THE North Ryde Dockers Junior Australian Football Club has been awarded Bronze level accreditation as part of the AFL Quality Club Program.

The AFL Quality Club Program helps community football clubs improve their administrative operations and overall club environment, which ultimately benefits all club participants - whether they are a player, spectator or volunteer.

The program achieves this by providing the opportunity for all clubs throughout NSW and the ACT to benchmark their club operations and administration via a ranking system.

Other benefits of participating in the Quality Club program include:

• Providing an environment which helps attract new participants, officials, members and sponsors, as well as retaining those the club already has;
• Creating a best practice guide for club committees;
• Minimising many risks associated with running a sporting club; and
• Participating in a sport that can continue to promote itself as a leading sport where quality is valued highly.

“To be recognised through the Quality Club program is a fantastic achievement which wouldn’t have been possible without the dedication and hard work of the many officials and volunteers within the club,” said North Ryde Dockers vice-president, Stu Goldfinch.

AFL Community Football Manager, Andrew Knott, stated that strengthening clubs at grass-roots level is an important objective of the AFL.

“It is widely acknowledged that community football clubs and leagues are the foundation of Australian football, and that the future growth of the game will depend on the strength and viability of community football. With this in mind, AFL NSW/ACT is striving to assist community football clubs to enhance their operations for the betterment of football,” said Knott.