A-League's volunteer army: A call to arms

Let's move on from directing blame on Football Federation Australia. They've had an ear-full and they've plenty of time to take on board our suggestions, criticisms and complaints. Instead let us turn our attention to the individual Hyundai A-League clubs and what they can be doing in the build up to season seven.

Jesse Fink this week called on Australian clubs to look to Major League Soccer for inspiration on how to sell their football product. It's fair to say there's much to be learned from the American competition as the similarities are plain to see; competing codes, a largely disinterested population and the gap in quality between European football are but a few. A key difference however is budget.

Fink suggests through his LA Galaxy analogy that clubs would be well served hiring a large team of dedicated sales representatives - of up to 50 personnel. Surely this is unrealistic for Hyundai A-League clubs struggling to avoid bleeding further cash. At least this is what I screamed to myself whilst reading the apparently ludicrous idea.

But is it?

Many A-League clubs already utilize volunteers on game day to great effect. Melbourne Victory for example have approximately 30 dedicated supporters each season to help during matches - many of them long term servants of the club.

"Their role is crucial and the club couldn't successfully execute match day operations without the help of our dedicated team of volunteers" a Melbourne Victory spokesman said.

There is no doubt scope to utilize these volunteers or indeed a new set of volunteers in the preseason/season push for memberships and ticket sales. Instead of, or in tandem with automated messages and emails could a team of volunteer club personnel do the ring around asking past members to renew? Why not involve the players in a telethon-styled membership drive and publicize it as an event?

Perhaps instead of using volunteers the sales team could be made from OTE-based employees who work solely on commission, solving a possible problem of unskilled volunteers negatively impacting on sales.

Regardless of how clubs decide to go about selling their product a continued effort is needed to use fans as their greatest resource. The 'Fan Made' promotion, albeit lacklustre in execution, holds true - it's why Fan Forums taking place across the country have been so well attended by club officials who truly realise their fans' importance. The next step is to act.

It is time for the Hyundai A-League to grow it's volunteer army.

But with most franchises struggling on numerous fronts who is to say that it is the clubs who should take initiative? If you are a fan of your local A-League franchise and feel your services would have a positive impact on your club I encourage you to get in contact with them. All contact details are readily available on the respective club websites and you will no doubt be warmly received.

Volunteer today, before the FFA is forced to bring back conscription.