The Australian Football League "is 'up for the battle' with soccer and views football as the 'sport of choice' for all Australians" after announcing record participation levels in '15, according to Ronny Lerner of THE AGE.
With 1,247,575 people "participating either in AFL programs or football competitions this year around the country" (an 8% increase on '14), AFL Game & Market Development Manager Simon Lethlean said the league "was well positioned." Lethlean:
"The challenge for us is to be the sport of choice for girls and for boys, and we think we certainly are for the majority of Australians." The AFL's popular children's program Auskick enjoyed 2.5% growth, and Lethlean said that the league's record new broadcast deal, which is worth A$2.5B, put the organization "in an even stronger position to invest in grassroots."
But he said the league "was not resting on its laurels, and with the competition boasting an all-time high of 18 clubs, there was an ever-growing need to boost participation to prevent a dilution of talent at the elite level." He said,
"Those figures are never enough, all we can do is try and have record increases year on year." Female football participation jumped by a record 46% to 284,501 in '15, and this demonstrated to Lethlean "the need to establish a national women's competition." Lethlean: "We're just working on our female football programs now, with girls' academies in every state, looking for a national competition in 2017" (THE AGE, 10/13).
