Embracing innovation
Swan Valley’s Brant Johnson speaks to Cameron Palmer
Home to one of the most unique and picturesque grounds in the Perth Football League, the Swan Valley Football Club has always embraced its standing as a club that maintains a country culture while still being a city club. It has been a club that has been thrived around being an integral part of its community.
As the community has changed around the club, Swan Valley has found a way to make the most of opportunities presented and embrace growing their club through one of innovation. Looking beyond traditional revenue streams that most community clubs survive on, the club over recent seasons has been able to secure its financial future striking a partnership with a local diner operating out the front of the club and substituting some of its parking for a new NBN tower.
Club President Brant Johnson is at the forefront of thinking differently and embracing opportunity.
“We’ve been lucky with a couple of things that have happened around the club, but we have been quick to embrace the change,” Johnson said.
“Joey’s Diner had strong ties to the club, but we have really cemented it as a partnership that has helped to support the club.”
Indeed as Joey’s has been able to grow, so too has the commitment from the club to the business.
“It’s a great location for the business on Great Northern Highway and it brings in a lot of people from the surrounding areas.” Johnson said.
“We no longer run a canteen anymore, as it just makes sense to have members support Joey’s who in turn support us.”
Meanwhile as club great and club committee member David Stephens said, the NBN tower has been another simple measure to help the club’s financial position.
“For giving up only a couple of parking bays to install the NBN tower, it was a no brainer really,” Stephens said.
“We don’t really do anything, yet get a financial benefit from it.”
As well as embracing innovation for his club’s revenue streams, Johnson is combining his passion for video editing with innovation, to create an unparalleled library of Swan Valley content. Already holding memorable Grand Final moments from their time in the Hills Football Association and the Perth Football League, in recent years, Johnson has recorded much of the club’s games allowing a closed social media group to get access to games for their club.
“We have guys who live over east who love that they can watch our games,” Johnson said.
“Win or lose, the game goes up, it might take a bit longer to go up after a loss, but it’s great to have a way to interact with our members.”
Now with a club that is embracing Johnson’s videos, the hardest thing is making sure he does not miss any of the action.
“We had one of our women footballers kick a goal with one of her few kicks of the season earlier this year, but I was late getting to the ground so didn’t record the moment,” Johnson said.
“The girls won’t let me forget about that one.”
That might be one that Johnson wants to forget, but as Swan Valley continues to secure its future, it should not be forgotten how important embracing innovation can be to growing a community club.
