2011 VCFL Annual Report - Victorian Country Football League

• GrainCorp’s support of Junior Carnivals,
the Junior Initiative Grant and Vic 2
Representative Team;
• New sponsor, Defence Force
Recruitment’s support of the Most
Disciplined Club Award;
• Landmark’s continued support of the
Training and Education Department,
with a particular focus on the topic of
cybersafety;
• The SKINS Footy Tipping Competition
which had a record number of entrants;
• VicHealth’s research into alcohol
consumption at community football;
• The Barooga Sports Club of the Year
Award being presented to the South
Warrnambool Football Club;
• FIT Health Insurance’s creation of
a product targeted at young active
sportspeople; and
• The continued support from Best
Western, a long time supporter of the
WorkSafe VCFL.
COMMUNICATIONS
Print Media and Television
Country Victorian football continues to be
the envy of all other community sports in the
nation due to our efforts in building a high
profi le, insatiable media interest and public
support throughout hundreds of communities
in Victoria and the border country.
No other sport dominates the back pages and
the airwaves like country football and netball.
No matter where you live throughout the VCFL
you are able to read, watch, listen and follow
your favourite teams and personalities through
a wide range of media.
It is testament to the hard work of Leagues,
Clubs and the VCFL that we have two weekly
mainstream football shows broadcast on
free-to-air television, a growing number of
high quality stand alone websites dedicated to
country football, the iconic eight page weekly
liftout in The Weekly Times, along with weekly
features in state-based metro media and
throughout the ABC and ACE radio networks.
Online
The WorkSafe VCFL website continues to be a
source of valuable information for league and
club administrators and also those that take
a passing interest in our sport. The WorkSafe
VCFL website chalked up more than 750,000
hits over the course of the 2011 season, with
extremely high traffi c during the WorkSafe
Country Championships and the VCFL vs VAFA
representative matches.
Social Media
We dipped our toe into the social media
landscape by launching our VCFL Facebook
page towards the end of the 2011 season with
the highly amusing “Country Footy Legends”
campaign featuring the characters of the
Trentham Football Club and the talents of
Suitcase Murphy.
Live Streaming
Another successful, new innovation in 2011
was the production of six live broadcasts via
the web of WorkSafe Country Championship
Matches and the WorkSafe VCFL State
Representative Matches. With the support of
Rivus TV, the live web broadcasts, including
commentary and vision, were streamed in real
time to parents, friends and footy followers
who were not able to make it to the matches
in person.
COMMERCIAL
Licensees
The WorkSafe VCFL enjoyed great support
from our licensees in 2011 who supplied
jumpers, shorts and footballs to our affi liates.
We are most thankful for the support of these
organisations that allow the WorkSafe VCFL
to grow and develop a number of affi liate
support programs across rural and regional
Victoria. Thanks to all our licensees, namely
Cougar Sportswear, Sherwood Football,
Russell Athletic/Sherrin, Burley Sekem, Lyon
Sportswear and RPH for their efforts in 2011.
FootyMart
This was the sixth year of operation of
FootyMart and we are delighted to report that
a record number of affi liates took advantage
of our cost effective services which included
the addition of a range of football boots to its
product list in 2011. The growth of FootyMart
has been consistent for a number of years and
we believe that the continuing improvements
in the quality of our service and range of
products will ensure our affi liates will utilise
FootyMart when a local sporting supplier is not
an option.
FootyMart took another positive step in its
evolution through the creation of FootyMart
Ballarat. This expansion was a major
undertaking by FootyMart and it proved to be
a great success due to the hard work by staff
within the WorkSafe VCFL and those in the
Ballarat Football League offi ce.
EVENTS
The VCFL prides itself on a suite of excellent
events designed to celebrate country football
at its best and to recognise those that work
hard to make a difference.
This year the VCFL successfully staged the
2011 Season Launch, V/Line Cup Carnival
Luncheons, WorkSafe Games of the Month,
VCFL State Match Luncheon and Presentation
Ceremonies, VCFL Premiers Dinner, VCFL
Corporate Golf Day, and VCFL Media Awards.
CONCLUSION
The WorkSafe VCFL is very proud of our key
partners and sponsors who support us in our
work throughout country Victoria.
In closing, I would like to acknowledge Jock
Allan, Will McGregor and Pierre Demajo
who have produced fantastic results for the
marketing and commercial department of
the WorkSafe VCFL this year and continue to
represent the WorkSafe VCFL in a professional,
vibrant and committed manner on every
occasion.
Ryan Webb
Marketing & Commercial Department Manager
WORKSAFE VICTORIAN COUNTRY LEAGUE - Annual Report 2011
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