http://www.thepunch.com.au/author-bios/joe-novella/ Joe Novella is a published author and freelance writer with a passion for the ‘world game’. He is currently working on his 3rd novel and regularly contributes articles on many subjects to print and online media, including various football publications, blogs and websites - including his own, aussoccer.com. Joe’s been involved at the grassroots level of the sport for 35 years with representative honours as a junior and going on to play at state league level in Victoria. He has delivered government football programs to schools, as well coaching the kids via the Milo goalkick program, coaching the women’s team at Beaumaris in Victoria where he also sits on the committee. On top of which, he owns a futsal business and does private coaching. And despite reaching the ripe old age of 42, he’s still playing despite his wonky hammys. He dreams of one day, seeing his beloved Melbourne Victory playing in front of a packed MCG to lift the Asian Champion’s league trophy. en Copyright 2012 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/why-arent-these-kids-growing-into-a-league-fans/ Soccer has all the ingredients to capture the imagination of Australia’s sporting public in the same way the AFL and NRL grand finals have done. All the ingredients are there except one: common sense. The facts are this: football - as it has been rebranded - has the highest registered participation rate of all the football codes in this country. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, more kids play football than AFL and NRL combined. So why aren’t the kids and their parents filling the stadiums at A-League games? feedback@thepunch.com.au (Joe Novella) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/why-arent-these-kids-growing-into-a-league-fans/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/why-arent-these-kids-growing-into-a-league-fans/#item1411 Tue, 06 Oct 2009 19:40:00 +0000 Joe Novella | Author bios | The Punch