"The ACT strategy is a critical part of our vision to build a big club over time. Our ambition is to build a club that can compete along side the Hawthorns and Collingwoods of the world.
"We expected there to be some confusion and scepticism around this, but let me make it clear, this Club is proudly a Greater Western Sydney Club.
"With up to 10 games every year to be played in Sydney for our local members, our home in Blacktown, four community training facilities across GWS, as well as our club brand, we can genuinely say that we are a Greater Western Sydney club to the core.
"The ACT strategy is about taking advantage of our zone early to mobilise our club into the region that the AFL has presented us. Owning the zone through a personal connection with our fans and seeding a support base for the future is fundamental to the long term success of our club. We need to maximise the opportunity we have been given by the AFL to develop and cultivate the best local talent possible. Our academies will provide young players from Greater Western Sydney right through to Albury with a clear pathway and connection to this Club.
"Working with our zone gives us the potential to secure another 10,000 members in the region. It also helps in ensuring the sustainability and viability of our club in our establishment phase.
"Essentially it is about establishing our foundations for 2012 yet enabling GWS to become a big and successful club in the future."
ACT Government and GWS Announce 10-year Partnership
Team GWS Chief Executive Officer Dale Holmes has praised today’s historic announcement of a ten-year partnership with the ACT Government.
The announcement made by Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation Andrew Barr will see GWS play 30 Toyota Premiership Season matches and 10 pre-season games in Canberra over the next ten years.
GWS will also commit to a strong presence in the community through local schools and clubs, whilst also presenting clear development pathways for the best young footballers in the region through the local GWS Academy.
"As a club we stated that we wanted to bring games to Canberra, to develop academies and help the game grow in the region, but we made it clear that we needed to see the interest from local community and business to make that happen," said Holmes.
"Four months ago the team at ACT4GWS set themselves a benchmark of 5,000 pledges to demonstrate that support. As it stands now a total of 5,105 people made that very pledge. In return for that support, we as a club wanted to make a long term commitment to the people of Canberra.
"I am now proud to say that we have a ten year partnership with the ACT Government and the Canberra community to deliver that commitment."
The ACT Government has been working with the AFL and GWS for more than two years to secure the partnership.
Holmes clarified that the partnership was not simply based around playing games in Canberra but delivering a meaningful community development program and genuine presence in our region.
"This is the end of fly in fly out arrangements. For many years now the football community of ACT and Southern NSW have been looking to establish a meaningful presence in the AFL
GWS will now deliver:
The establishment of a GWS ACT Academy to help develop young local talent to its potential
Year-round engagement of GWS players, coaches and staff in the local community, including school visitation, football development and additional community activities
An ACT representative on the GWS Board
Permanent representation of the ACT community on the playing jumper and an ACT-specific stylised jumper for home games in Canberra
Participation of the GWS reserves team in the peak local competition, further enhancing the local league and improving talent pathways
Annual Community Camp conducted in the ACT
"I want to thank Minister Andrew Barr for the hard work he has personally put in to building this long-term partnership and the work of his government to bring more AFL football to the ACT. This is a unique partnership, unlike any other that currently exists in the AFL and is a credit to your hard work."
