The AFL and NAB celebrated the return of Australia’s game in 2014 with a carnival of football that left an indelible mark on the Townsville community throughout the 2014 NAB Challenge.
In addition to staging the NAB Challenge match between the Brisbane Lions and the Gold Coast SUNS, the Townsville region enjoyed a carnival of football via a range of specialised local community events hosted by the AFL and NAB.
These events included a local business networking breakfast that saw over 100 members of the local business community in attendance; while a further 100 children participated in NAB AFL Auskick clinics prior to the NAB Challenge match between the Lions and the SUNS.
AFL General Manager – People, Customer & Community, Dorothy Hisgrove, said this year’s new-look NAB Challenge competition was focused on connecting the elite level of the game to the grassroots through a variety of community events.
“Community engagement is the cornerstone of the 2014 NAB Challenge which is why we’ve made such a strong commitment to each region hosting matches throughout this year’s competition,” Ms Hisgrove said.
“One of the great things about the NAB Challenge is that fans in every state and territory of Australia have the chance to see the AFL’s best play in their own backyard but this isn’t just about football, it’s about bringing local communities together through a shared passion for the game.
“The response we’ve had to the community events staged around NAB Challenge matches has been overwhelming. Local communities and regions like Townsville are a key focus for the AFL which is why those initiatives around the NAB Challenge are so important.”
NAB Regional Executive Retail in Townsville, Wayne Tawse,s aid he was delighted that the all-new NAB Challenge competition had provided the local community with live AFL action and a number of exciting engagement opportunities.
“There’s no doubt the entire community in Townsville has been ‘Footified’ through the 2014 NAB Challenge and it’s fantastic to see that through our partnership with the AFL, we can enable these unique experiences for our customers and the many footy fans within Townsville,” Mr Tawse said.
“The NAB Challenge allows us to take AFL football to regional communities that don’t ordinarily experience the game at this level and we are so pleased that Townsville was given the opportunity to host a match this year. The town has been abuzz with AFL activity and it’s certainly fuelled excitement about the season ahead.
“We’ve been Footifying Australia for more than 10 years through NAB AFL Auskick, the NAB AFL Rising Stars Program and now, the all-new NAB Challenge. Our longstanding support of the game is one of the many ways we, as an organisation, are committed to giving more, taking less.”
