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February 27, 2007
More important than ever to keep our eye on the ball.
As our season is about to commence another code has just finished theirs and for the followers of the roundball game they have probably never had as much optimism about their games future. Soccer, although loved and dominant world wide, not so long ago the local version of the game was nothing more than a punchline to a joke. Not anymore, the game that has interest and the financial pull of nearly every serious nation on earth has gained ground and is capable of gaining more.
I suppose it was predictable in a way, we pride ourselves in our sporting performance, it allows us to show the world who we are. We as a sports loving people love to play and get recognition for our ability to slog it out with other much bigger countries. We see success on the sports field as a way we as a small country can show all that we are just as good as anyone. Beating the Pom’s at cricket has driven us to the top in that game but even in sports where there is minimal interest, our pride can drive us to strive to be the best. There was huge interest in Americas Cup when we gave it to the Yanks, we take pride in our efforts at the Winter Olympics when we are basically a summer country. Our pride was dented when we reached a low level at the 76 Olympic games and demanded a change and the Government created the Institute of sport to ensure we again performed to level we expect. Basketball, Hockey the list go’s on and on in which play above our weight.
The one real obvious missing link was “Soccer”. Yes, I call it soccer, If they call our National team the “Socceroos” then why not. The world football game has long been seen to have so much potential and an infinite amount of ways to step on the banana skin. Everytime they looked to have a new chance to get ahead of the game, a bad news story would smother the sport, ensuring that any progress would stall and that the game would fall back to being a pack runner with so many other lesser light sports. Violence, Ethnic rivalries, poor facilities and poor standard of play and players ensured it was considered mediocre and thus stayed that way. Then two things happed. Powerful players created a fresh comp called the A-League. It would have fresh teams, no more teams that referred back to cultural allegiance. Then on top of this finally the “Socceroos” qualified for probably the most important Global competiton of the all, “The World Cup”. Just like at the Olympics suddenly, people starting taking an interest in a sport that they would not give the time day before. The Yellow Cards, the Refs, the Offside, the shootouts and a plethora of other questions were being asked of friends and workmates that were more familiar with game. We followed the rise of Australia and all cheered as we pressed the best and surprised quite a few in the soccer community. So just like other sports, we got recognition and the game got credibilty in the process. What others think is unrealistic, is only fair and reasonable to Australians Sports lovers. No sooner had the WC finished that we were talking about what we have to do to win the thing and what we have to do to have the cup staged here.
On the back of the World Cup and its new credibity, the new local comp has grown . Good media stories abound, coloured pictures of supporters with Victory scarfs were even better than 1000’s of words. Its success seemed to just explode. In a cricket season that had the Ashes to demand interest and money, even the most ardent Soccerheads would have thought that they were in midst of a mass delusion to be sitting in a crowd of 50,000 at the Telstra Dome. That is just a scary number at a local soccer game. No longer is the main story about flares but rather the fireworks that some imported Brazilians can bring to the pitch. The Dome attendance numbers has now made a fantastic propossal of a new rectangle stadium of 20,000 questionable purely because it would not be big enough. The game has reached a new level and its still has got the ability to grow even more.
OK, so it’s a summer game. Nothing to be too concerned over, right? Not quite. When the Soccer starts to recruit AFL administrators, when the games starts draw the type of crowds that would entice bigger and bigger names to come back and play in the A-League, when more and more young kids get drawn to the game, it signals its time to sit up and pay attention. We in the AFL have done it for years , picking the cream of the crop, kids that can play cricket, basketball and footy, more often than not they would get swayed over to our game but will it always be that way? The advantage we have over cricket is unavailable to us against a game which has as much reach as soccer. I have no doubt, we will lose potential AFL players to soccer eventually, and therefore its more important than ever to put time and effort into our game at its base level.
We must take heed. Now is the time to keep our eye on the ball, now more than ever we must be focused on our games future. Just like Kieren Jack who doesn’t play the game his father played, who’s to say what game we will see the next Riccardi starring at. Who’s to say what shape ball a "Geelong Football Club" will be kicking around in the distant future.
Nothing is a lock. Dilegence is required by those in power or else.
Posted by Turbocat at February 27, 2007 07:17 PM
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