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We need W-league

KD.

By KD.,
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KD.

KD.

Posted
Posted

I think it is long overdue. We need a W-League team. It is the perfect way to engage more women into football. So many opportunities will arise when/if we introduce a team: New sponsorships, media coverage, more money brought in, more interest.

And more importantly women in football.

Its time, we must introduce a team for next year

 

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True Until I die

True Until I die

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The W-league teams are funded by their state association which means for Melbourne Victory- the FFV. These teams are semi-pro and are actually quite distanced from the mens teams and share a name, kit and few other little things in common. This topic was discussed at the Fan forum and the answer was "when the ffv are in a financial position to support a second w-league side; we will go a head straight away and put this side out. We are all for the idea but are waiting for the financial support from the FFV, otherwise it is not financially viable for the club to run."

Knowing the bad state the FFV are in right now with the formation of the NPL and the fact that the womens game is looking to raise the stakes and become more serious- potentially professional; the Melbourne heart W-league team is a long way from getting on to the park- as unfortunate as it may be.

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Peter

Peter

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My sons have watched the W-League and complained about how slow and boring it is. A shame we can't get more A-League coverage instead of the W-League. There is a reason women's sport is not as popular as men's. And despite what the feminists think, it has nothing to do with sexism. They are just not that good.

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sheepdog

sheepdog

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Posted

My sons have watched the W-League and complained about how slow and boring it is. A shame we can't get more A-League coverage instead of the W-League. There is a reason women's sport is not as popular as men's. And despite what the feminists think, it has nothing to do with sexism. They are just not that good.

Sad but true. I have always thought to myself its like watching a game in slow motion
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kingofhearts

kingofhearts

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Posted

My sons have watched the W-League and complained about how slow and boring it is. A shame we can't get more A-League coverage instead of the W-League. There is a reason women's sport is not as popular as men's. And despite what the feminists think, it has nothing to do with sexism. They are just not that good.

It all has to do with athleticism unfortuantly, women just can't compete with men any sport physically, take basketball for instance. Men dunk like it ain't nothing, compared to the WNBA, they actually stop the game and celebrate when someone dunks rofl.

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hedaik

hedaik

Posted
Posted (edited)

 

My sons have watched the W-League and complained about how slow and boring it is. A shame we can't get more A-League coverage instead of the W-League. There is a reason women's sport is not as popular as men's. And despite what the feminists think, it has nothing to do with sexism. They are just not that good.

It all has to do with athleticism unfortuantly, women just can't compete with men any sport physically, take basketball for instance. Men dunk like it ain't nothing, compared to the WNBA, they actually stop the game and celebrate when someone dunks rofl.

 

 

Both those quotes could be applied to our current mens team as well.

Edited by hedaik
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belaguttman

belaguttman

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Posted

 

My sons have watched the W-League and complained about how slow and boring it is. A shame we can't get more A-League coverage instead of the W-League. There is a reason women's sport is not as popular as men's. And despite what the feminists think, it has nothing to do with sexism. They are just not that good.

Sad but true. I have always thought to myself its like watching a game in slow motion

 

The womens game is slower but they don't lack in technical ability. Look at it as a slightly different game, women bring a slightly different set of abilities to the game compared to men.

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Shahanga

Shahanga

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Posted (edited)

I think it is long overdue. We need a W-League team. It is the perfect way to engage more women into football. So many opportunities will arise when/if we introduce a team: New sponsorships, media coverage, more money brought in, more interest.

And more importantly women in football.

Its time, we must introduce a team for next year

Agreed.

 

I think a few of the posters above haven't looked at the bigger picture surrounding the W League.

 

I coach my daughter's team.  Naturally I am trying to use my influence into converting all her team mates to Heart supporters, whilst I've had some success, there are a few obstacles.  For those girls with talent (or at least the ability to dream), at present they can only aspire to playing for Victory. At our club a few girls have gone on to do this and this helps the lure of Victory as the club for the girls to support.

 

Football is not a mature in the market like AFL.  In football its more likely that if a kid says to their parents "I want to go to the xxxx game", they'll go yeah and then hey presto the whole family becomes supporters of that club.  If the kid in question is a girl, its probable their choice would be Victory, i mean every kid likes to dream and why choose a club you know you can never play for?

 

By not having a W league team we are weakening our appeal in the market.  What's worse, based on the posts above, the FFV are subsidising our rivals stronger market position, which is even worse.

Edited by Shahanga
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kingofhearts

kingofhearts

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Posted

I think it is long overdue. We need a W-League team. It is the perfect way to engage more women into football. So many opportunities will arise when/if we introduce a team: New sponsorships, media coverage, more money brought in, more interest.

And more importantly women in football.

Its time, we must introduce a team for next year

Agreed.

I think a few of the posters above haven't looked at the bigger picture surrounding the W League.

I coach my daughter's team. Naturally I am trying to use my influence into converting all her team mates to Heart supporters, whilst I've had some success, there are a few obstacles. For those girls with talent (or at least the ability to dream), at present they can only aspire to playing for Victory. At our club a few girls have gone on to do this and this helps the lure of Victory as the club for the girls to support.

Football is not a mature in the market like AFL. In football its more likely that if a kid says to their parents "I want to go to the xxxx game", they'll go yeah and then hey presto the whole family becomes supporters of that club. If the kid in question is a girl, its probable their choice would be Victory, i mean every kid likes to dream and why choose a club you know you can never play for?

By not having a W league team we are weakening our appeal in the market. What's worse, based on the posts above, the FFV are subsidising our rivals stronger market position, which is even worse.

I can see what your saying shanga, but even if we were to have a womens team how many extra female supporters would we really get? Maybe another 50 but is it worth having a women's team just for the sake of it? We should focus on having a game in Darwin or some other rural town and try and tap into the market there rather than worry about the female market. Women just really don't like football tbh

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Melburnian

Melburnian

Posted
Posted

I'd rather have 50 extra Melbourne based supporters that come to each game than 500 supporters in Darwin that come once to one game. we are a Melbourne team we need to grow in our home market

Imagine 50 new members. Gold.

We need every member and supporter we can get. In Melbourne. Turning up every week.

I think it would bring in significantly more if marketed right. Plenty of women teams around and junior girls teams. Dual female membership options also arise.

Gotta keep up with the game. Right now this club is getting left behind.

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thedukeofhearts

thedukeofhearts

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Would the league want another melbourne womens team ?? Would they be better off lending the heart name and putting another womens team in a regional area to develop womens football there ??
Not saying that's what the club should do, but I just remember reading a few years something about not needing another womens team in melbourne because the amount of quality girls isn't strong enough yet and they want teams in areas do develop girls their. 

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KD.

KD.

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Mods, close the thread if ppl won't take it seriously .

It's a serious suggestion, and when you look at the bigger picture - especially bringing women into football, it could help/save us.

I do not know many girls who support the heart, but I know a shitload who support the victory only because of what they offer for women.

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Melburnian

Melburnian

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Posted

Mods, close the thread if ppl won't take it seriously .

It's a serious suggestion, and when you look at the bigger picture - especially bringing women into football, it could help/save us.

I do not know many girls who support the heart, but I know a shitload who support the victory only because of what they offer for women.

Well said.

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Murfy1

Murfy1

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Posted (edited)

Here's what was said at the Heart Fan Forum in May 2012:

 

It was also announced that the club hopes to have it’s own W-League team for the 2013/14 season, with Munn acknowledging that setting a team up for the coming season simply was not feasible

 

 

So the club has thought about establishing a W-League team, and even plans to create one when the club can. 

 

It should be noted that other A-League clubs like the Mariners have had a team and then abandoned it because they judged it to be too expensive, and Perth Glory also seriously considered getting rid of their W-League team (http://www.smh.com.au/sport/football/glory-lost-future-of-wleague-in-balance-20120321-1vke1.html). The simple fact is W-League teams don't make a profit, so for A-League clubs that are already running at a loss it can be a bit of an ask for them to create a whole new football team. There are most likely more cost effective ways of attracting more supporters a club. So it's something of a positive that Heart plans to have a W-League side at some point, as not all A-League clubs are committed to having one.

 

In my judgement, it looks like Heart is keen to get an A-League club up and running, once the club's fundamentals are right. Once things are a bit more stable with the club in general, I reckon Heart will move quickly to establish a W-League team, in the same way the club wholeheartedly went about creating a NYL team and a futsal team after the club committed to them. And hopefully it's the next W-League season, as intended, when Heart establishes a W-League side.

 

 

Also, on the matter of the quality of W-League football, it's a bit ridiculous that women footballers in Australia get paid peanuts, then people complain when the quality of W-League football isn't that great. Effectively all W-League players, even Matildas, pretty much need to have jobs outside of football to get by (I recommend reading this story about Melissa Barbieri to understand how dire things are: http://www.smh.com.au/sport/soccer/matildas-star-has-to-pay-just-to-play-20131104-2wx72.html). Regardless of these trying circumstances, good players are coming out of the league and are getting into the national team. So the league is a good idea and its football is improving, despite the fact that the league and its footballers aren't getting the support they should receive. 

 

I hope we get a W-League team soon, and hopefully by the next W-League season (2013-2014), like Heart officials said at the fan forum.

Edited by Murfy1
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kingofhearts

kingofhearts

Posted
Posted

Mods, close the thread if ppl won't take it seriously .

It's a serious suggestion, and when you look at the bigger picture - especially bringing women into football, it could help/save us.

I do not know many girls who support the heart, but I know a shitload who support the victory only because of what they offer for women.

So there's a massive untapped market of female football supports who will not support heart, due to the fact they do not have a female team, but if we do get one, we'll get a sudden rush of female supporters? Bullshit

 

Regardless if you are male/female when supporting a club you look at there principles, not at the gender playing. Would these new females supporters even give a fuck about the mens team? They quite clearly don't give a fuck now, and would only watch our womens just to satisfy there own 'you girl girl!' personality.

 

Help/save us? The victory womens team last season's largest attendance was just under 600 i believe in buleen. How many of these people could we get over to the heart side of town to support us? Look at the mens team, i know we haven't been very successful but we have constantly struggled to get over 6-7k until this season, and what have we all said the reason is for getting low attendance? Victory having a 5 year start on us.

 

Than you also have to add in travel cost, coaching staff, wages ext unless the team was to be ran through the FFV there would be absolutely no point in having a female team because most likely it would bankrupt the club.

 

And FWIW i know women who watch men's sports and could not give a flying fuck about womens sports so this notion that we will suddenly 'break the break' on possible female membership is just bullshit

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jw1739

jw1739

Posted
Posted

Surely, the only sensible way of going about this is to build a sound business case before the club should entertain the thought of a women's team? Just grabbing anecdotal evidence from out of the blue about how many female Heart supporters a women's team "might" bring in is a waste of time. I'm not sure any of us are privy to precisely how the W-League is currently funded, but I understand it is mainly by the FFA and State bodies, and that there is some cost borne by the club involved. I read an article recently, IIRC dating from 2012, that each club puts in about $100,000 per season. That doesn't sound very much. Whether that is even correct, and whether that includes direct and indirect costs I have no idea -  indirect costs can often be a hidden burden on an organization.  I understand that registrations for female players more than cover the total outlay on the W-League, so on that basis it seems fair for it to continue and indeed be expanded, but without the complete numbers it's not wise to be definitive.

 

I honestly feel that with our A-League side propping up the ladder after an abysmal last season Heart doesn't need any other distractions at the present time. We should focus on getting a couple of good A-League seasons under our belt before thinking about running another team.

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Sash

Sash

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I might try to inquire with FFV. Every A League club fields a team in the W League except Wellington, Mariners and us. NSW has three teams, even Canberra has one. Wanderers are a year old and they have one, although they're funded by the FFA. I think it's important to be in it for the reasons people have already mentioned. For a club that does so much within it's budget to reach out to the community and to engage young footballers around the state, it's seems crazy that we don't have a womens side.

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Shahanga

Shahanga

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Posted

Surely, the only sensible way of going about this is to build a sound business case before the club should entertain the thought of a women's team?

Well you're right but this isn't the board minutes, just the fans' forum.  Shooting from the hip gives us something to talk about, otherwise it'd be more boring than a Pim Veerbek tactics session around here.

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