Backing local champions. - neafl
Backing local champions. - neafl
Backing local champions. - neafl
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
<strong>neafl</strong> article<br />
By John Forrester<br />
IMPORTANT<br />
SUPPORT<br />
No football club<br />
could survive without<br />
generous sponsors<br />
backing them from<br />
their boardrooms and<br />
shop fronts.<br />
Ainslie Football Club has been<br />
involved in Canberra’s Australian<br />
football competition since 1927<br />
and while there has been changes<br />
in sponsorship over the years the<br />
name that appears on the front of<br />
the club’s strip today is The Home<br />
Loan Centre.<br />
The company has been supporting<br />
the team for five years as the<br />
major sponsor, in a relationship<br />
that managing director John de la<br />
Torre says is a happy one.<br />
“The spirit of the club is enormous<br />
and we’re always about doing<br />
business with people we like,” said<br />
de la Torre.<br />
“The committee is an excellent<br />
committee… They have a view<br />
about the competition <strong>local</strong>ly, so<br />
it makes it easy to be supporting<br />
them.”<br />
Ainslie’s association with The<br />
Home Loan Centre came about<br />
because a key employee at the<br />
business used to be a player at<br />
the club, and their family is still<br />
involved now.<br />
This opened the door for the deal<br />
to go ahead, which de la Torre said<br />
was great because the club colours<br />
were coincidentally a match<br />
for The Home Loan Centre’s logo.<br />
Another prominent sponsor of the<br />
Ainslie Football Club is Hamilton<br />
Brokers Proprietary Limited.<br />
Director of the business Don<br />
Nolan has been involved<br />
with the club<br />
for 18 years, which<br />
involved a junior<br />
coaching role and<br />
having his two sons<br />
play for the side.<br />
The director’s connection<br />
to the club<br />
was a contributing<br />
factor in the<br />
company’s decision<br />
to begin the sponsorship<br />
which has now<br />
been going for three<br />
years.<br />
Nolan is optimistic about the future<br />
of Australian football in Canberra<br />
and the new and improved<br />
NEAFL, both for his company and<br />
the sport itself.<br />
“I think the NEAFL is<br />
still relatively<br />
unknown,” said Nolan.<br />
“It’ll take another<br />
year, and the slow<br />
recognition of the<br />
FOXTEL Cup will assist,<br />
to raise the profile of<br />
the competition.”<br />
These are not the only two sponsors<br />
involved with the Ainslie<br />
Football Club as the side’s books<br />
will show.<br />
There are over 33 companies listed<br />
by Ainslie on their website which<br />
includes individual, ground and<br />
teams sponsors.<br />
Both spokesmen for the companies<br />
mentioned in this article said<br />
how easy it was to deal with the<br />
north Canberra club.<br />
The club’s friendly exterior and<br />
community based outlook are the<br />
major reasons why they have been<br />
successful off the field, and that<br />
in turn has lead to their achievements<br />
on it.<br />
4
Change language