Branxholme Wallacedale Saints focus on club culture to become family-friendly

On a cold winter's evening on the fringe of Branxholme's football oval, the mood is warm and lively among the crowd of rugged-up locals in the south-west Victorian community.

Laughter spreads as a senior footballer arrives in a black-tie suit.

"The media is in town, so I better look good in case I end up on TV," he says with a grin.

This positive, relaxed and friendly vibe at Branxholme Wallacedale Football Netball Club's Thursday night training is what attracts people like Allan Lewis.

"You wouldn't go to the local pub, you would come down to footy training and talk to everybody, because everyone comes down here and we just have a great time," he says.

Allan watches his son Jacoby, whose flowing mullet bounces in the breeze.

That Saturday, Jacoby and his fellow under-11s Saints claim their first win of the season in front of a home crowd.

The boys and girls in the young team have an entertaining collection of nicknames such as "Atlas", "Package", "Tonka" and "Banana".

They sing the victory song in the change rooms surrounded by their parents, and Allan is right behind Jacoby, smiling proudly.

Allan loves the atmosphere at home games.

"It's unreal," he says.

Club faces population decline

Strategies to create a strong club culture are talked about at the highest levels of AFL football.

The current vibe at Branxholme has not come overnight.

The club has responded to the sort of demographic shifts that are causing other football clubs across Australia in small country towns to merge or fold, ending proud legacies stretching back generations.

The community's population has declined to just over 300 people at the last census.

Residents blame changes in the farming sector, resulting in fewer workers.

There are only 10 children at the local primary school and neighbouring Wallacedale is little more than a name on the map.

Saints turn around 'rough reputation'

More than a decade ago, the club at one point could not fill a reserves grade, and like other teams in the league, it had no junior footballers, who played in a separate competition.

Saints football director David Simpson says back then, the club did not have a great reputation.

"We had a lot of rough guys around here and that didn't help attract players and Branxholme had a bad name," he says.

In 2024, the league amalgamated with a local junior competition and this allowed Branxholme, along with other clubs, to field under-age football teams, being under 11s, 14s and 17s.

It posed a challenge for the Saints leaders: how to fill those teams with so few people in the community to draw from.

This season, the Saints do not have an under-17s football side, and their undermanned reserves have copped some hefty floggings.

But David and other leaders at the club are feeling positive about the future.

He says enough younger players are coming through the ranks to hopefully fill all junior football grades next year, priming the reserves and seniors for success in future years.

The football director says the club's strategies to improve its culture are paying off.

They include actively recruiting families, children and fun, popular coaches; making sure everyone — footballers and netballers — get along so it's not cliquey; and seeking out children who do not play football or are not having fun at other clubs.

"Great club people, that's really been our number one priority," David says.

"We make sure everyone gets along with everyone and that works so well.

Plan to make people want to be at Branxholme

As the Saints go on the attack in the senior football game, club stalwart Leonie Bell yells, claps and bounces on her heels.

She organises a rodeo every year to raise much-needed funds for the Saints and is on the club's executive committee.

She says recruiting can be a "struggle" due to the lack of people in the area. 

So the committee's goal is to make the club an appealing place for newcomers, not only from Branxholme and Wallacedale, but surrounding areas, including the much larger hub of Hamilton.

"The whole club had a plan: let's get everyone to like the club and want to be here and then moving forward, everything just progresses from there," she says.

Opposition on similar journey

Branxholme Wallacedale is playing Westerns, a football netball club based further south in Portland.

Kangaroos president Vicki Clayton is doing odd jobs in the opposition change rooms and she tells a similar story to her opponents.

The Kangaroos are also struggling to fill sides in junior football, but they, like the Saints, have improved their culture to make it more family-friendly.

She says good Auskick and under-11 numbers mean she is confident about a bright future.

"We have junior nights, our Thursday night dinners are a real family affair," she says.

"So it's about setting the right environment for families to choose Westerns as a club because they value that culture."

Little actions that count

Stuart Craig provides support and advice to regional sporting clubs on building positive cultures and says those appealing environments are especially important for teams in areas suffering population decline.

The business manager at the non-profit organisation Sports Focus says there are many acts and gestures needed to create an attractive club vibe, which at their heart are about treating people with respect.

"What they're wanting is an environment where I can go and I feel welcomed, I've got a sense of belonging in this place because I'm respected," he says.

Allan Lewis hopes that in the future, the club will be just as successful on the field as it is off.

"We're hoping that we keep all the younger players and they gradually move up to the 14s, 17s, ressies and seniors and get us a couple of premierships," he says.