FOOTBALL
By BLAKE METCALF-HOLT
TEDAS Junior Football Club was one of the many clubs across Gippsland to receive funding as a part of the Telstra Footy Country Grants.
The Traralgon-based junior club was supported in its purchase of a brand-new electric scoreboard at their Old Trafford Oval opposite Traralgon Football Club’s Terry Hunter Reserve.
According to a club spokesperson, the installation of the scoreboard came about after almost 12 months of planning, submitting grant applications and fundraising that got over the line due to the Telstra Footy Country Grants and Latrobe City Council.
“With four age groups and around 100 registered players each year, the scoreboard will be an exciting feature on game days not only clearly showing the spectators the score, but also showcasing the clubs’ sponsors,” they said.
“The large electronic scoreboard is visible from the clubrooms and all parts of the ground and replaces an old manual scoreboard that sat at ground level and wasn’t always easy to see.
“The installation of the scoreboard is another piece added to our home ground that makes our game days more comfortable and professional looking for players, parents and grandparents… We can’t wait for the 2025 season to come and see it operating.”
The Telstra Footy Country Grants have assisted 37 junior and senior clubs across Gippsland with financial support for a range of uses.
Telstra Eastern Victoria Region General Manager, Jenny Gray said they are proud of the community initiative that is strengthened by the longstanding partnership with the AFL.
“It’s something we are really excited to be a apart of, it’s a great fund and we know how important it is for football clubs, it can be really hard to keep football clubs running, so this is a really important fund to just help move them along and keep all of them going,” she said.
“We’ve been sponsors of (the) AFL for many years now, so we’ve got a really close relationship and this (grants program) came about a year ago… and that’s a product of that close relationship that we have with (the) AFL.”
Head of AFL Victoria, Greg Madigan was also on hand discussing how these additional boosts bring about such importance for regional clubs.
“It’s great, it’s been a long partnership (with Telstra), one that we value highly. It gives footy clubs the opportunity to get some additional funding to do the things that are important to them and there’s a range of things that get done from nets to goalposts, goalpost padding (to) defibrillators, all sorts of things around the country, so it’s a terrific program,” he said.
“It just helps the clubs be sustainable and keep up with technology or keep up with the modern equipment and provides a much more enjoyable, engaging place for players to come and play at.”
This last crop of grants assisted clubs with a range of innovations and issues including ground modifications, POS systems, increase participation amongst Indigenous players, Indigenous themed jumpers, natural disaster relief and the formation of new clubs to name but a few.
The share between all clubs totalled over $70,000 supporting them to achieve greater volunteer capacity, grow and diversify participation, and improve environments and experiences.
The program is open again for the 2025 football season and provides opportunities for football clubs in Gippsland to apply for grants to support their needs.
AFL Gippsland Club Development Lead, Nicole Bertuna is available to support clubs with accessing these grants along with other support available to volunteers across Gippsland’s 71 senior clubs and 65 junior clubs.
