While I have never been many of my American contacts talk of the joy (or the dream) of attending Spring training for their favourite baseball team.

A team like the New York Yankees bases itself in Florida to do its pre-season training. Fans attend in an almost party like atmosphere to hang out for a few days and watch their players up close. It does not extend to the whole of the off season and is a ticketed event.

Not sure what elements we could take from this activity to increase the "fan experience" but perhaps it is worth a look. Not suggesting we move our training interstate but perhaps some things like names on training singlets, a roving low key commentator that gives insight.... who knows.We could do without the paid tickets element perhaps

I suspect that if the big clubs like Collingwood could "crack the code" it could become a pleasant activity during the off season. Perhaps MFC could trail blaze (with an AFL grant)

One of the main reasons that Spring Training is located in Florida is because it's one of the few places in North America with relatively predictable weather at that time of year. Not only does it not rain very much (baseball is postponed when it's raining), in many of the northern States and Toronto there is still snow on the ground and a good chance of negative temperatures, making it an inhospitable climate for baseball. Even when the season starts in April, the weather is still quite unpredictable in many places and it has been known to snow.

Other than the different location, Spring Training is very much like the NAB Challenge. There is little glory in winning it and its purpose is mainly for players and teams to shake off the cobwebs and for coaches to devise their best teams. I believe that much of the joy in attending Spring Training is in going on holiday to a warm state near the end of a miserable winter to get a first glimpse of a team that you're fanatical about. I don't see much purpose in the AFL doing this, though I believe more of a spectacle could be made of the NAB Challenge by reintroducing some sort of incentive for the team that performs best.

Havent we been travelling up to Maroochydore in past years for 7-10 days for training? It gives players a break from the monotony of Gosch's paddock, has reliable nice  weather and offers a fan experience for Southern Qld fans....

There has been a pretty healthy attendance at open training at Maroochydore.

Agree with the above posts.

I was not however really pushing for the relocation of the training site but that could be considered. Doubt that the cost/reward equation for a supporter would be overwhelmingly positive. It was more about how one can leverage aspects of the summer training season in Melbourne to enhance the fan experience. We have kids off school for eight odd weeks... things like the grand final parade (which strikes me as underwhelming) are a great success which shows there is space for add ons.

My post was intended to get people thinking about the possibilities. Perhaps there is nothing to be had but it is worth discussing.

They occasionally have a day with a BBQ don't they? The school holidays is a good point, there's big potential there to make a fun day and get lots of kids invilved

1 hour ago, Redbeard said:

They occasionally have a day with a BBQ don't they? The school holidays is a good point, there's big potential there to make a fun day and get lots of kids invilved

The club has a family day in Feb, last three we've been to at Luna Park. Kids get autographs and photos, and some free rides. The players are great with the kids, my boy loves to go. We've noticed it get quite a bit busier with the increasing memberships/wins per year, which is also good!

Not sure but I am training with spring rolls.

Edited November 9, 20169 yr by Biffen

1 hour ago, Biffen said:

Not sure but I am training with spring rolls.

not sure people would pay to watch you snaffling down spring rolls, biffo

Some recent media commentary suggests that one of the trade-offs for players getting a bigger slice of the media rights revenue under the new EBA will be the players making themselves more available to the media. I could see increased media coverage of training sessions as part of this deal. While I can't yet see this translating into greater coverage in mainstream media, I could see innovative ideas like streaming of training to make it accessible to supporters wherever they might be with that coverage including interviews with players.

The last training before Christmas as well as the intraclub match have now turned in to somewhat marquee training events with open sessions and a demon army BBQ. 

And obviously the players spend a bit of time with fans on the summer camp in Queensland. Plus the family day.

I'm not sure if/what more we can do, I just encourage the club to do things properly when they do advertise open sessions for fans. In the last few years that seems to be trending in the right direction.