Ball
Posted: Thu May 03, 2012 5:01 pmPRETTY much every aspect of the AFL industry has been poked, prodded and reviewed over the years as the sport has grown from a pastime to a sport and now an industry.
However until now, the only piece of the game yet to be examined is the actual reason for the game's existence, the football.
The AFL announced on Thursday a comprehensive research project that will examine and analyse all aspects of the footballs used across all levels of the game.
As part of the review, the performance characteristics of footballs will be assessed and potential innovations will be discussed and possibly introduced.
The review will be conducted over the next few months by the AFL in conjunction with the Victoria University’s Institute of Sport, Exercise and Active Living (ISEAL) and is expected to lead to a series of industry standards about the look, feel, texture and performance of footballs across all levels of the sport.
"We need to understand what balls do and look to set some benchmarks for the future," Andrew Dillon, the AFL's general manager of national and international development, said.
The study will look at the type of football used from AFL match days down to the earliest stages of Auskick and will feature the three main manufacturers of footballs - TW Sherrin, Burley and Ross Faulkner. The AFL is keen to see how advanced technology such as GPS and the wide array of data it can produce can be incorporated into the game through placing GPS units inside footballs.
"Until now, we have relied on gut feel with respect to how our footballs should perform, but we would like to introduce some standard specifications," Dillon said.
Most footballs used in Australia each year are synthetic, with leather footballs usually now only introduced at the elite junior level and then in open age competitions.
"We spend a lot of money on balls. It is a massive expense for the sport and perhaps at the end of the review we will discover new technologies and manufacturing processes that will lead to cheaper and more efficient ways to produce footballs."
But Dillon says football has never before followed other sports such as cricket, basketball and soccer that have spent time and money looking at the various balls they use in various competitions.
"They have analysed things to the nth degree, while we don't yet have the same level of understanding."
The first stage of the review, which will start immediately, will focus on discussions with all key industry stakeholders, while the second stage will comprise various scientific tests of all the types of balls used for competition and for training.
However until now, the only piece of the game yet to be examined is the actual reason for the game's existence, the football.
The AFL announced on Thursday a comprehensive research project that will examine and analyse all aspects of the footballs used across all levels of the game.
As part of the review, the performance characteristics of footballs will be assessed and potential innovations will be discussed and possibly introduced.
The review will be conducted over the next few months by the AFL in conjunction with the Victoria University’s Institute of Sport, Exercise and Active Living (ISEAL) and is expected to lead to a series of industry standards about the look, feel, texture and performance of footballs across all levels of the sport.
"We need to understand what balls do and look to set some benchmarks for the future," Andrew Dillon, the AFL's general manager of national and international development, said.
The study will look at the type of football used from AFL match days down to the earliest stages of Auskick and will feature the three main manufacturers of footballs - TW Sherrin, Burley and Ross Faulkner. The AFL is keen to see how advanced technology such as GPS and the wide array of data it can produce can be incorporated into the game through placing GPS units inside footballs.
"Until now, we have relied on gut feel with respect to how our footballs should perform, but we would like to introduce some standard specifications," Dillon said.
Most footballs used in Australia each year are synthetic, with leather footballs usually now only introduced at the elite junior level and then in open age competitions.
"We spend a lot of money on balls. It is a massive expense for the sport and perhaps at the end of the review we will discover new technologies and manufacturing processes that will lead to cheaper and more efficient ways to produce footballs."
But Dillon says football has never before followed other sports such as cricket, basketball and soccer that have spent time and money looking at the various balls they use in various competitions.
"They have analysed things to the nth degree, while we don't yet have the same level of understanding."
The first stage of the review, which will start immediately, will focus on discussions with all key industry stakeholders, while the second stage will comprise various scientific tests of all the types of balls used for competition and for training.
