Shinty is a Scottish sport, of course it's going to make the BBC get inspired list. It's very popular in the Scottish Highlands and there is a lot of interest from the Scottish Gaelic speaking communities in the North.

Got no excuse for yankball though.

Can't comment on AFL specifically but this seems to be more of an indictment of Australian society in general. I've heard a few racist comments at A-League games too.

I agree. Apart from the comment about Tofu (which I agree with him on) there wasn't really any negativity in the points he made, including the statements that football is more popular among girls and immigrants. This isn't a "sheilas, wogs and poofters" article, but a "crap, football is really good at targeting a demographic that we suck at - so what is a major strength of AFL in comparison that we can leverage?". In fact, the 'pale and male' comment in this article is more an admission of failure rather than a claim to superiority. This is clearly evident in how later talks about how the AFL cannot concede the battleground of girls' participation.

Too many of us are too quick to play the martyr and so read every paranoid conspiracy into articles that talk about football. If anything, we should be listening in depth to what this article is suggesting and take seriously that exorbitant junior fees are being identified as a real weakness for football in Australia (and I sincerely hope the FFA Whole of Football Plan addresses it).

I guess you could say that the main point of difference between reporting on these incidents is that it's reported as "an isolated incident" or by "individuals". Where as with soccer, it's the sport that's at fault because it's boring and full of wogs, not the fault of individual offenders.

It's interesting to note that despite all the money the ALF has spent on international development, the Beeb feels that the code does not have the credibility to be included in this list http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/get-inspired/25416779

However Shinty and American Football do.

Also bachar houli cops it from richmond supporters and rival fans as well. Hell he copped grief at the bombersm and dont start on the shit he copped at bendigo. he is a good kid and is very humble

When Daw came up against Natiunui a few years back, they hyped it up, so it lloked like a 'battle of the freaks' thing. Was just weird,

It's funny how blatantly backwards and racist AFL is.

The token players who are not white or aboriginal, are flying the multicultural flag of the AFL, receive racial abuse on a regular occurrence from high profile figures in the AFL, commentators and fans.

I think you meant


ALF players riding around on bicycles in pairs? I'd like to see that.

But seriously having kids and paying for their activities is an expensive business. Scouts, for example, is about the same price as quoted for football and then you have triennial national and overseas jamborees on top of that. A neighbours' daughter was tagged as at least a state squad gymnast but the costs were too high for them so she missed out.

The cost of kids playing football is too high.
Football zones rely on the monies from parents and wont go out and get sponsors.

At the rising sun pub last night a couple of union boys(or could of been League "teachers team") walked in with their kit on and on the back was at least 12 sponsors names.

our clubs are lucky to get one and there is not many sponsors boards up on the clubs either .

I have no idea what your on about because A-league teams dont have youth teams. Why would a parent take their kid to an NPL club if an A-league club offers the same kind of coaching. The reason is they dont, but they should.

Edited by RBBAnonymous: 3/5/2015 11:44:18 AM

Why did these clubs want to stop A-league clubs from joining the top level in each state if its such a burden, they wanted them to have the level below and why are they so afraid of A-league clubs coming in. Its because its a gravy train, and they get exclusive rights to the top youth levels, not by doing any youth development, not by ever investing money into youth facilties, not by paying good money for youth coaches, not by the performances of their youth teams.
They get that by their senior team performance.
The way they get exclusive access to the top level youth competitions is through paying their senior team and coaching staff.
These clubs do get compensation for developing players, a lot more than clubs in Scotland and Ireland do.
The A-league clubs were made for the top level of the competition to earn money for the sport, they have done the job the NSL has never did. The way it has been doing that is by ripping off the owners up until recently.
The A-league has the national youth league which is an expensive and unecessary exercise in my opinion.
Any grassroots club could do a better and more efficient than these NPL clubs or an A-league team because they don;t pay their seniors and seniors coach. SO the solution is let every club compete for access to elite youth competitions, and stop it being linked to the performance of the senior team.

If we can all stop screeching for a moment, and read the article (without just searching for the bits that outrage us), well see that most of what this guy says is true:

- football is the perfect sport to play in a park (arguably the easiest sport to play socially)
- junior participation is sky high and demand is dwarfing supply
- football is especially attractive for girls (as opposed to AFL or rugby)
- all that said, the costs for juniors are far too high
- the whole structure of revenue for football is bottom-up, for AFL it's top-down
- converting juniors to ALeague fans is arguably our biggest challenge.

Personally, I agree with every one of those points.

Edited by footballer: 3/5/2015 10:31:53 AM

MEDIA BIAS!!!!!!!!

Hard to get past the Tofu territory jibe lol.

-PB

As this site said "sorry, which was the one that was full of ethic hatred?"

Funny you should say this because the head of gws said they were combating terrorism by getting Muslims to play afl.

It's better if the migrants play AFL, that way they can integrate into the Australian community. Otherwise there is a high probability they will become terrorists.

The article hits on the biggest issue for football the cost of playing the game, no matter how it is written, in particular NPL level. Has been for a long time and will continue to be. The AFL put a lot more back into grassroots funding the costs at this level. Their players do a lot more at school level with Auskick, even my son has been involved and he does not even follow AFL that much.

I know plenty of parents who want their kids to play football but move to AFL because of the cost and they understand that their child may not make the elite teams in football, so cannot justify the cost of playing the game. These are the players being lost to the game.

This is where the AFL wins the future fans, by investing in them at a young age.

Just spat my cornflakes! =d> You are right though, I have enough trouble coping with the fact he gets my ticket money.

It is the variability of club pricing that makes me wonder about these things. The article talks about a flat rate for AFL? One of my boys plays for a local CCF club and that cost about 220 dollars. I have another boy playing up in Newcastle paying a bit over 600 for NPL. Central Coast NPL juniors team cost roughly 1600.
I am guessing the majority of the price difference goes to paying coaches?

Its easy to make that conclusion isnt it , to blame NPL clubs for charging high fees. Let me offer you an alternative view.

NPL clubs dont receive a tv grant from the FFA, they get little sponsorship, they get low crowds, they arent getting transfer fees for developing players. They would get little assistance from the FFA. They still have to pay for their licenced youth coaches and fund their youth teams from at least u12 up to seniors. Something which the A-league teams are not doing. Why? Because its expensive.

Meanwhile A-league clubs dont have academies, they pinch these players who dream of playing in the A-league for next to nothing. The A-league clubs pay nothing for this development. How are NPL clubs supposed to survive if the FFA is denying them a legitimate revenue stream to help in their operations.

Also, its not like parents can take their kids out of the NPL clubs and go to a cheaper option like an A-league club, because they dont fund youth teams, and if they did it would be a similar price point. Its tragic. What is more tragic is blaming NPL clubs for something all A-league clubs should doing, but they dont, because its expensive. They will happily allow NPL clubs to shoulder the load and then suck them dry when the player finishes his youth league career.

Lastly NPL clubs wouldnt be charging high fees unless it was necessary. It is expensive to fund youth teams and if you get no money from a tv deal, small sponsorship, low crowds then I am scratching my head wondering how else you are supposed to pay your senior team. Its not right I know, but while you are happily taking aim at struggling NPL clubs who would be stretched in their budgets as it is. I am taking aim at A-league clubs for not shouldering more of the burden and offering parents a cheaper alternative. I know you mean well but your criticisms I feel at directed at the wrong tier. The A-league teams need to do more.

Unfortunately, not all people want to play "AFL".

The agenda of the author is very clear, and the grammar and idiomatic language have been sent back for rewriting by a year 9 English teacher, but his point is 100% valid.

It is entirely unconscionable that money paid into Australian Football by parents of kids from poor Melbourne suburbs ultimately gets distributed to Matt Simon. Solving this cost crisis for juniors should be the number #1 priority for FFA, no matter how many "plastic" friendlies and finals need to be held to pay for it.

Imagine all the talent Australian football has lost from mothers quite reasonably putting rent and groceries higher up the priority list than quadruple digit fees.

Are we the game of Australia's 21st century people, or not?

a mind numbing article, avoid it like the plague

Believes climate change is a hoax by scientists

Believes unions are to blame for the Liberals having no idea about the economy

Belives that marriage should only be for heterosexual couples

More worried that Fairfax is more biased than Rupert Murdoch

Is this a new low for lukerobinho?

Is lukerobinho in trouble?

yep I couldn't go past the first paragraph without thinking my head hurts

So its cheaper to play football than AFL in Melbourne then, this bloke seems to have found a top levelclub. AFL must subsidise Sydney to the hilt, the funny thing is that one Muslim family they have that plays the game they mention somewhere else the father is actually employed by the AFL. I think the AFL is run like a cult, the exisiting members are like those Hillsong people that donate up to 30% of their salaries, The execs are like the rIch pastors who are the ones getting the big money out of everything, because the players are not payed that much and the execs are there longer. Melbourne is the Salt Lake City and Demetriou is the L ROn Hubbard.
The article is right about one thing the clubs that are the biggest problem is are not the grassroots, not the A-league but the state league clubs. They arfe the ones where the seniors are paid off the proceeds from the juniors.

Were the standards ever that high tho