Darwin Buffaloes President Jak Ah Kit and Administration Officer Debbie Wheelan sorting business out of the AFLNT Offices at TIO Stadium.
Four of the eight NTFL clubs have recently employed full time club administrators in a response to the modern day sporting climate necessating clubs to become more professional in their day to day operations.
The Darwin Buffaloes, Tiwi Bombers, St Marys and Southern Districts are the four clubs to date who have retained the services of full time administrators to handle the day to day operations of their club.
"These clubs have been extremely proactive in seizing the initiative and as football administration in the 21st century requires a high level of organisation and expertise we are pleased to be facilitating the move towards full time administrators for the clubs" said AFL Northern Territory CEO Tony Frawley.
"Hiring a full time administrator lessens the burden on the clubs already stretched corps of dedicated volunteers "said Frawley.
AFLNT is encouraging all the NTFL clubs to bring their back room operations to the next level by offering significant financial incentives and the NTFL clubs in some instances match this contribution to enable a full time role to be created.
"Upon signing their yearly AFLNT license agreements each club receives funds from AFLNT for administration costs, however if clubs are willing contribute their own funds then we will recognise their investment and match it," explained Frawley, "we see the need for these clubs to come up to speed and move forward especially considering the workload that is required for clubs to field up to nine football teams a week, source sponsorship and the general day to day running of the club."
AFLNT also provides much needed office accommodation for the Darwin Buffaloes and Tiwi Bombers who now base their operations out of the offices at TIO Stadium.
"This allows us to provide the clubs with any one on one support they require and it also gives us a good indication of how the clubs are running thus enabling us to provide assistance as required," said AFLNT’s Football Operations Manager Marc Turri.
The Darwin Buffaloes are one of the tenant clubs based at TIO Stadium. President Jak Ah Kit has seen first hand the benefits of having a full time administrator on board and working in close proximity to the support of AFLNT Staff.
"The Darwin Buffaloes have made a conscious decision to be come more professional in our day to day operations. We have been delighted with the opportunity to have our administration accommodated at TIO Stadium at the centre of AFLNT operations," said Ah Kit.
"It assists us tremendously to be able to tap into the expertise of AFLNT staff which enables us to conduct our operations in a professional manner. We want to continue to move forward in improving our off field operations which is reflecting in our on field performance, which we hope will return the Buffaloes to a force in the NTFL once again," explained Ah Kit.
"Sustainability of our NTFL clubs is our highest priority and these incentives will ultimately strengthen the clubs, the NTFL and NT Footy in general," said Frawley.