Sponsorship to Solve Amateur Recruitment Woes

The Aquinas Old Collegians Football Club looks to reclaim its glory days with a new approach to player recruitment and retention.

At the turn of the decade, the Aquinas Old Collegians Football Club was absolutely thriving.

On the field, both the Senior and Reserve men’s sides were regularly seen playing deep into the postseason and each competing for premiership success.

Likewise, the upstart women’s program had quickly managed to not only establish itself, but rapidly begun to evolve into a keystone pillar of the club.

To top it off, the U19 boys side was overflowing with young talent, many hailing from Aquinas College itself, ready to feed through and supplement the senior and reserve sides in the years to come.\

However, fast forward to the present day, and the club has unfortunately found itself in a vastly different position in comparison to where if was just five years ago.

Both of the men’s sides are no longer playing in finals and competing for premierships, but rather fighting desperately to avoid relegation.  

The women’s side has suffered a similar falloff in on-field performance, while the Under 19s side has disappeared altogether, having been forced to fold two years ago. 

The cause of the club’s recent struggles is twofold: Aquinas has seen a steady decline in its total player base over the last several years with many senior members departing, particularly in the wake of COVID affected seasons; and the club lacks a fully fledged junior program, causing a heaving reliance on the recruitment and retention of senior players.

There is however a silver lining to this dilemma, as it has prompted much needed change, with those working behind the scenes taking action to course correct in an effort to return the club to its former glory.

“People come to our club because of the people and the culture and the community that has been created,” explains Aquinas Secretary and veteran women’s player Taylor Leslie.

“But we noticed that there was a gap in the market between us and the other clubs that we are competing against.”

Indeed, there is a stark contrast to what the Aquinas Old Collegians Football Club can offer potential recruits and its existing players compared to neighbouring clubs.

As members of the Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA), Aquinas are not permitted to use match payments or player contracts as a recruiting tool to entice playing talent to join the club. 

This has historically made attracting quality players difficult, especially given the close proximity of the Eastern Football Netball League (EFNL), whose clubs are afforded a fairly considerable salary cap. 

For 2024, Premier EFL sides were granted a maximum cap of $215,000, with lower divisions also capped out in the six figure range. 

In order to bridge this gap, Aquinas has recently announced the launch of a player sponsorship program, which has a simple but ambitious goal: to cover all the basic costs for the club’s footballer players.

The initiative will look to source funds from both new and existing club sponsors from within the local community to pay the subsidies for the entire male and female playing groups for season 2025.

“The main focus of the sponsorship program is to offer new players and current players no cost to play for Aquinas and minimal cost to purchase all the required club apparel” explained Senior Men’s Coach Craig Glennie.

“At the end of the day, having something extra to offer can only help.”

Even with the new program set to come into play for the 2025 season, Glennie concedes that the main incentive for attracting men’s players to Aquinas will likely continue to be its community. 

“Our biggest drawcard we have to offer any player is a strong club culture - we make sure everyone feels welcome when they walk through the gates.”

Even with the aforementioned club culture, player retention will likely always be a challenge for amateur clubs such as Aquinas, particularly given the financial allure of the EFL.

However, Glennie believes that if the current playing group is able to remain together and build towards a higher and more competitive standard of football, that issue may just resolve itself.

“The frustration for me is the players that leave, they often go to try and play a higher level. They get offered contracts with monetary incentives, but most end up running around in the 2s for nothing.”

“If they were to stay at Aquinas, we could get stronger and play at a level that is equivalent to the standard they are chasing.”

The impact of the sponsorship program may be felt most in the women’s program, as many of the prospective female recruits are not just new to Aquinas.

“Quite often they’re entirely new to the game, and they’re not sure about whether they’re going to like playing footy,” explained Club President Ian Shaw

“By offering this opportunity through player sponsorship, the hope is we can find more women willing to give it a go, and to stay with us long term.”

Prospective U19 boys coach Josh Quinlan is hopeful the sponsorship program could also provide the extra recruitment incentive Aquinas needs to get the clubs junior side up and running once again.

“The biggest challenge is trying to pull juniors out of a EFNL club where they’ve played 100 odd games,” Quinlan said.

“The ability to offer them a chance to play essentially for free, with their mates, that is something we hope will get the program going again.”

“With more sponsorship the club is able to continue to do more and give back to both our players and our members, which will lead to greater success both on and off the field,” said Leslie.

“Ultimately, the goal is to ensure the longevity of the football club moving forward.”