FOOTBALL is in Dale Ballantyne’s blood.
After more than five years as Water Polo WA chief executive, Ballantyne has joined the Perth Demons as the football officer.
He previously had roles with the WA Football Commission as the country development manager and development officer and played 64 games for Claremont from 1989 to 1995.
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READ NOWBallantyne said after a desire to get back into football last year, he joined the Demons board in November.
“Marty Atkins asked me if I was interested in the role and so I took it on. I only resigned and then finished up at Water Polo WA at the end of February,” he said.
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“It’s been a pretty hectic few weeks as we prepare for our first game.”
Ballantyne said the role as football operations manager meant working with a number of people in the organisation.
“It’s about list management, preparing training, getting runners into place on game day, working with strength, medical and physio staff and player welfare,” he said.
“You try to make sure the job of the coaches is made easier but it’s definitely a varied job.”
Ballantyne said the Demons’ list was in quite good shape ahead of the start of the season.
“We’ve got a couple of guys with knee injuries but the list is slowly getting back to full strength,” he said.
“It’s a young list though. Our captain Clint Jones is the oldest player at 33 but our colts and development sides have had some successful seasons recently, so you could see 10 to 15 of them in the senior side.”