Source http://www.capitalfootball.com.au/site/news.php?id=1350
The Nearpost Local wishes Rachel Harrigan the all best in this very important leadership position in Football in the ACT Region.
Rachel Harrigan is well placed to know what is important to attend to going forward and it is heartening to note that the new President and Chair of the Board has made very specific reference to the most critical issue going forward - "...I see it as a time of engagement with the community and our member clubs. .."
The following is an extract from the Capital Football announcement:
"Capital Football is pleased to announce that Rachel Harrigan has been elected unopposed as the new President of the Federation, and Chair of the Board, after a board meeting held yesterday (Thursday 31st March 2011).
Ms. Harrigan has served on the board at Capital Football for eight years, the last four of which have been as Vice-President. Prior to that Ms. Harrigan also served on the board of Women’s Soccer Canberra.
At the same meeting Peter Maybury was elected unopposed to serve in the position of Deputy Chair. Mr. Maybury will also head up a new Finance Audit and Risk Management committee.
“After serving as vice-president for the past four years I feel I am ready to step up to the challenge with the full support of my colleagues,” Ms. Harrigan said.
“This is an opportunity to move forward. I see it as a time of engagement with the community and our member clubs. We will be having more consultation with our stakeholders and in particular our 43 clubs as we embark on a new era and a new strategic plan for 2012 to 2015......”
Will Ms Harrigan do anything about a pathway for the elite men in Canberra? Or should we expect more of the same now that we have 2 women at the top of the Capital football tree?
ReplyDeleteI expect Ms Harrigan to be her own person.
ReplyDeleteShe has done terrific work whilst on the CF Board (Kanga Cup). Her first instincts are to build bridges with the Clubs and that is the great shortfall at CF in thelast few years.
I am very aware of the situation with the pathways for elite male players in the Capital region. In my role as Vice President, this is in fact a matter I particularly raised with the former Chair of NSW football a number of times last year. It is an important issue for Capital Football and we will continue our efforts to address it from a number of different angles.
ReplyDeleteWith specific reference to the A-League, we continue to support Ivan Slavich and the A-League for Canberra Group in their quest for a Canberra team. Indeed as recently as last week our CEO met with Ben Buckley and Lyall Gorman from FFA together with the ACT Minister for Sport and the A-League for Canberra representatives to discuss this very issue.
The subject of a pathway for our elite men is high on my agenda, and so I will make sure you stay informed of our activity on this front through our Capital Football communications.
Great to hear from you Rachel, is there any chance that we the football public can see or hear what was said during the meetings with FFA. I am pleased that there is still communication with them but that is all we hear, that there is communication. I and and I'm sure others would like to know what is being said.
ReplyDeletePep is right on the money with his comments.
ReplyDeleteGood start by the Pres of CF and delighted that she has joined the Blog and identified herself.
ReplyDeleteMy comments are in two parst due to word restrictions on each post.
Part 1
It would be useful for the football community to know exactly what these "different angles" are in relation to discussions with Football NSW. Until we know that, its just more words, seemingly with little substance to underpin them. Process is merely that, not a plan(s) and we have been fed too much process. Process style comments is not real engagement. It goes again to heart of a major shortfall in CF's dealings - consultation with clubs and the football community.
When we speak of pathways for young elite male players, we can only mean those between the ages of 16 to 20 - those not in ACTAS, those past ACTAS and not in the AIS or an A league youth squad somewhere. CF's responsibility for "development" of young male players is presently focussed on everything under 15years, where they either go to ACTAS or go back to a club. After that there is nothing but clubs. It is as John Mitchell has described so eloquently in previous NPL interviews as a “tragic vacant space”. And so it is. In this environment, the one that exists right now, clubs become very important indeed, particularly the Premier League Clubs. I’m not sure this is fully understood nor respected at CF. The current organisational structure is not best placed to deal with the development of the game, particularly in the Premier League (mens and womens) going forward.
Those with real knowledge of the professional pathways are quick to tell any young player in this age bracket (post ACTAS etc), that if they want to advance their prospects toward a career in professional football, they need to leave the ACT and CF competition, because the standard isn’t high enough and no one looks at our games anyway. Makes sense, if a bit hard for those of us that give our Pl competitions all the support we can. It may not be that way in the future, particularly as the PL clubs continue to sharpen their approach to the game, but that’s the way it is now.
Forming teams (at age or level etc) in the NSW competitions (Premier or Supa leagues) is openly discussed around the grounds and in some clubs. Whilst I have no reason to doubt that CF spokespersons have had discussions various, its clearly produced a flat zero outcome. The most frequent discussion in more recent times seems to be, around taking representative age group teams to NSW competition.
See Part 2 of this comment
Part 2
ReplyDeleteThis is an endeavour that should be discussed with the PL clubs (and Junior Clubs if the teams are below PLUnder 16) and have their support. I'm not sure just what the Mens or Junior standing committees might be able to do about this, but I would not put the development, negotiation and implementation in their hands - simply not enough football horsepower to make a dent. Sometimes you get the impression that they are either barely breathing or simply do as instructed. The recent CF meeting with the PL Clubs was not encouraging – to say the least! This is a job for a task group with a variety of skills and experience. We have sensational talent across the Clubs who would be only too willing to do good work for our young talented players. But CF would first need to begin the process of effective communication with Clubs.
Football officials and supporters have been quick to point out that this journey to NSW has been done before by clubs (Belco, CFC) and they have eventually been kicked out of NSW. True, but all the more reason to ensure that a well qualified, experienced and respected working group is put together to advance this matter. Occasional discussions don’t count for much and usual produce less.
If you want to reach out to some contemporaneous experience I can think of no better example than the Boomerangs FS futsal club from the ACT, which got itself into the NSW Futsal Supa league, and now has qualified for promotion to the Premier League. It was the product of smart football / futsal people, good communication among its constituency of players and parents, good coaching, and just enough money to make it work (probably thanks largely to some of the parents / principals in the Boomerangs). The one person who could organise, navigate, negotiate and implement a move by CF into Football NSW for our young elite players is the person who did it for the Boomerangs FS - Eddie Senatore. He is now a CF Board member.
As to the A league, again, talk is nice, but where is the plan, the timeline. The A League bid for Canberra is not the core business of CF. Certainly not before our best young male players are organised so they can continue to develop and be noticed. The FFA has treated the football community in the ACT abysmally. The FFA has also demonstrated that it is not particularly good at constructing a sustainable professional football domestic model going forward. Why would the ACT government be in a hurry to help the FFA in this context. A fact which may well have exercised the minds of some politicians and bureaucrats when it came to dealing with the AFL and that $26m to greater Western Sydney. The A league bid is a time wasting distraction with respect to the development of our young players. CF needs to keep its distance from the A League bid and concentrate on its knitting - the running of good competitions while ensuring that ALL teams (junior and senior) may participate in at the appropriate level, and the development of our talented young players proceeds apace in accordance with the national football curriculum and the national development plan. Get a solution to that “tragic vacant space” that means something, not just another conversation with so and so which takes us nowhere.
Consultation with Clubs sits at the heart of just about everything CF does in football. The new Pres is right to focus on it. So lets focus!
Its all well and good to make statements about what you are going to do Rachel. The proof is in the pudding though, Im waiting.
ReplyDelete