AFL legend Michael Long and AFLNT Board Member and St Mary’s champion Ted Liddy take to the road Wednesday for an important series of stakeholder meetings and community consultations in the football heartlands of Katherine, Tennant Creek and Alice Springs.
Long and Liddy will be accompanied by AFLNT CEO Tony Frawley and members of the AFLNT executive. The entourage will meet with members of the Katherine football community on Wednesday evening to discuss AFL football in the region and will be in Tennant Creek on Thursday for a community consultation with the entire community invited to provide input into the future of football in Tennant and the surrounding communities.
AFLNT CEO Tony Frawley is aware of the need to listen to the community, "AFL football is the Territories sport and we know how important it is to get out and meet the people in the community who love the game and whose input and feedback is so important to us. We need people to tell us how football is going and what we can do to improve it. AFLNT’s main aim is to ensure that all Territorians have access tostructured football program and our community consultation trip will allow us to evaluate how well we are tracking. As an organization we know we can improve so we wont shy away from any feedback we receive"
AFL legend Michael Long will use the opportunity to update stakeholders in Katherine, Tennant and Alice on the Michael Long Learning and Leadership Centre.
"The centre will benefit all Territorians and as construction is about to start I wanted to take to the road and tell as many people as possible how the Learning and Leadership Centre will benefit kids in their region but also to hear their ideas on how they would like to see the Centre work," said Long.
Tony Frawley and members of his executive team will also meet with representatives of the Central Australian Redtails in Alice Springs on Fridayto discuss the clubs progress to date and future plans.
AFLNT CEO Tony Frawley has been impressed with the club’s progress but wants all involved to be aware that there is plenty ofwork ahead for the club if it wishes to gain full time entry into the TIO NTFL in season 2014/15.
"The Tails have done an excellent job travelling to Darwin each weekend and fielding a reasonably competitive team. We are meeting with the club reps to discuss the clubs long term plans and to outline the set of minimum entry requirements AFLNT has devised. The Redtails bring a lot to the town of Alice and to the competition itself but long term viability is critical so we will work with the club to map out a realistic and achievable framework for full inclusion into the TIO NTFL"
"AFLNT is entering another critical growth phase so we felt now is the time to once again to hit the road and listen to the people who make footy the Territory’s sport."
COMMUNITY CONSULTATIONS
Interested members of the public who wish to provide input into or feedback relating to AFLNT football programs in their region and who wish to receive an update from Michael Long are invited to the following community consultations:
Katherine
- Knotts Crossing Resort Function Room -Wednesday 6th, 6:30pm until 8:30pm.
Tennant Creek
– Nyinkka Nyunyu Art and Culture Centre -Thursday 7th, 7pm until 8pm
Alice Springs
– Monas Lounge ,TIO Traeger Park - Friday 8th, 6pm until 7pm.