Kanga Cup 2011 - A Study In The Development / Progress of Football

This program was broadcast on 2xxfm (98.3mhz) across the Australian Community Radio Network on Tuesday, 13 September 2011 at 7:00PM.

In this program we have a very informative discussion with Adam Castle, the Capital Football Event organiser, concerning the 2011 Kanga Cup. Adam is a first rate organiser and this is one monster of a football tournament. We range across a lot of issues around the Kanga Cup which you should find  well worth a listen. 

The Kanga Cup has tremendously strong links with the development and enjoyment of Football among our junior / youth players in the ACT region. Its a prize possession! But will it stay that way going forward?

The Kanga Cup needs to step up a notch in the future and that is Adam’s objective, but there are some real big issues to resolve in order for that to happen. We cover them in this interview. But grow it must. If it does not, its most likely that the Kanga Cup will make a slow decline in a regional football tournament, attracting little more than ACT, near NSW regional teams. That must not happen. 

With appropriate investment the Kanga Cup can grow into a large international Football event, bringing with it a tourism bonanza and a very significant injection of new money into the ACT economy each year and in a very short period of time.

The costs associated with running the Kanga Cup are increasing and the financial return to the ACT Football community is slim. This equation has to change.

The Kanga Cup already generates approximately $2.5 million in new expenditure for the ACT economy every year, but the ACT Government's financial involvement is minimal. Someone, please remind me just how much AFL generates in the ACT at a community level.

We need to start thinking Dana and Gothia Cup! To do that, there is an urgent requirement for investment in playing facilities - you cannot promote the Kanga Cup as a top flight Football tournament and play teams on the rubbish surfaces we inflict on our players (all ages) every weekend in season. It just does not sell! There are other issues which Castle covers int his interview.

We always keep coming back to the inadequacy of the playing surfaces around the ACT in support of Football.  It gets in the way of everything in Football until it is fixed. A modest investment over time by the ACT Government, in recognition of the significant dollars introduced into the economy by the Kanga Cup would do things - it would enable the Kanga  Cup to become more attractive to Clubs / teams around Australia and overseas, generate very significant tourism dollars to the ACT and it would make a massive contribution to the development of the game in the ACT region. And all for a damn sight less than the $26m over tens years to an AFL team in Sydney.

If the ACT Government can't be shifted quickly or more substantially on the subject of a "Football Hub" in the ACT region (and two more at Melrose is nice but near enough), using the obvious and substantial argument that the game is growing apace and grounds are in decay and fewer in number, then perhaps we need to take a more strategic business approach. 

The Kanga Cup should be a serious component and is already a major value add tot he Tourism economy in the ACT. Perhaps the CEO CF can talk to the CEO FFA and have the Age National Junior Championships relocated to the ACT (and how did the FFA manage to dud us of that one and is the NTC Challenge next). It would bring more new money and a good way to give the ACT Football community a tangible lasting contribution to assist in building the game in the ACT. And so on...

And why don't we find a way to use the AIS grass pitches - all of them - there a five in total - for the Kanga Cup? The AIS Football program is struggling to maintain funding and relevance in the Football development hierarchy and this would be a way of connecting with the ACT and wider Football community each year. The use of the pitch inside the running track at the AIS was inspired and so good! Parents and kids loved it and the football was fantastic.

Surely the end game must be to have a first rate, international standard Football hub that will support the development of the game in the ACT, enable the ACT to conduct a highly profitable international junior / youth football tournament(s) each year, become the focal point for the FFA's talented player competitions (NJC / NTC). In doing so, create a new business model at Captial Football that has real prospect of generating significant income, that is not based on the income generated from ACT "Football Family" alone.

But keep this in mind - without the changes we need in support of the development of the game here in the ACT - we will not grow the Kanga Cup. And the Kanga Cup is worth growing and developing.

This is a job for the Capital Football Board. I seem to recall one of those new Board members, elected at the last AGM, advocating his suitability in substantial part on  his ability to acquire funds from Government. Well crack on mate - not a minute to loose!

The thing I like about interviews with Adam Castle, is that you get just the right mixture of promotion and candor in the discussion. You will enjoy this one.

So polish your football boots for next season, stick them in the cupboard for next season and ready yourself for a grand final weekend. When too much football is never enough, this may come close. In the meantime, enjoy this fascinating insight into the Kanga Cup 2011. Start planning at your Club for participation in Kanga Cup 2012.

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