A STOUSH over sponsors has seen the Augusta Margaret River Hawks in a row with the South West Football League.
While the battle between West Perth and channel 7 continues to make headlines it seems the local game is not immune to sponsorship clashes.
Running on to the field against South Bunbury, it was hard not to notice the large black strip of tape covering the Ventura Home Group logo, the club's key sponsor.
The Hawks were told in a letter from the South West Football League to cover up the logo ahead of their clash with South Bunbury.
"They were instructed to cover that for the remainder of the season," South West Football League president Kevin Lynn said.
"In simple terms, the jumper they are wearing hasn't been approved by the South West Football League.
"When a team changes the pattern or the logo it has to be approved by the league."
AMR Hawks president Shane Payne said the logic was a bit petty 18 weeks into the season and saw building company Dale Alcock's sponsorship of SWFL as the reason the black tape was added to their shirts.
The Augusta Margaret River Mail understands the Dale Alcock sponsorship is valued at tens of thousands of dollars and includes naming rights for the competitions as well as covering costs associated with affiliating, entering Landmark teams and prize money.
The naming rights sponsor is approved by a council, which the Hawks are part of, and the money raised in sponsorship trickles down to the SWFL teams.
But with sponsors hard to find in the Margaret River region, the Ventura Homes Group deal is a valuable asset.
"They [SWFL] are saying we're in breach of their major sponsor and they are saying no clubs can have any building naming rights on their jumpers," Mr Payne said.
"In a small town it is hard to find sponsors so when someone puts their hand up we ask them to come aboard.
"You can't keep your club open on canteen and bar sales. Ventura was keen to come on board. They build homes locally and we're a local team."
Sponsorship money also helps the club improve its facilities and offer more to its players.
"We've had building sponsors before and it hasn't been a problem," Mr Payne said.
"Maybe it was OK to have them on the shirt if you finish last."
The Hawks have asked for the agreement between SWFL and Dale Alcock to be shared with them.
Mr Lynn said mediation was taking place to try to resolve the issue, but could not comment while the process was underway.
"We're trying to fix this," he said.
