Season Launch Shows Growth

The 2008 Community Football season got underway on Monday night with a season launch held at the Astor Theatre in Mt Lawley.

Sport and Recreation Minister John Kobelke officially opened the season after highlighting the significant growth in participation over the past year.

“It’s fantastic to see the growth in numbers this season,” he said.

Mr Kobelke said community football provided a means for people to play the game in a non-professional capacity.

He said and the 150th year of Australian football highlighted the game’s importance to our national identity.

“150 years is a milestone and it shows the contribution of football to the Australian way of life and culture,” Mr Kobelke said.

Community Football Council’s newly appointed chairman and former West Coast Eagles director Brian Sierakowski said while this year was a celebration of the long history of football, it was also a great opportunity to refresh the structure of community football in the state.

“The council will be strong minded in its decision making process, thinking outside the box to create a better structure to facilitate the growth of community football in Western Australia and nation-wide,” Mr Sierakowski said.

“It is time to reconsider the structure of the past 25 years and implement an improved one to rejuvenate community football.”

Geoff Glass from the Western Australia Football Commission said the season was shaping up to be exceptional.

“The council has excellent administrators this year in Brendan [Cullinan] as chief executive officer and Brian [Sierakowski], who is a respected member of the football community.”