“In breaking news, the National Gridiron League has announced to players the inaugural season of the NGL will need to be postponed for one year to start in October 2017. In shattering news to all involved, the NGL have cited difficulties with equipment suppliers and delays around visa approvals for the 300+ international players and coaches for the reason behind the delay until 2017.
In a statement to players cited by AussieFaithful, players have been advised the league will now start in October 2017 due to “project deliverables out of our control” falling behind schedule.”
Aussiefaithful.com, August 1st 2016
As most of you within the Australian Gridiron community are aware, less than a fortnight ago the much hyped (at least selectively by its own media outlets) National Gridiron League pulled a Challenger/Titanic/Hindenburg and will not be hitting stadiums in Australia in 2016.
If you’re involved in Australian Gridiron in anyway and have Facebook, I don’t need to enlighten you on any of the thoughts pertaining to this news. You’ve read them. Or are responsible for them (and if you don’t know what I am talking about, go for a Social Media Stroll on the topic. There are a chuckles a plenty to be had).
As a result, I’m not here this week to give you a long winded article on the matter. It’s been discussed ad nausea. My thoughts on starting a professional gridiron league in Australia from zero, without using the existing resources and infrastructure available in the existing amateur leagues, were articulated perfectly in my Pulitzer Prize winning article “Where is the LGL Headed?” last year (Derek “The D-Train” Pulitzer is my accountant, and he thought it was gangbusters).
While the NGL and LGL are very different beasts (at least cosmetically), most of the points made in that article are transferrable to this situation. So there is no need for further analysis. What I leave you with in this article is a thought, a saying that’s been used many times for many different situations, but definitely applies to anyone who has grand ideas about professional gridiron being played in Australia (especially if they plan on being the one to make that grand idea a sustainable reality).
“The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you never expect to sit”
A professional gridiron league in Australia is not a total pipe dream. But for it to be sustainable, it cannot be done on a whim, overnight, or to make a quick buck. All available resources should be used (including those amateur ones deemed unworthy). And you MUST realise that the true “quit your job and start a new life” rewards that you crave from being the pioneer may not come for you, but rather for the person you pass it on to, or the person after that.
It will take an extremely unselfish group of people to attempt this, and have a chance of accomplishing it.
This just seems like a long-winded ‘I told you so’ with some Tony Robbins mixed in
One of the other thoughts I heard overseas recently. Why were the islanders – Samoa, Tahiti, NZ etc left out of this. If you want to be successful you need all the kids from around the block and not just a shed load of expats.