Relationships are critical for our League to function and to deliver a product that makes the GOTAFE GVFL one of the premier Leagues in Victoria. With recent changes to the way the League is administered it is useful to reflect on some of the critical ones.
The Board of the League is responsible for the overall direction of the League and in order to do our job we need to:
- Acknowledge that Board members come from different backgrounds with different skills and experiences to offer, united by a common desire to see the League successful. The current Board has shown a willingness to openly discuss issues and get on board when we have made a decision.
- Work with the administration, with AFL Goulburn Murray taking on the administration role at the beginning of this season. We are fortunate to have an energetic group in the office who provide excellent service to the Board and the Clubs.
- Maintain relationships with our clubs, without whom we would not have a League. We do this in a couple of ways. As Board members we try to spread ourselves around to games every week and attend Club functions when we can. For example today United have a sponsors function and next week I will be at function that Seymour have kindly invited me too (and my wife wants me to get a photo with Dane Swan) and Tatura also have their Hall Of Fame that night.
- We have a meeting with delegates of all clubs 4 times a year where we discuss common issues and will have a couple of one off sessions, the first being a very successful discussion on next years’ draw held not long ago and we will be having another in relation to the points/salary cap system. From my experience the clubs are well served by a group of Presidents who are passionate, professional and willing to share their thoughts with us.
- Work with the umpires to understand their needs and provide feedback. Representatives of the umpires will attend the next Delegates meeting for a chat about how things are going, so we can continue to provide a great product for everybody.
- Have an open relationship with the media who help us to get messages out and promote our product – whether it be via the Shepparton News , YouTube show , One FM and other local stations, they are all critical to our success.
- The Netball League - we are working more closely with the netballers, for example, reps from their League participated in our discussion on next year’s draw, and we are discussing the possibility of the league being administered by AFL GM as the GOTAFE GVFL is, and in time are looking at the two Leagues coming together – to provide better service to our Clubs.
All of these relationships are important in producing what supporters of our twelve clubs see every week and with so many groups involved this can be challenging at times but I have seen great results from an open approach, motivated by a common desire for us to continually improve.
Last Modified on 27/09/2016 17:48