20 Jumpers in 20 days: #19

North Coffs Junior Football Club is the second winner of a signed Sydney Swans jumper, on account of a big spike in participation numbers this year.

North Coffs saw a junior participant increase of 20% in 2014, the highest growth of the Northern NSW region.

After pulling its Under 15 side last year due to a lack of numbers, the club not only re-entered a team in that division this year, it grew the Under 15s roster to close to 30 boys. 

Combined with a significant increase in Auskick numbers, North Coffs solidified its standing as one of the premier family-orientated junior sporting clubs in the area, a pleasing fact for AFL NSW/ACT Northern NSW Manager Rob McKelvie.

“It’s great to see the junior club improving significantly; it’s definitely been on an upward curve over the last few years,” McKelvie said.

“To see the Under 15 side come back in such strong numbers is a great credit to the effort the club has put in, and I have no doubt it will continue to prosper, with a really good community football man in Pat O’Connell as President.”

O’Connell has been involved with the club since his son began playing there in 2009, coaching for several years before taking over the reins at the beginning of last year.

After a year at the helm to get his bearings, O’Connell and his committee wanted to hit the ground running in 2014.

The club set up a multi-faceted marketing and recruitment “plan of attack,” including editorials in the local paper, local TV and radio slots, hosting market stalls, encouraging existing players to bring their friends to the club, and distributing junior football collateral.

But there are some tried and tested methods of recruitment that never fail to snag new participants.

“We certainly ran a very big sausage sizzle at our local ground, for a big come and try day we directed children to early in the year, which definitely got some numbers on board for this year,” O’Connell said.

“As soon as school started back we were ready, and we went into schools and conducted clinics, and we also tried to get to as many gala days and clinics run by AFL NSW/ACT as possible.” 

The end result yielded not only an increase in raw numbers, but a surge in kids playing football who hadn’t experienced the game before; with the majority of the club’s new blood coming from other sporting, and sometimes other ethnic, backgrounds.

The Sudanese population in Coffs Harbour has grown significantly in the last decade, and the football club tapped into an organisation that helps Sudanese youngsters settle in Australia, bringing a handful to the club this year.

The natural athleticism and eagerness of the children has not gone unnoticed around the club, and Norths Coffs hopes to drastically increase its Sudanese contingent in the coming years, with O’Connell a “strong believer” in the positive influence of team sport on multicultural teens.