[Archived] Learning From Other Codes

[dave birch]

In Australia today, we had the AFL grand final. For those that are interested, Geelong, the out and out favourites got flogged by Hawthorn.

But that's not my reason for posting this. It's what happened after and during the "presentation".

Usually you have some nobility, some pollie, some "name" to give the players their medals.

Not today.

The people that gave the players their medals were kids, no more than five or six years old.

What a way to present your game, what a way to bring your players back to their "roots"

To me, AFL is a nondescript game, it's got no "rules" despite its name, but it does have a marketing department, and do they know how to market their game. In Sydney, it's the Swans. They get out to every school, not every week, but I'll bet they are at each school at least once a month.

I realise that "our" game does something similar, but I'll bet it doesn't come close to having kids give the equivalent of FA Cup medals to the winners.

[Al]

In Australia today, we had the AFL grand final. For those that are interested, Geelong, the out and out favourites got flogged by Hawthorn.

But that's not my reason for posting this. It's what happened after and during the "presentation".

Usually you have some nobility, some pollie, some "name" to give the players their medals.

Not today.

The people that gave the players their medals were kids, no more than five or six years old.

What a way to present your game, what a way to bring your players back to their "roots"

To me, AFL is a nondescript game, it's got no "rules" despite its name, but it does have a marketing department, and do they know how to market their game. In Sydney, it's the Swans. They get out to every school, not every week, but I'll bet they are at each school at least once a month.

I realise that "our" game does something similar, but I'll bet it doesn't come close to having kids give the equivalent of FA Cup medals to the winners.

Dave,

Before I retired I used to work for a company who sent ex professional footballers to schools armed with electronic equipment that timed the speed at which a football had been kicked. The kids are sponsored and half the sponsorship money goes to the school. Of course there are prizes like footballs given away too. I think this does a lot to promote the game and also provides employment for some ex pros.

I'm not going to advertise the company name on here but if any schools are interested I'll give you the contacts if you PM me. (This is country wide.)