MELBOURNE called on sporting luminaries Ron Barassi, Kevin Sheedy and Max Walker to help launch the first International Student Membership in the AFL at the Chinese Museum in Melbourne on Wednesday.
The International Student Membership will introduce the Chinese student community to Melbourne and the AFL.
The initiative is part of a major China-AFL program for 2008.
In addition to the Student Membership Program, Melbourne has also invited two Chinese university students as part of pre-season training, and supporting the AFL in entering a national Chinese team for the first time in the AFL International Cup in August.
Melbourne is also supporting the development of AFL awareness and participation in Chinese schools where Australian football is now included in curriculums.
Melbourne chief executive Steve Harris said Victoria hosts a third of the 87,000-plus Chinese students enrolled in Australian educational institutions.
“In 2008, Melbourne FC will offer a tailor-made membership package for Melbourne-based Chinese-speaking international students in order to enhance their Melbourne ‘experience’ through supporting our club,” Harris said.
“The aim of the membership is to provide a broad and culturally diverse program, which includes sports and arts, to ensure their time in Melbourne is positive and generates a positive cycle of return visits, further study, investment, tourism, and possible migration.”
The membership launch took place at the Chinese Museum in Melbourne’s Chinatown and included special guests AFL 150th ambassador Kevin Sheedy, AFL general manager of game development and international David Matthews, Barassi and former Test cricketer Max Walker.
Chinese scholarship holders Zhao Wei and Zhao Yonggen, and China International Cup coach Daryl Hoffman were also in attendance.
Harris, football manager Chris Connolly and the nine players who travelled to China during the Demons’ leadership and business mission last October were also their to mark the occasion.
“In 2007, Melbourne FC hosted over 4500 Chinese international students at two home games, and currently has a database of 6000 students,” Harris said.
“In 2008, Melbourne FC hopes to attract at least 1500 to 2000 students to this special membership program.
“Melbourne as a city has a long-standing relationship with the Chinese community, and today it is a major part of our economic and cultural well-being. Through those relationships our city, and our club, have an enormous opportunity to make the relationship one of enduring benefit commercially and culturally, and one that clearly offers more than any other region in the world.”
The China strategy, which provides football for international students in Melbourne and China, supports the AFL’s international expansion and the International Cup.
It will also provide a point of difference for potential corporate partners in the Chinese and Australian markets.
This follows the China mission of 2007, which, with a delegation of 26 including Barassi and Walker visited Beijing, Melbourne’s sister city Tianjin, Shanghai and Suzhou and featured football clinics, business forums, official government receptions, cultural exchanges, and personal development challenges.
In 2008, Melbourne will increase the size of the delegation attending the China business-football mission in October, and is currently in discussions with the Federal and State Governments focussing on AFL opportunities leading up to and including the World Expo in China in 2010, an event that will be bigger than the Beijing Olympics.
Melbourne is also hosting two young footballers from China as part of an AFL scholarship program who will play for China in the International Cup.
Zhao Wei and Zhao Yonggen are half-way through their two-week professional development scholarship, and will co-captain the Chinese national side during the AFL International Cup.
The Melbourne Chinese International Student Membership will include:
- Free entry to three Melbourne home games at MCG
- Two member-only functions (March 29 and August 16) where student members will be given basic introduction to the game, and entertainment in Mandarin along with light refreshments and corporate facilities
- A football clinic with Melbourne players (additional clinic based on demand)
- Membership pack including limited-edition student member scarves (with Chinese characters), stickers, and supporters merchandise
- Complementary access to the City Rewards Program, providing benefits and discounts to CBD shops, bars, restaurant and attractions
- Exclusive events at NGV and with MSO
- Discounted entry to featured partner attractions, including Melbourne Aquarium, Melbourne Observation Deck, and Melbourne Museum
- Weekly emails in Mandarin, outlining team changes, player injuries and upcoming events
All this for only $40.
This new membership category continues the club’s innovation on an international scale.
This reaches all the way back to the 1960s when Melbourne became the first club to take the team overseas, travelling to New Zealand at the end of the 1961 season. It was followed in 1963 by exhibition matches between Melbourne and Geelong in the US, and in more recent times, the international connections have been maintained in a variety of ways.
This includes the ‘Irish Experiment’ of the 1980s which brought Jim Stynes and Sean Wight to the club, and the World Championship of 1987, which saw Melbourne defeat Sydney and North Melbourne in games held in Canada.
The program is supported by the City of Melbourne and the National Liaison Committee for International Students in Australia, and sponsored by Australia Post.
