Effective immediately. Paat Kelly has been appointed President of AFANA. Mr. Kelly has already assumed his duties and is now responsible for the day to day management of AFANA. (Ed. note: Press release is linked at the bottom of this article.)
Last year, the organization announced that 2016 would be the last year co-founder and chairman, Rob de Santos, would lead the organization on a daily basis. Mr. Kelly has been part of the management team for over a decade and previously headed up the marketing and publicity for the organization as well as serving as a photo-journalist. Mr. de Santos said: "He understands our mission and the organization and will be a great leader of our effort to bring footy to North America. AFANA is in very capable hands."
Questions regarding AFANA should be directed to Paat at pkelly[at)afana[ dot }com. Ben Seacrist, webmaster, and Mr. de Santos will continue to manage the internal operations of the organization website. All editorial and tipping staff will report to Mr. Kelly until a full-time editor-in-chief is appointed. Jeff Hemelt will continue as director of TV schedules and network relations. Other administrative changes will be made gradually over the coming months and announced when appropriate. Mr. de Santos is retiring but will continue to assist the management team during the transition.
Article last changed on Wednesday, August 01, 2018 - 1:12 AM EDT
Comments
Re: New Leader of AFANA Announced
Paat Kelly: Congratulations on your new position in AFANA. I look forward to the 2017 AFL season. I know I can count on AFANA to (1) help North American fans navigate television and online schedules in order to watch the games and to (2) report AFL news tailored to inform North Americans, both long-time fans and the crucially important NEW fans. Rob De Santos has been extremely friendly and helpful in welcoming North Americans into AFL fandom. The idea is, I think, to remove barriers between the sport and potential fans so they will want to watch the games and get excited about it. I hope you will have new and fresh ideas on how to do this, building on the success this organization already has. May you score lots of banana kicks and inside 50s!! Mark Dillman