?






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29. What is the greatest challenge currently facing your organisation?

30. Any general comments relating to football in Country Victoria?

Returning Submissions:

Please return all submissions to Jim Cail by August 1st 2011.

Submissions can be returned via email at [email protected] or by post at AFL Victoria, GPO Box 4337, Melbourne, Vic, 3001.




mailto:[email protected]


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APPENDIX TWO – PARTICIPATION DATA AND TRENDS

Juniors and NAB AFL Auskick Participant Data

Youth Participant Data


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Senior Club Participant Data

Summary of Overall Participation Data


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APPENDIX THREE – THE DISTANCE WONTHAGGI HAS TO TRAVEL

The map the Wonthaggi Power Football Netball Club provided the Review team to highlight their travel issues – the circumference indicates it’s as far for them to travel to Bairnsdale as it is to travel to Castlemaine.


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APPENDIX FOUR – The 4 VCFL AREAS

APPENDIX FIVE – SOUTH AUSTRALIA COMMUNITY FOOTBALL - PLAYERS POINTS SYSTEM


99


100


101


102

APPENDIX SIX – PROPOSED REGIONAL STRUCTURE TEMPLATE


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APPENDIX SEVEN – REGIONAL MEETING NOTES

Participation –

- Regional Development Manager completes Auskick, Coach Education, School Football,

Players Appearances – RDM watches a lot of junior football for his talent squads as he has 2

X U/15 sides.

- RDM runs two coaching courses per year – usually runs a catch up course for everyone from

across the state can attend – this course could involve up to 150 coaches.

- School football in huge in Ballarat, but is conducted with very little assistance from AFL

Victoria.

- There are 30 Auskick Centres in Ballarat with only 3 not linked to a junior club.

Community Football-

Football Leagues

- Ballarat Football Netball League (BFNL) has a board of 12 people.

- Maryborough and Castlemaine have their own independent league executive.

- BFNL hub looks after the BFL, Ballarat Junior Football League, Castlemaine and Maryborough

and BFNL Youth Girls.

- BFNL has a ‘Leagues Club’ that has its own independent board and all the clubs are voting

members.

- Central Highlands (CH) – has 18 clubs mostly from small towns in the region – has grown due

to a neighbouring league splitting up. Netball is a separate body to the football.

- The CH board is a 6 person executive with the delegates system. There is a proposal to go to

an independent board but this seems a fair way off and has been voted down before.

Delegates vote on everything. League has a part time employee.

Umpiring Groups/Association

- The Ballarat Football Umpires Association (BFUA) has around 280 members and is as strong

as ever.

- BFUA are an independent board of 7 that service the BFL, Central Highlands, Maryborough

and Castlemaine leagues and school football. Riddell Umpires complete one BFL game a

year.

- The umpires coach is a former football coach.

- Improvement in umpire numbers is put down to better coaching and environment.

- BFUA have three training bases – Ballarat, Bacchus Marsh and Maryborough.

Talent –

- The Rebels getting half of the Hampden Region has provided a great boost to the region.

- The Rebels have a great relationship with local schools including a facility agreement.

- The Regional Manager spends a lot of time working on sponsorship agreements and

servicing those sponsors.

BALLARAT NOTES


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- Break down of players in the squad and where they come from is as follows – (approx)

o Ballarat based - 12

o Wimmera has 4 plus another 6 who are boarders in Ballarat for a total of 10

o South West has 3 plus another 2 who are boarders in Ballarat for a total of 5

o Warrnambool has 8 plus another 2 who are boarders in Ballarat for a total of 10

Organisational Resources – Support and Collaboration

AFL Victoria –

- The Region Manager sees his role as talent, but also welfare, event management and

promotion.

- The Rebels have great collaboration with the North Ballarat Roosters – based in the same

office and have the same training facilities, and between half and three quarters of the

Roosters players come from the Rebels program.

- Relationship between the clubs and the TAC program is good – due to good communication,

getting local coaches involved in the program including on match day in the coaches box,

allowing players to go back to play with clubs in the bye and communicating regularly with

all football bodies.

- There is no real interaction between the VCFL Area Manager and the Region Manager on

talent issues.

- The local observation of the VCFL Area Manager is that they are always putting out spot fires

with clubs.

- Region Manager receives good support from AFL Vic head office, with the High Performance

Manager being the first port of call.

- The BFUA said they had no relationship at all with the VFL umpiring department.

- The Region Development Manager has interaction with VCFL area manager in relation to

community camps, occasional junior carnival and some resources – they are currently not in

the same office.

- RDM believes he could easily complete his role within the hub.


- VCFL Area Manager supports the game – but provides no strategic direction for the game in

the region.

Other Leagues and Associations

- BFUA have a good relationship with local leagues. They also outsource their administration

to the Ballarat hub, which has provided them with access to sponsorship and other facilities.

(The admin person for the umpires is an employee of the hub CEO not an umpiring

employee sitting in the hub – this person reports dually to the hub CEO and the umpires

association)

- CH indicated they deal a lot with the VCFL Area Manager on governance issues, permits and

interchange agreements etc and on rules and regulations etc.

- They indicated the clubs have the relationship with the council not the league.


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- No real collaboration between the CH league and the umpires association.

Growth –

- Servicing junior growth in the future might be a problem for Ballarat Hub. Eastern bloc clubs include Melton, Melton South and Bacchus Marsh and these will be the focus of Melbourne’s major demographic shift.

- 40,000 people also moving into Ballarat by 2050 so they have their own issues to address as country region.

- Due to an alignment between senior and junior BFNL clubs growth within the region has

been outstanding – the hub has been actively promoting the ‘one club’ philosophy.

- With 18 clubs in the CH they may look to go to 2 divisions in the future.

Facilities and Infrastructure –

- Roosters and Rebels are just about to receive a one million dollar upgrade to their facilities

at Eureka Stadium which has been funded federally and by the state government.

- The Ballarat City Council has become very strategic in their planning with the identification

of 6 key sporting precincts within Ballarat that will be upgraded over the next 5 years. All

other facilities will just be maintained. This requires football to consult with council in

relation to how they can best work in with this plan, and be involved in any further planning.

- Greater night lighting could assist in venue flexibility but also assists in gate increases – BFNL

sees night match revenue triple compare to a day match.

- Council has a real focus on healthy living – so this needs to be incorporated into all council

proposals.

- Council really want to deal with a regional governing body – especially with the greater use

of multipurpose venues and the focus of these venues from council – dealing with clubs on

this issue doesn’t work.

Governance –

- The hub model has been driven by the BFNL. BFNL believe hubs are the answer to many of

the issues in the region.

- CH argue they don’t want to be involved in the hub due to clubs wanting to stand alone

because they think they are strong enough too.

General Observation

- The talent issue of students living in Bacchus Marsh, going to school in Ballarat and having to

drive 90 minutes from school, through Bacchus Marsh to Altona to get to training with the

Western Jets seems to be an issue.

- As with Bendigo, transport is a big issue for the talent program in this region due to covering

3 ½ regions.

- The BFUA’s believes someone needs to be appointed to work closely with clubs on

improving the match day environment and how to monitor supporter behaviour – at the

moment the area manager can’t do this.

- The ability of boards to find enough good people to fill them is getting harder.

- BFNL has created a far more professional approach to the delivery of football in the region.


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- BFNL have the 2nd lowest club affiliation fees in the state – the lowest is the GDFL.

- Two Ballarat clubs already have part time administrators.

- BFNL believe RDM’s need to be closer aligned to leagues.

- Hume Council starting to say clubs can’t charge an admission price – this could become an

issue.

- The BFNL have no contact with Netball Victoria – just collect money for them.

- Soccer in the region is getting their act together – all four bodies have just aligned for the

creation of a nine million dollar facility.

- 100% increase in player payments in last 10 years. Points system might work but only if a state wide compulsory policy.


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Participation –

- Auskick is currently 20% down.

Community Football-

Football Leagues

- Bendigo Football League is in a ‘hub’ model that has an independent committee who are

fully supportive of the hub model.

- The hub currently completes 95% of the administrational work for the BJFL, 90% of

Castlemaine Juniors, and all operational requirements for HDFL and Loddon FL except

finance etc.

- HDFL and LFL have executives but work off a delegates system.

- BJFL have 6 on the board plus a chairman and govern over football from U16 ½ down. They

operate independently of the hub and are their own incorporated body. The junior league

also runs the local girls competition.

Clubs –

- Junior rego’s in the junior league have been down in the last two years – could be due

mainly to Auskick. Some Bendigo junior clubs are associated or based at schools causing

more transition issues.


- The Bendigo Umpires Association is an independent body that supports umpiring though a

part time administrator (works from home) and paying a small sum of money for coaches.

They have about 180 umpires on the books. Approximately 130 appointments a week.

- The relationship between the league and the umpires is ok, but when one is professional

and one is only available out of hours it makes things difficult.

- The umpires association have no relationship with the VFL umpiring department.

- Umpires have a board of 5 plus one chairman.

- The umpires association believe the match day environment is improving and believe the

types of programs being implemented by the AFL are working. They are also a huge

supporter of the AFL Umpire Coach PD Program.

- Issues of pay scales with nearby Goulburn League.

- Not enough done to enforce match day code of conduct.

- Don’t understand the role of the hub and how it will benefit umpiring.

- Little engagement or promotion in schools.

Talent –

- VFL representation in the region can strengthen local football if they all work together.

- Bendigo Pioneers have underperformed over the past couple of years.

BENDIGO NOTES


108

- Bendigo Pioneers are currently based at Golden Square, but will utilise the new training

precinct at Epsom.


AFL Victoria –

- The BJFL seem to be running talent squads in direct competition to the Pioneers.

- The differences between the development boundaries and the TAC Cup boundaries confuse

some people.

- RDM was involved in the creation of a youth girl’s competition.

- Region Manager is a supporter of the hub concept.


- Leagues have been driving the hub model without any real involvement from the VCFL.

- VCFL Area Manager may come into the area and the leagues wouldn’t know about it.

- The umpiring groups seem to enjoy providing opportunities to their umpires to participate in

TAC Cup matches.

- VCFL are generally seen to be good in a crisis, however strategy seems to be lacking.


- BJFL have no relationship or collaboration with any other junior football leagues.

Growth –

- A major issue relating to growth is the transition between Auskick and junior football.

- Auskick is getting run at central locations and junior clubs running Auskick is minimal.

- The quality control of Auskick seems to be an issue.

- Soccer is huge in Bendigo – the council just developed nine new soccer fields. Soccer is

flourishing at a junior level due to competitive and structured nature of their competitions.

Auskick at the same age level can be seen as a training program. Parents attracted to match

play model.

- Major growth areas exist in Maiden Gully, Marong, Strathfieldsaye and Epsom.


- While the QEO has recently been developed, there has been a new multipurpose facility

developed at Epson that involves soccer fields, but also two new football ovals, one with

nets and lights. The facility will also have a significant function centre and cost around 14

million. No football leagues showed any interest in locating there.

- Councils wants a coordinated approach from sport to facility development – approaches

from individual clubs that are competing against each other, and leagues competing against

each other won’t be accepted.

- Planning for facilities must start to align with councils plans or there won’t be a result.

- In one month Bendigo City Council had approaches from BFL clubs, BJFL clubs, the Bendigo

Umpires Association and the Bendigo Bombers all asking for individual funding for facilities.

- Soccer don’t invest in facilities.


109

Governance –

- BFL took over the administration of the BJFL when they were in debt and they now have xx

in the bank.

- BFL wouldn’t be aware of any other of the football bodies in their region of their strategic

plan.

- The BJFL have no strategic direction of strategic plan, they talk about it, but there is no one

there with the time to create it and then implement it.

- HDFL and LFL both agreed that club volunteers spend the majority of their time

o Raising money to pay players

o Recruiting players

General Observations

- Amateur groups dealing with professional hubs creates difficulties - e.g. CEO can only get

hold of a umpires president after hours, and the expectation of amateur groups increases

beyond their capabilities.

- There is a review of junior football underway in Bendigo.

- BFL only saw the AFL Development objectives a few weeks ago for the first time

- A stand alone VFL side is often seen by local clubs as a drain in resources e.g. players and

sponsors etc. If there is no full time presence most people agree that state league matches

should still be played 4 – 5 times a year.

- Netball – no support from Netball Victoria. The three local associations don’t talk to each

other however the Football Netball partnership is very strong. Football/Netball clubs in

Bendigo want to go to 6 divisions to support growth. They also want to implement divisions

in netball to ensure a higher level of competition.

- Junior sides having ½ age groups was used to break up super sides, however this causes

issues for the district league and their U17’s, which has little to no contact with the junior

league.

- The BUA spent 3K on an umpire advertising campaign and got 2 umpires.

- Bendigo council working in 5 year cycles with facility development – clubs seem to work at

one year at a time.

- Most HDFL and LFL sides draw out of the major regional bases such as Bendigo

- Coach education is enforced by leagues but delivered by full time staff, this approach often

involves a breakdown in communication and needs to be improved.

- Both the HDFL and LVFL agree that football is becoming a business and volunteers don’t

have the time, they see real merit in shared services within the hub that could also support

local clubs.

- Umpire Road Shows – leagues knew nothing about them.

- The biggest threat in the region is no doubt soccer and the fact they are playing small sided

games. The facility at Epsom had FFA involvement.


110

Participation –

- Most Bairnsdale Juniors have Auskick. However, to keep older age players in the system they

will be looking to start U10’s.

- Auskick in Gippsland is down – some kids would rather go to junior football training then do

Auskick.

Community Football-

Football Leagues –

- Football Netball East Gippsland now have an independent board, which look after East

Gippsland Football League and Bairnsdale Juniors. They also complete some administrative

work for the Omeo League which still has a delegates system.

- Bairnsdale has major representation in the Gippsland Football League – but doesn’t have

reserves, but does have U18’s and U16’s.

- Some Bairnsdale Juniors are aligned with senior clubs in the league and others don’t.

- East Gippsland and Omeo are both 6 team competitions that are virtually right next to each

other.

- East Gippsland main strategies are player points, increasing clubs and junior development

- Omeo have Seniors and U16’s – they would have some 8 year olds playing U16’s – but bigger

kids know not to tackle them and give them a kick etc. They need every kid they can get to

make up the numbers. This issue with this age group is that it’s two bigger gaps to seniors

and they lose a lot of players who don’t want to go and play seniors. Omeo clubs are only

looking to survive not win flags. They are critical to keeping the social network of their

towns going – hence farmers etc pay for players to be bussed in every week. One club

doesn’t actually train in the town (they train in Bairnsdale) and 14 of them get on a bus on a

Saturday morning to go to their own home game. One club has currently used 65 players

during the year on permits etc to get through – they pay these players to come up for the

weekend, but financially this isn’t an issue.

- Sale Junior Football League has 10 clubs, and work off a delegates system.

- North Gippsland – has had an independent board for around 10 years.

- Mid Gippsland have an executive that has to report to delegates.

- Mid Gippsland have a big drop off in the U16’s and U18 age groups like everyone else.

Umpiring Groups/Association –

- There are 5 umpire associations within the Gippsland region.

- East Gippsland Umpires Association services the East Gippsland league, Bairnsdale Juniors

and the Omeo League. In the East Gippsland League real umpires complete Seniors, U18’s

and 16’s while club umpires complete reserves, U14’s and U12’s.

- Omeo have huge issues with paying umpires travel – often they pay more for travelling then

they do for the actual umpire. E.g. $150 for travel and $120 to umpire. In saying this clubs

EAST GIPPSLAND NOTES


111

still want real umpires as they believe they deserve this after all the work they do to put

their team on the park.

- Sale umpires fill every grade of juniors in the region and their senior commitments with

North Gippsland League and the one Gippsland match they complete. Sale umpires have

around 110 umpires.

- Latrobe Valley umpires who do senior football and Traralgon UA who do junior football don’t

seem to collaborate with each other even though this could be an ideal pathway opportunity

for umpires.

- Latrobe Valley umpires service Mid Gippsland league.

- Latrobe Valley’s biggest issue is recruitment and retention.


AFL Victoria –

- New facility doesn’t have AFL branding – after AFL Victoria put in money and provided a loan

to Gippsland. It is the best TAC Cup facility in country Victoria.

- East Gippsland believes soccer and cricket are way ahead in the development of their sports

in schools.

- Same coach accreditation issue as in other areas regarding ‘delivered by one body and

monitored by another’ etc.

- Latrobe Valley have no relationship with the VFL umpiring department.

- A big issue with TAC Cup programs is the servicing of sponsors especially in the country

when they can only get the guys together once a week.

- All three full time Vic staff will be in the one office in Morwell as of the end of July.

- Gippsland Power are thinking about taking 10 of their kids to Falls Creek for some altitude

training – this is cutting edge and is reflective of the Gippsland Power making 3 grand finals

and 6 preliminary finals in the past 12 years.

Victorian Country Football League –

- General theme from all leagues in the region is the VCFL provides little support to football in

the region.

- They believe the VCFL Training Manager is doing a great job in tough circumstances.

- Sale Umpires do enjoy good support from the VCFL especially over the phone. Sale only turn

over around 16 umpires a year.

Growth –

- Bairnsdale ability to grow in the future maybe hindered by the general demographic shift

west within the region and the fact that anyone that is moving into east Gippsland will be

elderly.

- 150 juniors playing soccer in Bairnsdale – this is a real threat.

- Churchill FC in the NG league didn’t have U18’s for the second year in a row due to soccer

being in the area.


112

- Latrobe Valley Umpires have their lowest number of boundary umpires they have had in 30

years.


- North Gippsland – 50% of clubs could be better, but there is no plan in place around this.

Governance –

- Most leagues within the region talked about the old regional boards and how good they

were, but they weren’t 100% sure why they were taken away, some think due to the money

being accumulated. These regional boards allowed leagues to come together and share

ideas and learning’s. Leagues rarely if ever talk now.

- Previous regional board was east of Traralgon and included EG, Omeo, NG and the junior

leagues and UA’s.

- Lead by the Gippsland League there have already been discussion with leagues around a

joint funding model between local umpiring associations for an umpiring development

officer.

- Every league in the East Gippsland region has got their own independent tribunal; there is

no sharing of resources.


- Common theme in the region is the lack of support and leadership Netball Victoria provides

local competitions.

- General challenges in the region seems to be the ability of leagues to retain U15’s and U18’s

as these age groups seem to be decreasing.

- In all the leagues in Gippsland only the Major League “Gippsland Football League” has a

strategic plan.

- A general theme is that players don’t want to umpire because they have grown up in the

playing culture in which umpires are nearly seen as the enemy. Players know the type of

abuse umpires cop and don’t want to cop they same, hence they don’t take up umpiring.

- Club umpires don’t want to join the association because they only want to do their own

team where they know abuse will be minimal and where they can stay around and watch

the seniors. They feel like they are helping the club not umpiring.

- The older junior players get e.g. U16’s the harder it is to get volunteers – this age group can

often be seen as a babysitting service.

- The points system is fairly popular within the region with many of the leagues implementing

it. On an interesting note – Bairnsdale is actually trying to encourage clubs to get players

from outside the region (making them low on the points system) as they want more players

in their league

- Trainers in the region are getting harder and harder to find – and those in the clubs are

getting older and older – compliance issues are also stoping people becoming involved in

this area

- Interleague is very important to junior and senior competitions


113

- Sale umpires believe because they do junior and senior football they can create a pathway

for their umpires and therefore grow their numbers. They target 12 and 13 year olds and

then try to keep them for 5 years. Sale believes money is the biggest recruitment tool in

getting young umpires.

- There is no coincidence that the Sale Umpires who receive great support from the NG league

in relation to codes of conduct for clubs and supporters are able to fill all grades of football.

The league is extremely professional in dealing with issues of poor spectator behaviour and

always has umpire escorts etc. NG happy to pay extra costs involved with having umpires in

all grades.

- NG looking to implement a points system next year.

- Codes of Conduct is a huge priority for NG.

- Netball – registering players who are already registered in another league is a huge

nightmare for leagues and is time consuming. NG would like to see greater collaboration

between Netball Vic and AFL Vic.

- The points system in the Mid Gippsland league has reduced the average age of players and

was enforced to get clubs to further develop juniors, control player payments and even the

competition.

- Latrobe Valley spent 3K on an advertising campaign for umpires and did not get one umpire.


114

Participation –

- Region Development Manager runs School Football, Player Appearances and Coach

Education, Auskick.

- Auskick numbers fairly static in Colac. No other sport is a real threat in Geelong or Colac,

local soccer competition fell over in Colac.

Community Football-

Football Leagues

- Football Geelong has an independent commission of 10 people and oversees GFL, BFL,

Geelong Juniors and all Netball competitions. BFL and GFL still have separate constitutions

but members don’t play an active role.

- Geelong Football Umpires League have a board of 7 plus a CEO.

- Geelong Junior competition is outstanding in Geelong.

- Geelong and District Football League has a delegates system.

- Colac and District Football League are part of the administrational hub but have an

independent board of executives. They are very happy with their administration being

completed out of the Geelong hub and have just signed a new 3 year deal to continue this

process.


- Geelong Football Umpires League (GFUL) currently have around 350 umpires and 16 coaches

– they have a part time director of coaching and a full time CEO.

Talent –

- The Region Manager believes the central hub is working well and has benefited football in

the region.

- The Region Manager has 55 staff on his books.


AFL Victoria –

- The Region Development Manager works fairly autonomously and in the same office as the

Region Manager.

- The GFUL work fairly closely with the local AFL Victoria Region Development Manager in

relation to umpires for school football.

- GFUL have no relationship with the VFL Umpiring Department.

- Graded juniors has increased competition – helped retention and improved talent outcomes

for the region.

- Region Development Manager played a role in the restructuring of junior football in the area

– RDM believes competitiveness in juniors is critical to talent outcomes and retention.

GEELONG NOTES


115

(Grading is critical) Working in the same hub has made this close relationship between AFL

Victoria and junior football possible.


- Have provided some training and education to the new league president. Area manager

comes down to occasional league meeting.

- The umpires see great potential in schools but don’t have the time to get in them to conduct

training and recruitment programs. The VCFL guys can’t possible do this due to the distance

to travel, but putting resources locally could help achieve this.


- League and umpire association meet fortnightly.

Growth –

- COGG believes soccer is gaining momentum.

- Only 8 out of 12 GDFL clubs have juniors.

- Umpires think they’ll have 500 umpires in 5 years.


- Umpires just built a new training facility at a cost to the AFL, council, GFUL, federal

government and Kardinia Park Foundation.

- Council believes football is a major player in strengthening community. Geelong council

oversee 200,000 people.

- COGG enjoy dealing with FG on a strategic level because they are the one governing body.

- The master plan for the new development at Armstrong Creek includes 22 new ovals.

- Geelong needs a second major community venue. Too much pressure at present on Skilled Stadium.

Governance –

- Football Geelong’s commission and central administration hub seems to be strategically

minded and is making a significant difference in ensuring what’s best for football in the

region is occurring. The level of collaboration is the best in country Victoria. They are

making decisions to promote growth, involved in restructuring to allow for demographic

changes and service clubs well.


- GFUL are currently funded by taking approx 30% off umpire fees and through sponsorship.

- Geelong VFL seems to have a good relationship with the Geelong region. Assisted by the

fact they can deal with one body in Football Geelong. Players who are part of the program

go back to the clubs better players. Keen to keep improving on the relationship with clubs,

coaches and administrators and even start aligning the fixture to assist with local football.


116

- Colac and District Football League really benefits from being part of the Football Geelong

Hub, and have just signed up for another 3 years. They have an independent board, but the

support and guidance they are receiving from Geelong is virtually taking over from what the

VCFL used to provide. CDFNL have no strategic plan for the future – all about sustaining

what they have. Struggling a little in U17’s.

- All believe succession planning for volunteers is critical.

- The grading of juniors in the Geelong region has been extremely successful and is fully

supported by all football bodies in the region – couldn’t have been achieved without a hub.

- FG has no real relationship with Netball Victoria. Netball in Geelong is being dominated by

Football/Netball Clubs.

- Councils want an even spread of juniors to protect grounds.

- Netball is growing significantly in Geelong – because players love the club environment that

football/netball clubs offer. It is however costing councils as netball courts are needed at

clubs and the existing netball courts aren’t being used.

- Player payments are still an issue and believe another think about clearances is needed

- Only 3 Auskick clinics are not directly related to Clubs.

- VCFL training resource is OK but can only do 100 people at a time.

- FNG has total of 10500 participants.


117

Participation –

- Auskick is down – 2300 in 2004 to last year 1670.

- Originally had 35 centres and now 46 centres (from Marysville up to the border). Some are

stand alone, some are in schools, and the rest are associated with a club. Taken biggest hit

in smaller towns – population is diminished. After school programs are hurting Auskick, local

ASC person has more football programs in this region in any other state.

- Not every football club has an Auskick centre.

- 9 out of 13 KDFL clubs are running Auskick and then either have to join a junior football

competition in Shepparton or wait a couple of years to play U18’s in the KDFL competition.

Community Football-


- Goulburn Valley X 12 teams, Murray FL X 12 teams, Kybram DFL X 13 teams, Picola FL X 16

teams broken into two conferences – plus stand alone junior leagues Shepparton DSC,

Shepparton Primary Schools X 10 teams, Seymour DJF, Goulbourn Camps JFL X 13 teams

- 8 leagues all running themselves – there is also a Mansfield JFL.

- 8 leagues don’t really talk to each other – not much since regional boards.

- KDFL is currently operated by a volunteer secretary who works full time. Time constraints

mean the KDFL don’t have a strategic plan.

Coach Education –

- VCFL has a $100 rebate for coaches who become accredited.


AFL Victoria –

- AFL Victoria Region Development Manager is based in with the Goulburn Valley Football

League. Has good interaction with the GV league and receives good support.

- RDM runs 3 coaching courses a year and usually get’s between 60 to 80 coaches at each

course. RDM – really hard to get resources to drive clinics e.g. footballs, Auskick used to

provide more resources.

- A fair bit of the RDM’s time is taken up with u/15 talent squads X 2 and talent ID.


- RDM has a bit to do with area manager.

- A common theme from some leagues is that the VCFL create and introduce new programs

but just put it on clubs and volunteers without placing any support structures to assist.

GOULBURN MURRAY NOTES


118

- VCFL don’t seem to assist enough when an executive board is trying to go from a delegates

system to an independent board.


- Leagues don’t talk to each other besides on player permit issues.

Growth –

- Biggest issue in the leagues is growth.

- Soccer is a huge issue in Shepparton. The city council has developed a strategic plan for

soccer in the region with the local governing body. It is impossible for them to do this with

AFL due to so many governing bodies and no local representation or leadership. With no

strategic plan or guarantees some clubs will still be around in 10 years they won’t invest in

some local facilities.


- Big issue for clubs is working with council even though they have to have the relationship with council as the league takes no responsibility in this area.

- City council are sick of dealing with so many clubs – they want one governing body. - Because soccer have a strategic plan for the area the council have confidence in investing in

facilities, and due to investment they are getting support from the national body with the Melbourne Heart scheduled to play a match in Shepparton soon.

Governance –

- Used to have Regional boards but these disappeared and most people were not sure why


- It’s virtually a draft system when kids get to U16’s to either go to a GV side if invited – or go

to a District side if you’re not considered good enough. No real motivation to continue in

the sport if you are just an ok player.

- “The main judge of success for district sides is having money in the bank”.

- If you live in a district town you might join the district side after playing juniors in town but

the pathway is so disjointed it is inhibiting growth in the U17 and U18 age groups.

The pathway issue is starting to be highlighted due to the increased competition and options for kids in the town.

- Umpires in the region is a huge issue. All leagues seem to get on well with the umpires but

there is no one assisting them with recruitment and retention and leagues don’t know how

to help in this area.


119

Participation –

- Regional Development Manager coordinates Auskick , School football, Coach Education and

Player appearances.

- 1700 Auskick kids – mostly club based, however 2 are school based.

- School football in the region seems strong.

- No real transition programs from school football into community football.

Community Football-

Football Leagues

- The Hampden Football League are the major league in the district, while the Warrnambool

and District Football League are the district league.

- The HFL have 8 clubs while the WDFNL has 12.


- Umpires have around 125 on the books, but still see a turnover of around 25%.

- The Umpires Association are currently run by a board of management which is made up of

league representatives from both HFL and WDFNL – this model seems to be working really

well.

Talent –

- The region is divided in two – with half the talented players going to Geelong and the other

half going to North Ballarat Rebels. This year Hampden have approx 6 playing with the

Falcons and 4 with the Rebels.

Engagement –

- AFL Victoria resource has developed a disability program with members of the local sports

house.


AFL Victoria –

- Clubs don’t like the fact Falcons kids can’t play for them during byes etc. Everyone agrees

Rebels have been great for the region and enjoy the level of communication.

- Current local AFL Victoria staff member has good relationships with most parts of his region.

Is focused solely on Auskick and Schools, with limited involvement in Talent Pathway beside

talent ID and advocating for his kids.

- Deals with VCFL resource on coach education and community camps, and speaks with other

RDM’s regularly.

- Umpiring in the region has no contact at all with the VFL Umpires Department. There is no

feedback as part of the nomination process.

HAMPDEN NOTES


120


- VCFL are available on the phone any time and are good in relation to rules and regulations.

Some believe they don’t provide enough leadership on key issues in the region and they are

left to their own devices. Others are of the opposite view and believe the training the VCFL

provides is first class especially around tribunal and IT.

Growth –

- No other threats to football in this region – soccer can’t get their act together, although

basketball is starting to grow. With 13 teams based in Warrnambool or within 20km there

are more than enough teams to cater for the development of the game.

- HFL club Port Fairy is battling greatly and could possible go into the WDFNL soon which

would create a 7 sided comp and a 13 sided comp in the same area. Clearly not great for the

region.

- The region will experience growth over the coming years and is in a great position

considering it is drought free and real estate prices are steady. WDFNL indicated they

receive great crowds every week, because of their family environment.


- General view is facilities are ok, with the leagues across 3 shires it can make things difficult –

relationships are strong however between clubs and councils.

Governance –

- The lack of collaboration is causing football in the region to suffer, with poor reserves

numbers in the HFL, only 8 teams in the HFL, double dipping with sponsors and hurting the

local economy.

- Both leagues are focussed on sustainability as opposed to growth.

- HFL have only 8 teams and a very uneven competition, while WDFNL have 12 teams and an

even competition – “last 14 years every club has played in a grand final”.

- Greater training of volunteers in relation to delegation and succession planning is critical in

the area as volunteers are getting older.


- Both leagues believe they have a really good relationship with the local umpiring group and

the regional board of management structure works well. The umpiring association is purely

a social body. Before this it was very confrontational.

- Everyone said they receive no support from Netball Victoria – everyone just collects VNA

and passes it on.

- All leagues want to be seen as family friendly.

- Big challenges in volunteering, especially in relation to succession planning.


121

Community Football -

Football Leagues

- Gippsland Football League is the major league in across both the East Gippsland region and

the Latrobe region. They have seniors, res, U18’s and U16’s. They have a full time manager

and are in independent board (only been in a year or two).

- Major risks to the GFL are umpires and junior development. GFL operate a points system.

- GFL are open to the hub concept – and have tried to work with their 4 umpiring associations

to pool resources to employee a development officer.

- Alberton Football League – is a sea coast league with huge growth at the western end and a

declining population at the eastern end. League is currently a delegates system.

- Alberton Seniors and junior boards are separate. All junior club and senior club bodies are

different incorporations.

- Alberton believe they will have a full time administrator soon.

- Ellenbank FL still function with a delegates system. Ellinbank FL run Sen, Res, U18, U15 ½

and U13’s, plus 6 netball sides. Most clubs run Auskick. Netball are a separate incorporation

but they have a good relationship with them and they just follow the football fixture.

- Warragul juniors have 7 clubs and 30 teams. They start at U10’s and promote the fact they

are a family friendly environment for kids.

- Warragul juniors pride themselves on their strong code of conduct and good sportsmanship

– they suggest they have only had 3 send off’s in 9 years.

- Warragul juniors have no strategic plan and haven’t actually had a secretary for 8 years –

this has been the completed by the president.


- Warragul Juniors run its own umpires and this works very well. They umpires however

aren’t coached and don’t train.

- Gippsland Umpires Association has 100 active members and service the Ellinbank league and

do one GFL match a week.


AFL Victoria –

- 27 out of 40 Gippsland Power players come from the Gippsland Football League.

- Biggest enemy of the Gippsland Power is travel.

- Warragul Juniors only deal with AFL Victoria on interleague issues – not on junior football.

- Gippsland Umpires Association has no contact with the VFL umpiring department.


- Ellinbank were really happy with regional boards as it provided an opportunity to discuss

and share learning’s.

- Plenty of email for the VCFL but just don’t see them.

LATROBE VALLEY NOTES


122

- Umpiring resources go into talent academies, but they contribute minimal resourcing to

recruitment and retention.

- Complaints that Green Shirt packs are always late and they have to order them one at a

time.

Growth –

- Growth in the region will occur but will be closer to Melbourne. With the proposed closer of

Hazelwood etc there will be no population growth at the eastern end of the region.

- Soccer is a huge issue in the region – Bunyip Soccer club is recruiting players hand over fist

- Western end of the Alberton League could accommodate more growth, including new clubs

– but there is no one to drive this.

- The disappearance of schools from small country towns is effecting growth of football in

these regions.


- Clubs just want councils to do everything – they have no idea or willingness to make new or improved facilities happen.

- Baw Baw City Council seems to be battling. - Facilities in the shire will mean Warragul juniors play their grand final in a different shire.

Governance –

- The Gippsland Football League crosses over 6 councils – impossible to deal with each as they

just don’t have the time as they are not professionals.

- In the Alberton League some clubs pass other clubs in different league when playing

someone – this makes it difficult to convince juniors to make the big trips.

- Alberton FL fully supportive of a divisional system in the region.


- The Gippsland football League runs across 7 different local newspapers.

- Major leagues seem to allow be keen on interleague in order to give their younger players

an opportunity to play at a higher level.

- GFL clubs have an informal relationship with district clubs.

- Women’s soccer is getting bigger and has the ability to destroy netball and therefore destroy

the family environment netball creates within a football club.

- Due to demographic shifts in the Alberton League the level of competition is diminishing,

with 2nd last beating bottom by 80 points a few weeks back.

- Ellinbank has a points system in place in which they are happy about.

- Ellinbank believe the issue with volunteers is they want to be paid all the time. There is also

a lack of succession planning.

- There are five umpire associations in one region that never get together.

- Club umpires are getting paid the VCFL rate without losing a percentage to the association


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Community Football-


- Central Murray FL has an independent board and a full time General Manager. They are

looking to move to the newly developed horse racing track. They meet with clubs

occasionally.

- CM have Seniors, Reserves, U17 ½’s, U15’s, U13’s and U11 all on the same day – most clubs

have a second ground so they don’t have to start so early. Parents of U11’s don’t mind

travelling because it means the family can stay together.

- CMFL challenges include decline in population. Nyah Nyah used to have half the side that

were dry land farmers now they only have one. CMFL has a points system but the local

district competition doesn’t.

- Golden Rivers is an independent board. Biggest issue is travel – has 350 km from its

northern most club and its southern most club.

- North Central FL has 7 clubs and has an independent board which meets with clubs a couple

of times a year. They have seniors, reserves, U16’s, U13’s plus netball and hockey. They are

big on junior development and ensure a % of revenue is devoted to this area.

- All North Central clubs are financial and would have over 50K in the bank each. The GM of

the league is full time.

- NCFL have 7 games of hockey at each match each week. They have mixed, men’s and

juniors.


- CMFL administer their own umpiring group after constantly butting heads with the old

group. The other group is starting to wind up. League deducts between 10 -15% per

umpire. Umpires were happy to come across due to the selection bias that went on in the

old umpiring association. CM umpires now have good numbers.

- Golden Rivers have a good relationship with the Northern DUA. They pay major league rates

and run a 3 umpire system which they believe assists with transition.

- NCFL believe they have a good relationship with their umpiring group.

- In the NCFL all clubs have separate senior, junior and hockey boards. All clubs run Auskick

with kids moving into the U13’s when they are about 10 or 11.

- North Central Umpires Association has 17 members with the average age over 40. 2011 has

been there worse year for numbers. Young kids in small towns play football so it’s harder to

recruit and old people find it difficult to umpire in the same town they live.

- The UA train at local football clubs as they don’t have a base – this does however improve

the relationship between umpires and players.

- 3 Umpires from Bendigo get paid to travel up to umpire in the North Central.

- NCUA used to have a lot of exchanges, however none anymore.

Talent –

NORTH CENTRAL NOTES


124

- Communication between league and Bendigo Pioneers needs improvement.

- CMFL believe the TAC Cup is just for recruiters

- NCFL believe with no boarding schools in the area they lose kids to Ballarat.



- The area manager is a great supporter and provides great guidance. They appreciate the

training and education programs the VCFL runs, but once it was finished nothing happens.

Growth –

- Population decline in country areas as farm machinery get’s bigger and less people are

needed.


- Most facilities in Swan Hill are pretty good. Council are receptive to Australian Football as they know how important it is to the community.


- Southern NSW doesn’t get football telecast at a reasonable time.

- Sporting Pulse doesn’t interact with netball results.

- VCFL appeals cost too much especially when compared to metro according to GRFL.

- Junior cooperation in the North Central league is sensational. They send captains to go and

play for the opposition. League stipulates that prior to having two junior sides all other

teams sides must be full.

- Player insurance should include ambulance cover – this would avoid what can happen in the

bush were a player is driven to hospital in the back of a mates car because he doesn’t have

any insurance. Saves time in discussing the issue while people are injured as well.


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Participation –

- Seems like there are some local issues in Wangaratta regarding the pathway of juniors into

senior competitions. Good kids go to the two local Ovens and Murray teams while the

others go out to the district leagues. Not all of the junior clubs are aligned to senior clubs in

the Wangaratta area which seems like an issue.

- According to the RDM in Albury – Auskick is not really aligned to junior clubs and is centrally

based e.g. 400 at one centre.

Community Football-


- A North East Football and Netball Administration hub exists in Wangaratta involving Ovens

and King, Tallangatta DFL and Upper Murray FL. Together they employ a GM and an

operations person. This was formed progressively. Ovens and Murray aren’t involved. Each

league still has an independent board, however there is also a ‘hub’ board made up of two

reps from each league and is chaired by the VCFL area manager.

- The North East hub has no strategic plan and is currently just about creating admin

efficiencies and saving volunteers. Upper Murray committed to the hub because they

couldn’t find a secretary.

- There is a mini hub in Albury involving the Ovens and Murray FL, North East Umpires and

Albury Juniors.

Umpiring Groups/Association -

- North East border has two umpiring groups

- O and M believe the amount of money spent on umpiring by clubs compared to what the

VCFL invest would be all out of whack.

- NEUB believes the umpiring pathway needs to be improved

- The Umpires Group indicated they had no relationship with the VFL umpiring department

- NEUB is a representative board of the two umpiring groups

Coach Education –

- Runs two coaching courses – first one had 66 coaches attend.

- The people delivering the course are then not the same people who monitor behaviour and

support leagues in ensuring coaching codes of conduct are adhered by.

Talent –

- Bushrangers are located in Wangaratta. They have two full time RDM’s with one splitting his

time with coaching the U18 side and the other splitting his time with NSW.

- Lack of funding for travel means access to players is once a week.

OVENS AND MURRAY NOTES


126


AFL Victoria –

- Albury City Council set up ‘Sports Albury’ a regional peak sporting body – however, there has

never been representation from Australian Football on the committee.


- VCFL area manager sits in the same office as the hub as well as the Bushrangers.

- VCFL have tried to become more professional but all it’s meant is greater compliance issues

and work load for volunteers.



- Wangaratta council are highly supportive of football. There CEO is keen to see Wangaratta the hub of football in the region.

- The council is currently re-developing the Wangaratta Show Grounds – which will also be home of the Murray Bushrangers.

- Albury City Council are keen to see Lavington become a local hub with a new development plan for the ground and grandstand facilities 2016.

- Albury Council want AFL representative who can speak on behalf of everyone based locally to talk to about facility development.

Governance –

- The current governance model of Australian Football doesn’t allow for strategic planning

around facilities according to the Albury City Council.


- Soccer was rated as a threat by the Wangaratta City Council.

- Wangaratta City Council talked about Wangaratta being one of 10 state government

designated regional centres and the DSE heading back to a decentralised approach.

- Hub environments would be good places for AFL Trainees as they would have a diverse

range of activities they could undertake.

- Regional boards were disbanded due to them sitting on money and in the end boards had no

real power. With so many Bushranger regional training bases the regional boards were

really handy in communicating information.

- No university in Wang, but one in Albury – attracts more players to this region.

- Biggest issue in the area is participation – poor reserves and U18 numbers. May have

something to do with the amount of leagues and all the different age groups – e.g. Wang

juniors which is stand alone has U14’s an U16’s. Ovens and King has U18’s, Ovens and

Murray has U18’s while Tallangatta has U14’s and U17’s.

- The chairman of each of these boards couldn’t define what the AFL did in their region and

said they were never communicated too and never saw the logo. The first port of call for

them is the VCFL area manager.


127

- The Chairman of each board indicated the match day environment is getting better.

- Netball is extremely important to the area according to North East hub delegates.

- Albury feels a little bit isolated as AFL NSW seem to have a focus on Wagga while they don’t

really fall under the AFL Victoria banner.

- Issues with Netball revolve around IT support not being good enough and a lack of

collaboration.

- Ovens and Murray believe the Sporting Pulse technology is also falling behind. E.g. being

able to text results out to participants etc.

- There was someone based in Albury working for AFL NSW who wasn’t working from the

Albury hub with the other football representatives.

- O&M talked about how there was very little shared learning opportunities.

- Without a strategic approach to football in the region there are duplications everywhere –

including everyone having their own tribunal panel.


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Participation –

- RM indicated 13 new schools have been built in the area in the last 4 years. Huge growth

area. According to the RM he has school ambassadors in every school in the region. RM

believes he could do a lot more in schools if he had more resources.

Community Football-


- Mornington Peninsula Nepean Football League (MPNFL) – made of three competitions which

are based geographically. No relegation of promotion. 32 clubs. They have an independent

board and have 3 meetings a year with clubs. 3 full time staff.

- MPNFL never had serious chats about moving from the VCFL to AFL Vic due to not knowing

what the benefits would be.

- They want to create a 2nd division in one of their leagues due to huge growth in the area,

however they don’t have a strategic plan for the area and aren’t really getting any assistance

with developing a strategy.

- MPNFL own their building and clubs only pay an affiliation fee of 18K and that covers

everything.

- Yarra Valley Mountain DFL is part of the VCFL, however is starting to become urbanised with

5 clubs considered in the suburbs. Due to this, those clubs are struggling to attract players

as players want to play local – without having to travel into the country and to places like

Alexandra.

- There was a VCFL review completed on this area a few years ago.

- YVMDFL has no strategic plan – they are waiting for the outcome of this review.

- YVMDFL has netball.


- MPNFL has great relationship with umpiring association. All appointments are filled every

week.

- YVMDFL indicated they had great umpire numbers. They employee the coach and only

deduct 12% and they pay them all. There business model allowed them to service all

umpires, pay coaches etc. As they are considered the leagues umpires the league are very

hard on driving the code of conduct. No past players umpire. They have no more club field

umpires.

- Southern Umpires Association who services MPNFL and the MPNFL Juniors has close to 350

members. They have 11 on the board and complete all their own admin to save costs. Fill

all grades for the MPNFL.

- The SUA has three training bases. They own their own club rooms and have significant

money in the bank, which will be used to update their facility. They are open to hubs and

partnering with other umpire associations. SUA have a strategic direction and plan in place.

SOUTH EAST NOTES


129

- SUA believe regional boards were a good thing.

- The SUA gave away a 2k prize to the best behaved club in their league.

Talent –

- MPNFL runs across 3 TAC Cup development teams (Power X 3, Stingrays X 28 and

Sandringham X 1).


AFL Victoria –

- AFL Victoria plays a bigger role in this area regarding communication and collaboration due

to AFL Victoria affiliated leagues being in the same area.

- League reps believe RDM focuses too much on talent.

- Region Manager for this region is based in Dandenong as is the VCFL area manager for East

Gippsland.

- There is only one RDM and one part timer in the whole region. Even though they would

have more Auskick participants than the lowest 5 country regions combined.

- RDM’s are always looking to complete more talent work as they see it as their pathway to a

RM position. RM positions hold greater acknowledgement and pay, and aren’t as difficult

and time consuming as the RDM roles.


- Area Manager for the VCFL is based at Dandenong with the TAC Cup and Region

Development Manager.


- The South East RM outlined a threat in this area was a lack of facilities and not enough grounds to facilitate growth. There is also a need for more lights.

- Greater collaboration is needed regarding the development of a hub facility. Currently everyone is just looking after their own area.


- Challenges for MPNFL include

o clubs spending too much on players and hurting themselves financially.

o Junior transition and a lack of collaboration with junior leagues – the disconnect is

hurting transition

- MPNFL indicated a lot of their volunteers were now getting paid – e.g. bar staff and gate

keepers.

- MPNFL has a good link with Melbourne FC, but get nothing from St Kilda FC. South East RM

indicated the same issue. St Kilda says “fine us”, while Melbourne say “what can we do”.

Melbourne’s base at Casey means they do as much as they can for the region.


130

- MNPFL believe when players get drafted greater recognition is required for the players

original club not the TAC Cup club.

- Sporting Pulse was an issue for MPNFL as it was sold to them as an income stream –

however they have never seen a dividend. There other issues include that Sporting Pulse

sponsors conflict with their own website sponsors, their area available to sell for

sponsorship has been reduced over time, and they never get answers as to when they will

start to receive some revenue. They indicated clubs are starting to build their own sites and

just using sporting pulse for results.

- Sporting Pulse was also an issue for the YVMDFL. The promised dividend had not been

received. They know that costs were to be covered first, but they would like Sporting Pulse

to define ‘costs’. They also indicated league sponsors like the Bendigo Bank were unhappy

with NAB sponsorship on the website that was put up by Sporing Pulse. YVMDFL indicated

major leagues have already started developing their own websites.

- MPNFL indicated some clubs are heading down part time football managers.

- An example of lack of collaboration occurred between the YVMDFL (VCFL affiliated) and the

Eastern FL (AFL VIC affiliated) when the EFL decided to change to U19’s and the YVMDFL

never heard of it before it happened.

- YVMDFL believes planning for demographic shifts around contraction of population is as

important as planning for greater growth – “no one is doing this planning” – YVMDFL rep

- YVMDFL believe there needs to be a more strategic approach around localised competitions

– making it as easy as possible for clubs.

- YVMDFL believe their player points system is working, with team still being able to pay a lot,

but just not to as many players.

- YVMDFL believes interleague helps reduce on field issues.

- Footymart was raised as an issue for YVMDFL.


131

Participation –

- 90% of Auskick in South West would be aligned to clubs.

Community Football-


- South West District Netball and Football League are an independent board. Has a part

time administrator that does a lot of hours during the football season. Board has a

netball sub-committee. All clubs are incorporated football and netball clubs.

- South West have Seniors and Reserves with no junior competition. There are no formal

links between the clubs and junior clubs. They have 8 clubs.

- Western Border manages the junior competition in Portland, but the juniors have their

own board.

- Junior competitions in the area include Western Border Juniors – Mt Gambier, Portland

Juniors and Hamilton Juniors – these leagues feed all the senior competitions.

- South West has no real relationship with Western Border – The two leagues don’t

collaborate on fixtures – which in some cases are hurting crowd numbers. South West

would talk more to Hampden and Mininera FL.

- Western Border has a full time General Manager – and has independent board. General

Manager looks after Portland JFL, HJFL.

- Western Border have no strategic plan and doesn’t know of any plan for the region.

They wrote the VCFL a letter to complete a review of the region, it was acknowledged,

but put on hold once this review was announced.

- WB would be open to a divisional system – and currently use a points system even

though no other leagues in the region use one.

- WBJFL only involve SA clubs and are therefore affiliated directly with SA – they have

good numbers.

- No clubs in the WB league are the one senior and junior incorporated body.

- The region runs a good junior carnival involving PJFL, HJFL, WBJF and Casterton JFL

- Mininera FL still works off a delegates system but looking to a board system. Main

issues include junior numbers, mainly due to town sizes reducing. Having players double

up in U16’s and reserves. Delegates are opposed to a hub as the quality of service they

already receive is great and they like the personal touch.

- Mininera were a big rap for regional boards – they found them great and thought they

‘built trust’.

- Mininera FL is made up of 11 clubs with 7 of these being merged entities. Some of these

still play to two home grounds which is costly to maintain.


- South West don’t deal with an umpires association as they have their own umpiring

group and appoint their own umpires coach and do all the administration work. It is

SOUTH WEST NOTES


132

only a group of 16 umpires. Young talented umpires often get directed to the Western

District umpires association. The league takes $17 off $137 which only equals about

12%. This system means umpires don’t pay for anything – e.g. uniforms, coaching etc

and seems to work very well.

- WB are serviced by two leagues – SEFUL in SA and Western District UA for Victorian

games and they share one game and finals etc. They are their own governing body but

the league has a good relationship with them through delegate meetings and informally

on match day.

- Western District UA has 75 active members and is a standalone incorporated body with

7 executive members.

- There major issue is recruitment and retention, although couldn’t say how many they

have recruited and retained over the past few years.

- WDUA believe the key elements to having a good relationship with a league is the

league acknowledging the umpires and being in contact often – not to talk about

anything in particular but more to say hi.

- WDUA don’t talk to other associations besides appointment issues.

- WDUA believe pay in not a huge issue, however working at a supermarket is more

attractive because umpires still have to train and they don’t get paid to train.


AFL Victoria –

- South West very happy with the support they receive from local AFL Vic Region

Manager.

- The Western District UA have no contact with the VFL umpiring department and have no

idea what is expected of their umpires to reach that level.

- RDM lives in Hamilton and works from home. Has no match day commitments with

Ballarat, but does take kids to training on a Thursday night and does run the U15’s

program.

- RDM runs 3 coaching courses a year – plus coaching seminars.

- RDM believes coach accreditation is an issue – completing a one day course isn’t great.


- Available on the phone. Since regional boards were disbanded they are left to their

own devices.

- VCFL training is always in Warrnambool.

- VCFL generally try to get down to league meetings etc. However they also say the VCFL

has no plans for the region

- VCFL IT consultant has been great with Sporting Pulse.

Growth –

- Good growth in the South West region with player’s numbers rising from 593 in 2009 to

677 in 2011. They have good numbers in reserve and senior grades.

- Soccer is the main threat in the Portland region – big numbers at the local soccer club –

especially in the juniors – main attraction is that it is virtually a non contact sport.


133


- League has no relationship with council besides booking grounds for finals. Clubs have the relationship with council. This is across all leagues in this area.

- Local council currently deal with clubs but would rather deal with a league. - Local council have a 10 year facility development strategy which was developed in 2008

and clubs were consulted. They have no plans for new facilities in the region and don’t expect any major growth in the region. Only growth will be in the form of retirees.

- Main issue with council is the condition of grounds and drainage – huge rain in the region lately and grounds are in need of resurfacing.

- Council have no relationship with VCFL or AFL Vic and not sure if there facilities need to be up to a certain standard.

- Hockey is currently funding a feasibility study into a new synthetic field that soccer would also use.

- Mininera believe facility money goes to those clubs who are persistent as opposed to those clubs who needed it. Often those who need it don’t have the volunteers who are persistent.


- Netball Victoria provides little to no support to South West – only when there is an issue.

South West would like to see greater leadership and communication from Netball

Victoria to local leagues.

- Player payments is not an issue as clubs are strong financially in the South West.

- South West doesn’t have a points system but open to the idea in the future.

- South West indicated there is a challenge around volunteer succession planning and that

it is harder to get people to training sessions and even meetings.

- South West have had some pretty big match day issues including a sexual harassment

issue with netball, racial issue with football and a massive on field and off field brawl.

League believes a lot of these issues have are alcohol fuelled, but club volunteers are

battling to deal with this alcohol issue. To deal with it will take more resources.

- South West keen to see a facility audit completed in the region.

- Western Border have some issues with the SA border in relation to supporting two

representative programs and an obligation to support two sponsors.

- Mininera FL would like the relationship at the top to be stronger with Netball.

- Player registrations are not a true reflection of player numbers – Mininera indicated

some clubs had lists of 70 but 25 of these players would play less than 6 matches.


134

Participation –

- 13 Auskick centres in Mildura. Has dropped off a lot this year as the U10’s comp in Mildura

has a lot of 7 year olds playing in it.

- SJFL have a big issue holding onto U14’s and U16’s according to them.

Community Football-


- No junior clubs are the same incorporated body with their aligned senior clubs.

- Sunraysia Junior FL has 8 junior clubs, same as the senior league. All juniors are played on

Sunday. They have a P/T administration lady. They are an independent board but are going

back to a delegates system as the president believes the clubs have the best administrators.

- SJFL have no strategic plan, however they would like to maintain market share, increase

sponsorship to reduce club affiliation fees and develop an indigenous player strategy. They

would consider a hub model but not at the cost of their current administration person.

- Millewa is the district league in Sunraysia and only have seniors. They have 7 clubs. They

are seen as the recreational football competition. There major challenge is volunteers on a

match day.

- Millewa FL president and secretary do all the work.

- Even though they are a district club, most of their clubs train in Mildura.

- Sunraysia Football Netball League believes its challenges are a lack of facilities, need more

lights and are afraid the council is investing too much money elsewhere.

- SFNL has a points system mainly to save clubs from themselves in some cases. However,

kids are leaving the SFNL for money in the district league.


- Most junior games in the juniors are umpires by parents and club umpires – however U16’s

and some boundary and goal umpires are supplied by the association. They pay umpires on

the day to avoid invoicing.

- Millewa believes umpires are a big issue.

- SFNL believe the average age of their umpires is over 50.

- Sunraysia umpires association believe the biggest issue it retention. Also they struggle to

find someone to administer their group. They indicated huge decline over the years

although they also said it’s gone hand in hand with football not being able to keep 16 year

olds.

- SUA believe if you offer more money you’ll get quantity not quality.


AFL Victoria –

- RDM in Mildura is 3 day per week. Believe he can’t service schools well enough in this time.

SUNRAYSIA NOTES


135

- RDM believe his lack of time for schools is a worry as female teachers aren’t driving football

programs.

- RDM is not involved in local hub.

- RDM runs a training squad for the Pioneers in Mildura.

- SJFL are fully supportive of the BP program.

Growth –

- According to the council Mildura is the 2nd fastest growing area in the state. However, lots

of these are retirees.


- Mildura City Council (MCC) was really impressed with the professional nature of FFV approach to facility development.

- MCC rep talked about how the area had a good football culture. - MCC mentioned it was sometimes raised at council level about why they should be funding

facilities when football has this great earning capacity and essentially all they are doing is subsidising player payments. There is also a perception the AFL doesn’t do enough for regional football.

- MCC have got a facility development plan that was worked on by local football bodies.


- Soccer has a full time development officer in Mildura – huge threat in the region. Part of

this role is to engage local government in facility development.

- SJFL believe kids are leaving football to play soccer as they get to play games earlier.


136

Participation –

- Mallee FL representatives say kids now say they play AFL not football. They believe more

can be done to leverage the AFL brand in the country.

- 7 out of 10 Horsham DFL clubs have Auskick.

Community Football-


- Western Vic hub looks after Wimmera FL, Horsham and DFL, Wimmera Netball League and

Horsham and District Netball League.

- Mallee FL has 7 clubs – originally had 15 clubs (Ouyen United is formed through 9 clubs

merging).

- Last merge was in 2000.

- Mallee FL just changed from delegates system to independent board, however clubs would

only vote for a 10 member board – so each club could appoint someone.

- 5 grades of Netball in the Mallee FL competition and every club has Auskick.

- Horsham DFL has 10 clubs and 1 in recess and is run by an independent board. They are part

of the Western Vic hub.

- Hub has its own executive, being made up of each of the participating bodies. However as

they are a long way off the hub commission running both leagues.

- HDFL has no strategic plan.

- Wimmera FL have an independent commission who meet with clubs twice a year. They have

9 clubs in their league. They feel like they are responsible for developing football in their

region in isolation.

- WFL say they started their own umpiring group because they were paying 100K and had no

say in where the money was spent.


- There are now two umpiring groups in the Wimmera after the Wimmera FL started their

own group.

- The Wimmera FL umpiring group is managed by the league. 1st year in operation. They

don’t have a home base and they train at 4 – 5 different club venues during the year. Coach

and manager are paid by the league.

- League is covering expenses for the first 2 years of operation, meaning these umpires are

getting paid more with nothing coming out of their pay. League covering social element of

the group. VCFL support with the new group has been excellent.

- League umpiring group still believe abuse is an issue.

- Umpiring is an issue according to the Mallee FL – just not enough umpires.

- Wimmera Umpires Association – who is not run by the league has a stand-alone board and

believes they have become ostracized. They have 60 active members but struggle to get 25

WIMMERA NOTES


137

– 40 year olds. They believe recruitment is now tougher as they now only umpire a minor

league.

- The major recruiting tool for umpire associations is through boundary umpires.

- WUA take 15% off umpires and take some of their travel money as well.

- WUA indicated that once the regional boards stopped it effected umpiring more because

area managers don’t have any involvement in umpiring.


AFL Victoria –

- RDM works from home in Horsham, even though there is a hub in Horsham which the VCFL

Area Manager works from.

- RDM runs one course per year and a junior one every couple of years.

- RDM in Horsham spends a heap of time on Talent. Takes kids to Ballarat every Tuesday,

involved in U15’s, U16’s and U18’s.

- Wimmera FL reps believe parents are putting themselves in financial difficulty when their

kids get offered school scholarships.


- HDFL have a good relationship with VCFL Area Manager has he is based in their town.

- WUA are happy with the programs they run, but believe the umpiring guys have too much

area to cover.

Growth –

- Playing numbers are an issue in the Mallee FL – however money makes things happen in

relation to player recruitment.


- Female boundary umpires have to get changed in netball change rooms at the moment. - The Horsham DFL is across 7 different councils.


- Seem like there is an issue with level of competition in the Wimmera League. One of the

Horsham sides going for their 9th premiership in a row. This is built on a great junior

program and the fact they are the biggest town in the comp.

- Netball is independent of HDFL. They collect the fees and don’t get anything back.

- Horsham believe any points system would be need to be state wide.

- WUA are paying some boundaries out of their own money as clubs won’t pay for it when

they can just get a volunteer to do it.


138

APPENDIX EIGHT – REGIONAL MEETING QUOTES

- “Auskick is currently 20% down and I can’t quite put my finger on why” - AFL Victoria Region


- “VCFL is not really assisting with these district leagues going to independent boards, we are

really the ones driving it” – local league representative.

- “The VCFL doesn’t have a strategic plan for this area” – Local League representative.

- “In the last month I’ve had the BFL, BJFL, Umpires Association and the Bendigo Bombers all

come to me and request funding and assistance for an administrational facility, even after

I’ve told them they need a united approach. We not going to fund individual bodies, we

need to get value for money and create multipurpose facilities” – Council representative.

- “Operational aspects of boards make it hard to recruit volunteers” – local league

representative.

- “150 juniors playing soccer in Bairnsdale – this is a real threat” – local league representative.

- “The centralised approach becomes a tick and flick model” – local league representative

talking about volunteer training.

- “The area they have to travel is ridiculous” – local league representative talking about Area

Managers.

- “We never see the VCFL area manager” – local league representative.

- “He leaves resources at the door step” – local league representative talking about the VCFL

Area Manager.

- “We have discussed with leagues a joint funding model between local associations for an

umpiring development officer” –local league representative.

- “Clubs burn out volunteers” – local league representative.

- “Two presidents are also trainers at their clubs” – local league representative – this further

enforces the lack of volunteers at community level.

- “The local council put 250K into a hockey field in ...... and the district doesn’t even have a

hockey team” – local league representative.

- “After a school become vacant 3 years ago the league are still trying to organise a meeting

with the council to discuss taking over the grounds” local league representative.

- ‘VCFL is irrelevant for Region Managers” – AFL Victoria Region Manager talking about having

no contact with the VCFL Area Manager.

- “The VCFL leave it to leagues to fight their own battles” – local league representative.

- “The VCFL has become irrelevant in this area” – local league representative.

- “The VCFL work on micro issues as opposed to the macro stuff that involves regions” – local

league representative.

- “There are people working in umpiring, but no one working on umpiring to drive strategy” –

local umpires association representative.

- “People need to understand the benefits of full time professionals running football” – AFL

Victoria Region Development Manager.

- “There is just too many volunteer compliance issues” – local league representative.

- “We don’t have strategic conversations with clubs about facility development” – Council

representative.

- “With a dysfunctional approach to facilities you are asking to be undermined by soccer” –

local umpires association representative.


139

- “Issues...numbers, recruitment and retention” - local umpires association representative.

- “Recruiting old footballers is not the answer” – local umpires association representative.

- “We feel abandoned by the VCFL” – local league representative.

- “We have no confidence in the VCFL to assist us” – local league representative.

- “We are really happy with the VCFL” – local league representative.

- “Where do you get two presidents in the one room to discuss umpiring – the beauty of the

Board of Management system” – umpire association representative.

- “TAC Cup needs to be embraced – clubs needs to stop fighting it” – local league

representative.

- “A major concern for us is how we keep the level of competency of club administration high”

– local league representative.

- “Bunyip Soccer club is recruiting players hand over fist” – local league representative.

- “Biggest enemy of the .....TAC Cup team is travel” – AFL Victoria Region Manager.

- “They never step in and make a decision” – local league representative talking about the

VCFL and the need for support regarding a strategic direction.

- “the best thing for football in this region would be divisional system” – local league

representative talking about competition structures.

- “We want help preparing for the future and demographic changes and at the moment we

don’t get it” – local league representative.

- “some of our clubs are going to be Melbourne suburbs soon” – local league representative

- “The VCFL won’t decentralise enough programs so it’s difficult to get good numbers there

because clubs are made up of volunteers” – local league representative.

- “We need pressure from the hierarchy to assist us with council because we as a league

struggle to get traction” – local league representative.

- “Junior football has a revolving door of volunteers due to the nature of the competition” –

local league representative.

- “We have no idea of what is required by our umpires at VFL level” – umpires association

representative.

- “We get emails, but never see them” – umpires association representative talking about

VCFL umpiring resources.

- “Spent 3K on an advertising campaign and not one umpire” – umpires association

representative.

- “Two blokes out on the road...too bigger area to look after” – umpires association

representative talking about VCFL umpiring resources.

- “Soccer could be a genuine threat if they get their administration together”- local league

representative.

- “Communication between league and the TAC Cup Program is non-existent” – local league

representative.

- “Lack of regional boards is stopping people from coming together” – AFL Victoria Region

Manager.

- “Us and them mentality is starting to develop” – AFL Victoria Region Manager discussing

issues relating to GWS and Bushrangers via for the same kids.

- “The system should be what’s best for the player – should be a case by case basis” – AFL

Victoria Region Manager.

- “The match day environment is getting better” – local league representative.


140

- “It’s just become so easy to have professionals to do it” – local league representative

discussing the success of the hub.

- “Won’t be lack of numbers, but lack of volunteers that will kill football” – local league

representative.

- “Support is limited to their programs...they always need to get back to Melbourne” – local

umpiring association.

- “Board representatives are full time (employment) and can’t get to schools...we need a full

time locally based resource” – local umpiring association.

- “Lack of control of junior pathways since regional boards finished” – local league

representative.

- “Much, much better with boards” – local league representative talking about the old

Regional Boards.

- “Don’t see area managers much” – local league representative.

- “League is keen on hub idea” – local league representative.

- “We’ve got a scatter gun approach to school” – AFL Victoria Region Development Manager

about a lack of strategy relating to football programs in schools.

- “the threat is if another sport get’s organised” – AFL Victoria Region Development Manager

- “If soccer get’s their pathway together after U12’s it could be a real issue” – AFL Victoria

Region Development Manager.

- “Talent can get you to an AFL Club” – AFL Victoria Region Development Manager talking

about career pathway opportunities.

- “Reward for effort – remuneration needs to be in line with KPI’s” – AFL Victoria Region

Development Manager talking about how people who don’t hit targets get paid the same.

- “There would be more growth in a hub then working is silo’s” – AFL Victoria Region


- “You can’t give them anymore people” – local league representative talking about one of

their country clubs that is in recess due to a lack of players.

- “We don’t really receive any value back from the VCFL considering the money they have” –


- “No real value out of the area manager” - local league representative.

- “Clubs shouldn’t have to drive past each other to play” - local league representative.

- “The area manager provides no strategic support...just support on operational issues and

assists with crisis management” - local league representative.

- “Sustainability of clubs not the governing body is the key” – local league representative.

- “No value having 500K in the bank, when clubs are battling...need to support clubs” – local


- “Our umpires would rather umpire senior football then junior football due to spectator

behaviour” – local umpiring association.

- “Don’t really see anyone from the VCFL” – local umpiring association.

- “Abuse is better...always going to get one or two” – local umpiring association.

- “This area desperately needs a central administration hub...but nothing will happen until it

comes from the top” – AFL Victoria Region Development Manager.

- “Soccer is growing...the damage is getting done in after school programs” – AFL Victoria

Region Development Manager.


141

- “Volunteer recognition is critical – recognition must be personalised” – AFL Victoria Region


- “Clubs will run out of players and volunteers before they run out of money” – local league

representative.

- “Very good on the phone and email, but we just don’t see him” – local league representative.

- “Education Programs are good, but often difficult to get to because we are volunteers” – local league representative.

- “We have no strategic plan...the plan for us is survival” – local league representative. - “We don’t exist without them” – local league representative talking about Netball. - “No one counts transition” – AFL Victoria Region Development Manager talking about

measuring the success of Auskick kids moving into junior football.

- “An uncompetitive team is hurting the pathway” – local league representative talking about

the Bendigo Pioneers.

- “Auskick is where it all starts...everything would fall over if it stopped” – local league

representative.

- “Our major challenge is volunteers on a match day” – local league representative.

- “Clubs are financial, but will fall over due to a lack of volunteers” - local league

representative.

- “Didn’t know AFL Victoria was involved in country football” - local league representative

talking about the lack of AFL branding.

- “The same group that umpire, do the selection, the recruitment and the administration” –


- “Abuse has improved over the years” – local umpire association representative.

- “Some clubs are paying their club umpires more than the association does” – local umpire

association representative.

- “Retention is the biggest issue” – local umpire association representative.

- “The AFL clubs have been great in this area” – AFL Victoria Region Development Manager

discussing how 6 clubs have visited his region they year.

- “AFL logo is the best thing that ever happened to country Victoria...brand has great

influence as the kids love it” – AFL Victoria Region Development Manager.

- “They come in and do a one day course and then we send them out and put them in charge

of our most important people – kids” - local league representative.

- “Once football goes the town goes” – local league representative.

- “Area manager really has got far too much area to cover” - local league representative

- “Level of collaboration has improved since the hub as been in place” – local league

representative.

- “Our match day environment is excellent...getting good leaders at the club is critical” – local


- “It is more difficult however than it used to be...they are an aging group” – local league

representative.

- “Some people are scared of compliance issues” – local league representative.

- “VCFL season launch at 9am on the Tuesday morning is a joke” – local league representative

about how it needed to be remembered that volunteers have full time jobs.

- “We never hear from VCFL board members” – local league representative.

- “Well administered leagues will entice more players” – local league representative.


142

- “Country umpires can’t make the VFL without going to Melbourne – local umpiring

association representative.

- “No idea what is expected at VFL level” – local umpiring association representative talking

about how they can’t prepare umpires to go the VFL level.

- “Good match day environments are driven by leagues” – local league representative.

- “We knew more and heard more when the regional boards were in” – local league

representative.

- “Not sure what there charter is” – local league representative talking about AFL Victoria.

- “Greater opportunity for a more cohesive organisation” – local league representative talking

about football and netball.

- “There is no collaboration. It is a real issue. Brought about by the need for survival” – local


- “.........has the lowest population growth in the state and has too many teams” – local league

representative.

- “VCFL guys are under resourced...to bigger area to look after” – local umpiring association.

- “VFL representation in the region can strength local football if they all work together” – local

football representative.

- “Auskick does not talk to junior football, junior football does not talk to senior football,

senior football does not talk to the VFL” – local football representative.

- “Locally based leadership is a huge issue in this town” – local football representative.

- “The match day environment is really starting to improve” – local umpires association

representative.

- “Salary caps can’t be controlled” – local league representative.

- “We don’t see our area manager enough, but it’s not his fault it’s just that he has such a

huge area to look after” – local league representative.

- “Committee of managements for leagues are getting harder to fill” – local league

representative.

- “COGG enjoy dealing with FG on a strategic level” – council representative.

- “A training and education officer could be full time in this region – not one person looking

after all of country Victoria” – local league representative.

- “It’s not about leagues, it’s about clubs” – local league representative.

- “Professional clubs don’t buy players, they buy a strong junior program great environment”


- “8 leagues don’t talk to each other” – local league representative.

- “The pathway issue is starting to be highlighted due to the increased competition and

options for kids in the town” – local league representative.

- “The match day environment has got better” – local league representative.

- “The main judge of success for district sides is having money in the bank” – local league

representative.

- “With no plan or blue print from the governing body, we are not sure about where to

invest, as we refuse to waste money” – Council representative.

- “The league is run out of my lounge room” – local league representative.

- “Kids drop out due to distance” local league representative talking about kids having to

travel to play TAC Cup.


143

- “I would suggest there are nearly more club umpires than real umpires” – local league

representative.

- “Kids can’t afford to play for the ....(TAC Cup team) due to travel” – local league

representative.

- “Club volunteers hate policing drinking issues and having to confront others” – local league

representative.

- “Abuse is not as bigger issue as a few years ago” – umpires association representative.

- “Former players aren’t the answer as they don’t want to do it” – umpires association

representative.

- “Never recruited anyone from radio advertising” - umpires association representative.

- “Word of mouth is the best recruitment” – umpires association representative.

- “Our facilities are as good as you would see in country Victoria – Council representative.

- “Good facilities, create better retention – people feel better about themselves” – Council

representative.

- “We have a history and culture of looking after football” – Council representative.

- “Regional boards were a good thing” – local umpiring association.

- “our league drives the code of conduct” – local league representative.

- “The work loads of area managers is too much and the area they cover is too big” – local


- “We have to beg, borrow and steal” – local league representative talking about how they

recruit players without having juniors.

- “Regional boards stopped issues before they arise” – local league representative

- “It’s getting harder and harder to get people to meetings and volunteer training sessions” –


- “A lot of the match day issues here have been alcohol fuelled” – local league representative.

- “(We) lost all communication with other leagues” - local league representative discussing

the level of collaboration since regional boards disbanded.

- “If clubs don’t come to us and make a request – we don’t worry too much about them” –

local council representative.

- “Retaining 20 – 30 year olds is a huge issue” – local umpiring association.

- “Dealing with a professional hub makes life 100 times easier when trying to coordinate

talent programs” – AFL Victoria Region Manager.

- “Talent is also about improving the person not just the player” – AFL Victoria Region

Manager.

- “Dealing with one representative body is what we are after” – Council representative

- “Independent board in a regional hub could have a lot more pull with council” – Council

representative.

- “Umpires are lost because they are disillusioned because of what happens up there” local

umpiring association discussing umpires going to the VFL.

- “Player payments is currently a blight on our game” – local league representative.

- “I have no idea how they recruit or train umpires” – AFL Region Development Manager.

- “Some delegates wouldn’t even know who their Auskick Coordinator was” – local league

representative.

- “Council wants to deal with one governing body on facility development – they are happy to

deal with clubs on tenancy issues but not on planning” – local council representative.


144

- “Councils are in the health game” – local council representative.

- “Having our VCFL area manager 2 hours away is not ideal – we really need one in .....(home

town)” – local league representative.

- “Auskick is not something I’m close too” – local league representative.

- “The AFL Umpire Coach Professional Development Program must continue...it really is

having a great impact on the environments within groups” – local umpires association

representative.

- “We really want a joint approach from the sport...not being approached by individual clubs”

– local council representative.

- “......(TAC Program) just grabs our kids” – local League representative.

- “ No real communication with clubs – local League representative.

- “Money not an issue with umpires – local League representative.

- “We are a picnic league” – local league representative.

- “650 permits so far this year” – local junior league representative – talking in mid July

- “Regional boards were the greatest thing ever” – local league representative.

- “We are sort of following the junior match policy” – local league representative.

- “Abuse still causes people to leave” – local umpire association representative.

- “We believe there is a need for regional collaboration, leagues never get a chance to sit

down together” - local league representative – they only have a couple of seminars a year

- “Seems like a pretty duplicated structure” – local league representative.

- “AFL has always been number one, however they are now being well and truly challenged by

soccer” – City Council representative.

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