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THINK GLOBAL, KICK LOCAL


30th September, 2010

“The AFL has made some terrific inroads to South Africa in recent times but there is still a long way to go – through trial and error we are getting a much better understanding of what works and what doesn’t work in new markets like South Africa – we can now tailor our approach to suit each market accordingly,” said Tony Woods, AFL International Development Manager

AFL International Development Manager Tony Woods has recently returned to Australia following his first visit to South Africa with a clear vision for the International expansion of the game.

“Think global, kick local” said Woods after a week of visiting some of South Africa toughest townships where footyWILD  (Australian Football) is starting to emerge as a viable alternative to mainstream sport.
 
“Developing the game in an AFL heartland like Melbourne is a very different proposition to developing it in a rugby league stronghold such as Western Sydney – likewise, developing the game in South Africa is a much different proposition to developing the game in China or India, the Pacific or the United States for that matter, as they are all completely different cultural environments, each with it’s own set of challenges”, said Woods.
 
AFL South Africa Operations Manager Joel Kelly agrees whole-heartedly. 
 
“For example, the majority of Australia’s 700,000 participants get themselves to the footy each week either by their own car, with friends or with Mum and Dad – in South Africa however, an over-whelming majority of our footyWILD participants have to use mini-bus taxi to get to a venue to play - they rely on AFLSA to organise and cover the cost of public transport as they simply cannot afford it – if we don’t supply the means, they simply don’t get there.”
 
“It’s a unique circumstance that has no easy solution however when we overcome it, we know that it will be a tailored approach to suit this country and its unique set of challenges” said Kelly, an Australian who has been on secondment with AFLSA since 2007. 
 
“We are pleased that the AFL is committed to take a long term view in places like South Africa as this project will require generational change to be successful – it has taken over 150 years for the game to reach the dizzy heights it now enjoys in Australia, hopefully what we are doing in South Africa right now, will stand the test of time in another 150 years – we won’t be around to see that, but hopefully our great grand-children will be and that’s exciting,” said Kelly.
 
The AFL’s International boss Tony Woods is leading the way, “You have to ‘think global, but kick local’, which really means tailoring your approach to each new market and even tailoring that approach to each segment within each market. What might work in Cape Town might not necessarily work in Johannesburg and probably won’t work in Shanghai or Mumbai, Port Moresby or Los Angeles,” said Woods. 
 
“The AFL has made some terrific inroads to South Africa in recent times but there is still a long way to go – through trial and error we are getting a much better understanding of what works and what doesn’t work in new markets like South Africa – we can now tailor our approach to suit each market accordingly,” said Woods. 
 
“Overwhelmingly though we believe our game is the most spectacular game in the world and provided we give people the opportunity to see it and play it – they will come”.
 

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