Port Adelaide legend and current manager of Power Community Ltd’s Community Youth Program Russell Ebert coordinated a special Auskick clinic with the HKFC last week, along with current Power players Tom Jonas and Tom Logan.
Mr Ebert signed the reciprocal rights agreement on behalf of Port Adelaide.
Almost 100 local children participated in the event and the club anticipates annual engagement opportunities with the HKFC and the local expatriate community based in the populous Chinese gateway.
The AFL Grand Final weekend is a major day on the HKFC calendar and Port Adelaide has plans to increase its involvement in the celebrations in coming years.
Port Adelaide general manager - member services Matthew Richardson helped to broker the agreement with the HKFC and says it will offer a great deal of opportunity to members of both organisations.
“This reciprocal rights arrangement with the premier sports and social club in the Asia-Pacific region is a significant opportunity for us to expand our brand and networks for our members and corporate partners,” said Mr Richardson.
“Our members will have use of the Hong Kong Football Club’s world class facilities whenever they get the opportunity to visit Hong Kong and HKFC members will have the same benefits when they are in Adelaide, as well as access to ticketing to our games at Adelaide Oval from 2014 onwards.”
The HKFC was established in 1886, some 16 years after the Port Adelaide Football Club was founded, and has since expanded to incorporate a wide range of other sports into its impressive Happy Valley facility.
The HKFC has approximately 6,000 members with some 4,000 children of members.
Mr Richardson hopes the reciprocal rights partnership will offer Port Adelaide an opportunity to grow the club’s brand and the game of Australian Football in the region.
“We were delighted to able to set up this formal partnership and to have Russell Ebert, Tom Logan and Tom Jonas travel up to run the HKFC’s Auskick clinic and then attend their annual AFL Grand Final luncheon - it was a terrific opportunity to build on our partnership right from the outset,” he says.
“This is our first sister club arrangement for some time and one that we think will help us expand our club’s brand into the Asia-Pacific region.
“There are many Port Adelaide supporters around the globe, and as we’ve since discovered several members of the HKFC are passionate Port Adelaide people and signed-up members.
“We would especially like to thank Denis Way who is a long time Port Adelaide supporter who has lived in Hong Kong for many years and made contact with us late last year.
“Denis has been instrumental in developing this partnership and we sincerely thank him and his family for their support and hard work.”
“This inaugural trip has been a terrific success and we look forward to working with the HKFC to further expand on this partnership in coming years and hopefully we can welcome some of their members to our games at Adelaide Oval in 2014.”
