EDITORIAL: SHOW ME THE MONEY

One of the pleasures in my life is to sit down with my bacon and eggs on a Sunday morning and devour the previous day’s sports results and commentaries in the newspapers. I read just about every word in the Age and then recheck in the Herald Sun just to make sure it’s right.
Well, last Sunday I nearly choked on my Weeties when I read Brent Diamond’s piece headed “Frankston may fold as funds dry up”.
“The Dolphins, who receive $140,000 annually from AFL Victoria, are not guaranteed the same amount next season and say they can’t foresee their future beyond this season,” was the claim. You could have knocked me down with a feather!
That’s $140,000 for fifty players – none of whom are likely to be drafted.
What would $140,000 do for your club’s budget? Remember, we are not talking about elite players, but for the most part, second tier players who are arguably not any better than those running around at your club.
Last year the VAFA received $20,000 from AFL Victoria, of which $7,500 is returned for Football Development, and $38,000 from the AFL for draft compensation. A total of $50,500 for the season – that’s not per club, remember, but for the entire Association and its (then) 73 clubs.
Thank goodness we just paid off our final instalment of $1250 off a loan to AFL Victoria for legal fees for the HIV case from ten years ago.
Dolphins President John Barry went on to say “That’s the thing that we’re worried about. The less revenue the AFL gives to AFL Victoria will flow on to us. We’ll be shutting up shop here.”
Aren’t football clubs supposed to be self sufficient?
During the off season, the AFL requested that the Board of AFL Victoria resign in favour of a commission appointed by the AFL. This was deemed unacceptable by the AFL Victoria Board and a compromise was reached whereby four directors would be nominated by each body, with the proviso that the AFL had right of veto.
As you could imagine, there was no unanimity over this. The motion was defeated at a vote of the members last month. At the conclusion of the meeting, four board members failed to re-apply and AFL Victoria is now administered by just four, with Peter Schwab remaining as the CEO.
At the moment it’s all a bit of a mess, but one can understand why the AFL wants to know where its money is going.
Anyway, at least I had the pleasure of going to watch some great VAFA action last weekend.
The arrival of VAFA football seemed to take longer this year due to Easter falling the way it did and the difficulties that the drought has had on everyone’s pre-season. A record 120 VAFA matches were played on the weekend, including the new Under 18 competition which has commenced with 8 teams. This number may seem small to the regular VAFA observers who get bombarded with huge numbers about our size, but in 1892 we started with 6 teams and look where we are now.
We welcome to the competition the Northern Bullants FC who are born out of a junior club and are aligned with the senior VFL team. The club has managed a very successful junior club and with their success in the Under 17’s had a group of players who wished to continue together. We are confident that we can provide a competitive environment for these players and hopefully they can progress into their own senior club in the future. For the record, they had a 40 point victory over Old Camberwell.
There were many important events scattered throughout the competition. We kicked off with a Friday night D4 match between Albert Park and Richmond Centrals. Sportscover Arena is a great place to host games, particularly on a Friday night, so the ground is available for clubs to utilise early in the season.
Premiership clubs can’t wait for the day they can unfurl their pennant from the previous season. This usually provides motivation for a lunch and an opportunity for clubs to promote their new sponsors to the members. Hoisting the flag is a special occasion and one that instils a huge amount of pride in people, many of whom have worked for years to bring some silverware to their club.
Between the reserves and senior matches, we will be having one minute’s silence to remember those people who gave their lives for us in all wars. Anzac Day is a great Australian celebration and we pay homage to our heroes by celebrating the great Australian game.