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Chairpersons Newsletter

23/4/2021

 
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Hi there folks,

I’m excited to send out an NZAFF mid-year update with all of the goings on from an exciting Football season. This was all capped off by back-to-back weeks of our game being featured on Sky Sport Next (viewed by thousands across New Zealand) through the Kiwi Bowl and Flag Nationals. 

For those of you that I haven’t previously spoken to, I’m Andrew Fraser, and I took over as Chair of NZAFF after the last AGM. I’m currently Chief Revenue Officer at Vend, and focus more on the financial/commercial side of things on the Board. It’s been a while, but I played for the Waipuna Sharks in the Auckland comp back in the day, and am a die-hard Carolina Panthers fan. 

It’s certainly been an eventful 2020, with Covid casting a wide shadow. Our 2020 Flag Nationals were postponed a week prior to Level 4 lockdown, and we needed to make major changes to the sport due to the amount of shared gear amongst clubs. We were really impressed with the contribution made by clubs and regions to remedy this - AFW didn’t hold a contact season this year, with a Flag competition run earlier in 2021; AFA’s contact season was shortened and junior grade cancelled; AFC’s contact season went ahead with minimal equipment sharing. 

This reinforced the need for a more sustainable equipment strategy for clubs, specifically around helmets - critical equipment both to avoid sharing due to Covid, but also due to health and safety around concussions and brain safety. We surveyed clubs to understand the number of fit-for-use helmets vs. playing numbers, and NZAFF invested ~$35,000 in the game to bring 75 helmets into New Zealand for use by clubs. 

This year, three clubs received helmets - South Auckland Raiders, Papatoetoe Wildcats and Western Wolves (coincidentally the Raiders and Wildcats swept the Auckland contact competitions this year). These helmets were considered a loan until each club completed specific tasks including the Coach certification requirement - all conditions have been met on this - thank you clubs. This is an initiative we want to keep going - for the foreseeable future, the Board commits to ensure every player has safe kit, with pathways in place to individual ownership. As a general guide - clubs should be trying to implement a policy for personal equipment that sees Premier players owning their own equipment if they have played more than two seasons. The loan gear should be focussed on the other grades where we are trying to encourage greater participation.

In addition, the clubs have been notified that, if the club or any of the players want to purchase helmets, pads or pants, NZAFF will subsidise this to provide a 40% discount. This brings the prices down to almost the equivalent price as the US dollar price - around NZ$200-250 per helmet. This is a great opportunity for players who have played a few seasons to get their own equipment. To make sure we are getting the best pricing and paying the least amount for shipping, we need to be placing orders at the end of June. If you are interested in this, let your club know, or if you want more information, contact our GM, Russell (gm@nzaff.co.nz).

We also provided Club Grants to all clubs in 2021, based on player safety reporting, coach development and using the Sporty club registration. These will be finalised this month and clubs will have the option of utilising the grant to purchase more equipment with a 40% discount or having the funds deposited into their account. This will be a core part of NZAFF funding going forward - we want to contribute to the growth of the game, while ensuring safety, coaching and governance are prioritised. 

While on the topic of safety, it has been great to see the improvement in player safety reporting over the past year. It is important for our sport to be able to share productive facts both year on year, and when compared to injuries in other sports. When we do this, we are able to give confidence to new players and parents. This is the reasoning behind having qualified coaches especially for safe tackle. In addition, in January this year, a Zoom session was held by Dr. Doug King, focused on head injury/concussion awareness and prevention. It was very informative and I would recommend checking it out on the NZAFF website under the Coach Development and Player Safety headings.

As mentioned before, we’ve seen some fantastic events this year that have spotlighted the game. We’ve just completed the Flag Nationals, and have seen huge growth in that side of the game - four years ago 5 teams competed, while this year 24 teams competed! Overall the competition was extremely successful - we had 70 games over two days on five fields, ably supported by eight neutral referees. We also had two new grades with Women and Youth Trophies. Big shoutout to our new champions - Metro Lions in the Men’s comp, Hamilton Hawks in the Youth Comp and Papatoetoe Wildcats in the Women’s comp (after the unfortunate disqualification of the two finalists due to using ineligible players).  

Finals Day for the Flag Nationals, as well as all three Kiwi Bowl match-ups, were broadcast on Sky Sport Next. I was extremely proud of the quality of product on show, and also the quality of production, including fantastic commentary from Willie Lose and Marc Peard. Initial viewership numbers have been very strong, including the following numbers for the Kiwi Bowl:
  • Over 10,000 views (double viewership from last year’s Flag Nationals)
  • Over 5,000 unique watchers (1.5x last year)
  • 2,000 total hours watched (3x last year)

This is a great way to continue to get the sport out to the public, and we are keen to see how viewership does grow over time - initial feedback from Sky has been that viewers loved it, and that it rated higher than other sports with our reach/profile. It’s also a great way to attract sponsors to the sport, as seen by the contributions of the TAB and Sky City to the programme (including Andy’s Burgers MVP awards for all key games). We are meeting with Sky Sport soon to align on how to continue to grow this stream going forward. 

Lastly, although this is the downtime for players and games, it’s a great time to get busy with the club. As mentioned previously the Club Grants can be used to purchase gear for next season. The intention is to get all the orders together before mid-year and order from the USA with plenty of lead time for shipping to get the lowest rates. The equipment subsidy of 40% is also available to players that want their own safety equipment (e.g. helmets, pads, leggings etc.). Interested players should work with your club to order. Other equipment - gloves etc - can also be ordered and will possibly get a discount from the supplier should our order be large enough to qualify. Also, this is a great time to be applying for grants from gaming trusts and other bodies. They like to see that they are not fully funding equipment, so with NZAFF providing the 40% discount it is a good reason for them to grant funds. If you need a quote or any assistance with funding get in touch with Russell.

Thank you all once again for a marvellous 2020 season. I look forward to chatting further over the next few months - please don’t hesitate to reach out to me at chairperson@nzaff.co.nz. We’ll also be sending out a survey early next week to help prioritise our work over the next 18 months. Thank you very much, and stay safe.

NZAFF Flag National Championships Results

31/3/2021

 
​The 2021 Flag Nationals produced two new champions and an unfortunate situation in the Women’s finals.

Since the Nationals were started as an “Invitational” event in 2019, where non-affiliated teams could enter, the number of men’s teams entered has grown from 5 to 14.  And for the first time this year the Women’s and youth divisions were added with 7 and 4 teams respectively.  This is a huge increase in the number of teams competing with 24 teams in total.

MEN'S DIVISION
In the men’ championship second round, after initial pool play, the Tamaki Lightning and the Hamilton Hawks lined up against the Hawkes Bay Heat and The Wellington wolves.  In the other pool the Nelson Honey Badgers and the South Auckland Raiders were pitted against the Metro Lions and the AFC Spitfires.  After some close calls in one or two of the games the final four to compete the semifinals were:
Semi 1: Metro Lions v Tamaki Lightning
Semi 2 : Hawkes Bay Heat v Nelson Honey Badgers
                                                                         
The Heat vs the Honey Badgers was a re-run of one of last years semi finals.  In that instance the game was a draw and the outcome needed to be determined by a countback.  This year there was no need for that with the Heat narrowly beating the Honey Badgers by 1 point.  The score this year being 21 to 20.
In the other semifinal, the Metro Lions were up against the 2020 Championship winner the Tamaki Lightning. Unfortunately, for the Lightning it was not going to be their year with the Lions making the better of the game with a 19 to 13 win.

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Men's Placings
  1. Metro Lions
  2. Hawkes Bay Heat
  3. Nelson Honey Badgers
  4. Tamaki Lightning
  5. Wellington Wolves
  6. Hamilton Hawks
  7. AFC Spitfires
  8. North Harbour Pride
  9. Papatoetoe Wildcats Black
  10. Hutt Valley Spartans
  11. South Auckland Raiders A
  12. Papatoetoe Wildcats Red
  13. Papakura AFC
So, the gold medal final was set between the Hawkes Bay Heat and the Metro Lions.  The Heat were in the same position last year but this year instead of the Tamaki Lightning they were set against the Metro Lions.

The first half had both teams working hard on their defense and holding the other out.  Metro managed to score and convert for a 7-point lead into half time.  In the second half a defensive lapse by the heat allowed the Lions to score again and the lead extended.  Getting inside the final two minutes the Lions scored once again but the Heat managed to get in one final play that allowed them to score and convert.

The Lions emerged victorious with a 21 to 8 win to become the 2021 NZ Flag National Champions.

The link to the SKY SPORT NEXT YouTube replays:
Men’s semifinal 1 - Metro v Lightning is here (no commentary).
Men’s semifinal 2 - Heat v Honey Badgers is here (no commentary).
Men’s Final - Hawkes Bay Heat v Metro Lions is here
 
WOMEN'S DIVISION
​For the first time we had a women’s division and it was great to see seven teams enter.  Two from each of the Papatoetoe Wildcats, the South Auckland Raiders and the Metro Lions plus one team from the Tamaki Lightning.

​
After the initial round of play in two pools, one of three teams and one of four teams, the teams were ranked and the top four teams played semifinals while the three lower ranked teams played for positions.
Women’s semifinal 1: Raiders 2 v Wildcats Black
Women’s semifinals 2:  Lionesses 2 v Lionesses 1

​The Lionesses game produced a draw, 20 all, for evenly matched teams with the Lionesses 1 going through to the final.

In the other semi the Raiders proved too strong for the Wildcats winning 14 to 7.

Women's Placings
  1. not awarded
  2. not awarded
  3. Papatoetoe Wildcats Black
  4. Metro Lionesses 2
  5. Papatoetoe Wildcats Red
  6. South Auckland Raiders 1
  7. Lady Lightning
Disqualified in the Gold medal match:
Metro Lionesses 1
South Auckland Raiders 2

The final game between the Raiders and the Lionesses was a great match showcasing the skills of the women in our sport.  In the end it was the Lionesses that took the match with two touchdowns to one winning 12 to 6.

Unfortunately, both teams had brought in players from their other team for the finals and were therefore disqualified.
The results was that the inaugural trophy, and the gold and silver medals were not presented.
The Wildcats Black team were awarded the Bronze.
​

A disappointing ending to a great initial National Championship tournament for the women.
The Women’s Final match was streamed on SKY SPORT NEXT and can be found here.
​
YOUTH DIVISION
The Youth division had four teams entered but one team had to withdraw on the final day which was unfortunate for the other teams they were to play off against that morning.

With the teams reduced to three it made the result for Bronze automatic with The Tamaki Lightning Youth being the team in that position.
The final was contested by the Hamilton Hawks Youth and the Hawks Bay Heat Youth teams.

Youth Placings
  1. Hamilton Hawks
  2. Hawkes Bay Heat
  3. Tamaki Lightning
South Auckland Raiders (did not finish)
Once again, a tightly contested game with the Hamilton Hawks scoring first but the Heat replying just after the start of the second half.  Then both teams scored once more and the margin came down to a missed conversion attempt by the Heat.
The Hamilton Hawks just edging out the HB Heat 13 to 12 to become the inaugural NZ Flag Football Youth National Champions.

The link to the SKY SPORT NEXT YouTube replay of the Youth Finals – Hamilton Hawks v Hawkes Bay Heat is here.

OFFICIALS
We also need to recognize the efforts of the neutral referees who had a tremendously busy weekend attending to 70 matches across 5 fields.  Without their efforts the games could not have been played and they deserve the thanks of all involved.

 
VOLUNTEERS
We also had a group of volunteers helping administer and run the tournament.  What appearseasy is down to the hard work put in by these volunteers.  A big thank you to those people as well.

 
TEAMS
Lastly to all the teams who came along to compete and to have fun.  Yes - teams get serious but overall, the spirit was one of good sportsmanship and friendly rivalry.  That makes this event one that members want to come back to each year.


​Let’s hope everyone can make it again next year.
 
Well done everyone.

Seconded Board Member

15/2/2021

 
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The NZAFF board welcomes Glenn Critchley onto the Board as a co-opted member. Glenn is the GM Commercial for the Vodafone Warriors.

The ability to add co-opted members to the Board provides the opportunity to supplement the skill base of the Board with specific expertise in areas that would benefit our sport as was done last year with the appointment of Shernice Henry as a co-opted member to focus on women in American Football.

Glenn comes to American Football with understanding of the sports environment in NZ and with specific experience in sports sponsorship.  He has worked in this area for more than a decade with companies such as World Sport Group, Singapore and Havas Sports & Entertainment, United Kingdom.
​
We look forward to working with Glenn.

Dr. King Concussion Zoom Session

18/1/2021

 
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Last year we advertised a Zoom session with Dr. Doug King regarding concussion as part of our player safety program.

Awareness of the injury and the protocols around it is knowledge that should be shared widely - players, coaches, officials, parents & administrators - we can all play a part and this session is for all those people.

Dr. King has both clinical experience and practical experience having been a medic attending Ruby and League games. 
The session will include a discussion on prevention & identification and why we need to be very careful about the safety of our players.  Plus some war stories from his experience.
The session is not about safe tackle – Dr king is not a Football coach.

Please spread this link to the session widely in your club so that members, parents and other interested people are aware that this session is available to them and are welcome to Zoom in.

Join Zoom Meeting
Wednesday 20th January
7:30 pm
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84939352523?pwd=QklaTi9VamZGM2V1ajBjNmIxdXV5Zz09
Meeting ID: 849 3935 2523
Passcode: 585450

If you have any questions please contact me.
Russell McConnochie.
General Manager, NZAFF
gm@nzaff.co.nz,
+64 9 9734058

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