Whitten Oval officially became ‘Victoria University Whitten Oval’ today with the launch of a new and expanded partnership between the Western Bulldogs and Victoria University.
Under the expanded alignment, Victoria University is the naming rights partner of the iconic ground, the Major Partner of the Club’s new VFL team, the Footscray Bulldogs; and also a partner in innovation, through a unique knowledge exchange arrangement with the Bulldogs.
This historic partnership between the two icons of Melbourne’s West, will see the Footscray Bulldogs play at Victoria University Whitten Oval from 2014.
Simon Garlick, Chief Executive of the Western Bulldogs said the Club was thrilled to have Victoria University on board as the Major Partner of the new VFL team and the naming rights partner of Whitten Oval.
“Today we unveiled the signage that proudly introduces Victoria University Whitten Oval to Melbourne’s West and beyond,” Garlick said today.
“In a Club first – the naming rights partnership celebrates our heritage while equally heralding the brightest of futures for the Club and Victoria University.
“The partnership makes perfect sense. It provides the Dogs with the unique opportunity to tap into world class sports science and elite sport best practice at Victoria University - right here in our heartland”.
A unique ‘knowledge exchange’ relationship, understood to be an AFL first, is central to the partnership aimed at providing a competitive edge to the Dogs while building best practice research, education and training opportunities for Victoria University students.
Underpinning the relationship will be science expertise and capability to help athletes achieve improvements in an ethical, moral and responsible manner.
Professor Peter Dawkins, Vice-Chancellor of Victoria University said “as a world-class sport University, we are excited about the partnership. It will set the benchmark for what sport partnerships should be - sharing the outcomes of applied sport science research, engaging with the local community and developing players in responsible ways”.
“We can also call upon our well established international networks and have secured the support of Professor Clyde Williams, an acknowledged world leader in sport science who is based at Loughborough University in the UK, to be a member of a Joint Innovation Committee”.
The Bulldogs also announced other key VFL partners for the 2014 Season including Programmed, Geelong Travel and Werribee Automotive.
