CEO Capital Football Heather Reid Has A lot To Say On Football Overseas and Here In The ACT Region

This is a Nearpost Local special edition – an extended discussion with the CEO Capital Football, Heather Reid. Heather is still the only female CEO of a member Federation within the FFA. Heather Reid is also the CEO of Canberra United.

Heather has only recently returned from Europe, where she attended the Womens World Cup, represented the CEO of the FFA at the FIFA women’s football symposium and recruited a new Head Coach for Canberra United.

Photo above is of the new Canberra United coach.

Heather talks about the standard of Football across the nations in the World Cup and the issues discussed at the FIFA symposium. A very interesting football discussion and some candid observations about the Matilda’s performance.

And this is just the start of this discussion with the CEO Capital Football.

We cover a lot of ground and it’s all about things that impact on Football in the ACT region.

The matters we discuss evidence some decent forward planning at Capital Football and I must say, in the nick of time. Nothing is ever completely resolved in the biggest particpation sport in the ACT region, but we are beginning to see some important progress, good ideas, some fortuitious opportunites emerging, and a healthy dose of pragmatism.

Now the challenge is to bring the Clubs along and before things too far ahead at Football House. This appears to be happening for some for the issues, but its essential that conversations and analysis at Football House (Board, Standing Advisory committees and staff) translate into substantive engagement and support across all Clubs  at the earliest possible time. There is always the temptation to serve up a one solution option as effective consultation. Supporting documents which underpin discussion need to get published on the Capital Football and Club websites as soon as possible. Good communication and time for consultation is essential. This takes time at Club level.

Here’s a starting list of some of things that get honorable mentions in this discussion:

• New Canberra United Coach – why a female coach?

• The Canberra United roster – fascinating and not yet finished!

• The financial management of Canberra United – sponsorship and grants see this "club" just about cost neutral to Capital Football which is good news. This is a big step forward. Something to celebrate! (Its an important first step to detaching Canberra United from Capital Football and perhaps separating the management of both - but that's clearly a little further into the future)

• The importance of ACTAS women’s program and the Capital Football age representative teams that compete at the National Junior Championships

• The review of the Mens Premier League structure – changes to be implemented in 2012. This is likely to involve significant change to the present arrangements.

• The impact of the FFA’s National competition review on football in the ACT – considerable! Can’t wait till it arrives, best to get started.

• Steps being taken to cover the talented Mens 17 to 20 years development pathway. Changes in circumstances at the AIS have given the ACT Football community an extra-ordinary opportunity, which Capital Football looks to have siezed upon (frankly, this is more than we could ever have hoped for and if delivered in full provides exactly the pathway we have all sort for these young players - at a fraction of the cost of a youth league team):

o AIS to provide a team in the Mens Premier League and to include 4-6 young Canberra players (on non residential scholarships)

o AIS and ACTAS Mens to form a “Club” for the purpose of participating in the Mens Premier League. Allows for movement of players when required to ensure all games are played when scheduled (except where agreed otherwise)

o AIS to include the Canberra based non residential scholarship holders in the National Youth League squad (so they play in this competition as well! Amazing opportunity.)

• Some good progress on the future development of artificial playing surfaces (note I use the plural!) in the Mawson / Phillip area (and not the former golf course range - though that too must not be lost to medium density housing developers - hope this has not been traded off by anyone in football!). This one might just happen.

• Futsal registrations going gangbusters – North and South Canberra, the astonishing Boomerangs FS who are now a part of the NSW Premier League and the start of a local junior Premier League based on Football Club involvement (at last we have tapped the right organisational structure to support Futsal).

Look there is plenty more, so best you get a restorative drink, headphones on or speakers turned up, door closed, feet up and listen in.

Download Podcast here:

Mens Premier League Thriller at Deakin Stadium - Woden Valley FC v Canberra FC

Last night (Wednesday3 August 2011) at Deakin Stadium, in perfect conditions for Football, on a fantastic grass playing surface, the lucky Football supporters and Club supporters, were treated to a first class game of Football. As a Woden Valley FC supporter myself and full of praise for CFC over the years (my second preferred team to watch), this for me was as near perfect as Premier League Football gets.

Four things intruded into my thoughts as I drove to the game:

• I was still cranky about the fact that the PL draw had been changed without effective consultation with my Club. It was a poor piece of football administration. PL draws should not be changed to fit Club tours (no matter how good they are). If the Clubs concerned are in agreement (after all, they are the ones that must accommodate the change) and it can be done, then amend the draw.  (Woden Valley and Canberra Olympic have done this during the last two seasons in order to accommodate each other due to unavailability of players on rep duties.) In the case of this postponed game last night, CFC did all that was required of them by Capital Football, however, Capital Football did not feel it was necessary to consult Woden Valley FC in advance of a decision. Easy out for Capital Football. Woden Valley FC do as you are told. So that was still in my mind and in the minds of other Club supporters. Its not easily forgotten.
• CFC were a Club that had, prior to their trip to the Croatian Cup, looked absolutely unbeatable this season. Marvellous roster, well coached and supported. They were imperious on the field. Upon their return, this impressive football machine started to splutter, they lost two games in a row (not an uncommon experience for the rest of us) and the doubts about their superiority in the PL began to gather momentum. What would the club do if this trend continued and put in jeopardy something CFC values (quite correctly) - the PL championship (not the Grand final though that too is important)? Last season they sacked the coach after about three draws, now we have two losses. Surely they will not do that again, after all, the coach is very good and the roster is superb. Just a hiccup I thought. But Football produces the strangest outcomes. For myself, I thought that having had their tyres kicked by Cooma on Sunday, we (WVFC) were likely to meet a ferocious Football beast last night. A proper thumping for us was a real possibility. This was not a pleasant thought, and only discussed briefly by the staunch group of supporters.
• Woden Valley FC has made very steady and positive progress in the last two seasons under the Head Coach Pat McCann, together this season with the PPL Coach Phil Booth. Its no secret that WVFC play the FFA's preferred 1-4-3-3 system of play. They are a good team. The PL and PPL train as one squad and like good racehorses they have been fed the same rich training diet. The result is that preparation of players and their portability between teams is enhanced (important over a season and long pre-season). Its taken a lot of time and effort to get to this game tonight I thought to myself. This cohesiveness has extended to the PL18 Coach and PL16 Coaching staff. Things get talked about a little more at the coaching level, more than in the past - "training" is as good or better than anything I have watched in other Clubs over the two years and its really paying dividends this season. It has made a phenomenal difference to the players and the Club's underpinning Football ethos. It takes time to build a competitive premiership team. The coaches will probably say its a work in progress and it is, but WVFC is a lot further down the track than can be imagined by those that have not been to training and games over this period of time. All this in spite of some severe "raiding" by other Clubs. And oh how the loss of some players hurt, tipping the Clubs plans on its head. Saviour came in the form of a cohort of players who stayed loyal to the club. You can't buy loyalty I thought to myslef for about the millionth time this year. The casual mobility and selfishness of some players, young or older, gives me a roaring case of the shits! But for those that are with the Club the best of it is this - there is a lot of room for improvement, with a young roster that is able to improve and players from the PL18 / 16 coming forward (that's the advantage of a big strong Junior Club WVSC). The outcome - WVFC is now a serious contender in the Premier League - every game we play. As I drove to the ground I knew one thing for sure - we were a third place team on playing ability and fifth placed on the results ladder. And that's how it was likely to end in 2011 for the WVFC PL team. A good performance tonight against CFC would declare our intentions for 2012 and capability loudly to the canny football coaches and staff in the other PL clubs.
• This game against CFC was the one we wanted to play when it was scheduled for earlier in the season. We needed that game. You always want to play the best and test yourself. Tonight's game was nothing short of a season defining moment in WVFC's progression to contest the Premier League in 2012. Hope for a finals place in 2011 was slim. From a Club perspective, the vision, must of necessity, be more far sighted. The significance of this game in that longer term context, like no other game this season (and we have had some good ones this year - Belco / Olympic / Canberra City), was that it would establish our starting position for 2012. For the players, the situation is more immediate and personal as the Coach pointed out at training - this is the sort of game  you play the game for! Absolutely correct. If you can't meet this challenge, you don' t get the best the game has to offer, at any level of Football and you are not Premier League standard. Simple as that. In the ordinary way of things, there is no perfect preparation for an important game. But midweek games can be a real pain in the arse, they stretch volunteerism to the limit, worry coaches, make it difficult for players with study and work committments and introduce a degree of difficulty we could do without - all of us. That's why the  integrity of the PL draw is so important. I have no doubt that this week, CFC had its problems. WVFC came off a frustrating draw (one of four this season - don't think about the four points we got, think about the eight we lost!), three players with niggling injuries that really needed rest till next Sunday and two who were at work (yes this is one important reason we prefer not to play midweek competition PL games Captial Football!), a couple injured and unable to play, a more restricted game specific build up and, in truth, its hard to know what you are likely to get after the ref blows the whistle for the start of the game. As ever, its in the hands of the players. I must say that among the WVFC supporters, we simply hoped that we would get a Ref that had an accurate timepiece, together with sufficient basic maths to calculate a realistic measure of extra time. Strange, the things you worry about before the start of an important game!
• There was one more thought that made an unwelcome return, had been off and on for several weeks -  2-3 Clubs had scouting parties in attendance at our games (all grades, but particularly the PL) on a regular basis. We know our players are being scouted. How do we hold what has been developed? If they played well as we knew they could and hopefully would, these hunting parties would make their move sooner rather than later, as we were probably not going to make the finals in the PL. These are thoughts that fester and are no help at all before a big game like this one. (Sure enough they were there.) Well I thought, as I walked to the stadium, if your club can deliver the quality training environment that WVFC delivers every week, then do your best, because you will need more than money this time around. I hope players see it that way. Give your Club a chance I said to myself, because the grass is very green at WVFC (and CFC for that matter I guess).

All this spinning around in my head and the game yet  to begin. When I got to the ground I found I was not alone with these thoughts. I spoke to a couple of friends in Football from CFC and quickly realised that they were worried because they thought we would come to play them and beat them if they gave us a small chance. They did and we very nearly did!

And what a wonderful game it was - both teams gave everything they had. They played in good style, matching each other for goals across the length of the game, contesting the game till the final whistle. The game ended in favour of CFC on the scoreboard (5:4) and in poetic fashion, underscoring the thrill of the game - a WVFC shot rebounded of the CFC crossbar seconds before the final whistle - but what the hell - we didn't need another damn draw. For me, WVFC won the most of it on the park and CFC made it very clear, why they are the premiership contenders, the team to beat - these are  games you live to play to for -players and Club supporters.

My congratulations to WVFC and CFC for a fantastic game of Football under lights at Deakin Stadium. Both Coaches have every reason to be proud of their efforts with their players. They both looked like "shot ducks" after the game. When the game ended, neither side had anything left to give.

This how the WVFC Mens Premier League Co-ordinator reported the game to the players and supporters by email last night (no person at the ground did it harder than Mike Swan last night):

All,
A simply extraordinary performance tonight by Woden Valley FC against Canberra FC, despite going down in a nail-biter, 5-4. Probably the game of the season so far as far as the league is concerned, and certainly for the very vocal crowd of supporters on both sides who were treated to a fantastic football spectacle that was quite simply dominated by Woden Valley FC for large passages of the game.

Although we were without the playing services of two starting defenders in Jeremy Butler (on FFA business in Alice Springs) and Micah Johnson (knee injury), their places were very ably taken by Kai Chaivannacoopt and Andrew Kiley. We went into the game in a very positive frame of mind believing we could cause an upset and the first goal of the match after two minutes to Alex Oloriegbe signaled that something special might in fact be afoot. However, the next two goals were to Canberra FC; trade mark strikes from arguably the best in the league in Paul Ivanic and Adam Spaletta. However, Woden Valley was back on the score sheet before the break with the first of two goals to Irish import, Sean Murphy, score 2-2.

The start of the second half was always going to be crucial but it was Woden Valley that played all over Canberra FC in every phase of the game. A dominant mid-field performance by man of the match Daniel Sparrow along with mid-field partners Simon Hinde and Hector Alamos meant excellent service to Alex Oloriegbe and Lachlan Nichols out wide and Sean Murphy in the middle. The next two goals were Woden Valley’s scored by Sean Murphy and Paul Gagetti, score 4-2. A strong defensive effort from centre-backs Mat Kocic and Andrew Kiley and an another outstanding performance in goals by Jack Pettit should have secured the game for Woden Valley but three late goals meant a final, and very disappointing 5-4 result.

A disappointing result but an outstanding and very courageous performance notwithstanding. Congratulations to coaching staff and all senior players.

Regards

Mike Swan

Capital Football reported the game as follows and I find myself in complete agreement Russ!

05.08.11 – Canberra FC come from behind to win nine-goal thriller
Wednesday 3rd August 2011
Re-arranged fixture – Round 9

Canberra FC 5 (Paul Ivanic 12’, 76’, Adam Spaleta 16’, John Glass 67’, Victor Yanes 77’) Woden Valley 4 (Alex Oloriegbe 2’, Sean Murphy 32’, 66’, Paul Gagetti 58’)

Canberra FC kept alive their hopes of retaining the League Championship by arresting their recent slump in form winning one of the games of this, or any other, season 5-4 against Woden Valley under the floodlights at Deakin Stadium. In a game that had everything it was the visitors who went in front after only two minutes when Alex Oloriegbe found some space on the left flank before cutting inside two challenges and finishing with aplomb. Two goals inside four minutes had Canberra FC in front by the 16 minute mark when firstly Paul Ivanic slotted in from close range before Adam Spaleta tried his luck from distance, his shot ricocheting high into the night sky, before dropping over Jack Pettit who tried his best but couldn’t prevent the ball from crossing the line failing to claw it back in time. Incredibly Woden were level fifteen minutes later when Daniel Sparrow swung over a brilliant free-kick that was glanced past Ben Klug by Irishman Sean Murphy for his first goal at this level to send the teams in at the break at 2-2. It was Woden who appeared to have taken a march on proceedings when they netted twice after the resumption of play with Paul Gagetti poking home his sixth goal of the season from almost on the goal line and then Murphy bundling a rebound into the net after Oloriegbe had tested Klug from a free-kick. With their season apparently slipping away the champions suddenly found an extra gear. John Glass slid in a rebound after Ian Graham had seen his effort blocked by Pettit to bring the home team back into the match setting up a grandstand finale. In what could turn out to be a defining sixty seconds of the season Canberra FC not only drew level, but found the requisite strength to go in front. Ivanic levelled the scores at 4-4 stroking home his sixteenth of the season after wonderful approach play by Josip Jadric and Yanes glanced in an Adam Spaleta cross to send Deakin Stadium into bedlam. Woden still had time to fight back and almost snatched a point their performance warranted in stoppage time when Matt Kocic hit a shot from the angle that crashed back off the bar and to safety but it wasn’t to be for a gallant beaten side.

Canberra FC: 18. Ben Klug, 4. Izach Clements, 5. John Glass, 7. Paul Ivanic, 11. Ivan Pavlak, 12. Ian Graham, 14. Josip Jadric, 16. Matt Grbesa, 19. Adam Spaleta, 23. Marcin Zygmunt, 76. Aidan Brunskill

Substitutes used: 9.Michael Spaleta, 99. Victor Yanes

Woden Valley: 1. Jack Pettit, 2. Kai Chaivannacoopt, 3. Paul Gagetti, 4. Matthew Kocic, 5. Hector Alamos, 6. Andrew Kiley, 7. Alex Oloriegbe, 8. Simon Hinde, 12. Lachlan Nichols, 14. Sean Murphy, 15. Daniel Sparrow

Substitutes used: 9. Mouad Zwed, 10. Ben Pagett, 13. Samale Mohamed

Discipline: YELLOW CARDS: 12. Ian Graham, 19. Adam Spaleta (both Canberra FC), 5. Hector Alamos (Woden Valley)

Match Officials: Luke Withell (referee), Alex McConachie, William Lai


A Premier League game to be remembered. A landmark game for Woden Valley FC in it's quest for a PL title in 2012? Something to cherish about the 2011 season. Probably the best PL game I have seen in the last three years and without a doubt, the best WVFC has played in that time.

Matilda's Coach - Tom Sermani - Talks About The Womens Football Pathway

This program is broadcast on 2xxfm (98.3mhz) across the Australian Community Radio Network on Tuesday at 7:00PM.

Tonights program is about the women’s football pathway in Australia.

We speak to Tom Sermani, Coach of the Matilda's. Who better to know about this subject?

The Matilda's are blazing a bright trail for Australian Football, they have just completed a terrific World Cup campaign and are the current Asian Cup Champions. Women's Football is growing at the rapid rate across Australia, and in no small measure due to the success the W League and the Matilda's.

The growth rate of women's football in the ACT is substantial.

The Coach of the Matilda's is a very significant person in the development of Women's Football. The development pathways must work if we are to have the best of our female players making it through to the highest levels. Tom Sermani talks about the women's development pathway and in particular, where it must grow to if all our best young players have an opportunity to be as good as they can.

This is a very timely interview and from exactly the right person. Tom Sermani likes the way the women's game is being developed in the ACT.  That's a good start.

The requirement for community based clubs to be involved in the development pathway is something he makes mention of, and in particular, he makes special mention of Woden Valley FC and Belconnen United FC. Of course there are a couple of other clubs hot on their heels – new PL arrival Gunghalin United FC , the solid Western Creek and Belwest clubs come to mind.

The interview is timely from another angle. We have just completed the FFA National Junior Championships for the Girls Under 14 and Under 15. The Under 13 Girls were conducted earlier in 2011. The importance of the NJC at these ages groups is made very clear by Sermani – its all about the development pathway. So be in no doubt - we in the ACT should be taking it very seriously. Listen to what he has to say.

The question that follows for us here in the ACT region is this – are we doing all that is required to identify and develop our players at age, in preparation for these girls age championships?

If we are not, and there is reason to think we are not at this point in time, we place our young players at a significant point of disadvantage. Why? Well, Tom Sermani makes a simple but obvious point, not often mentioned in discussions – the national selectors are looking at these age groups to identify potential Under 17 World Cup players. The identification and planning and development starts well below 17 years of age.

So, if we are doing less than we should or could for the 13 / 14 / 15 girls age groups, leading to the NJC each year, then we are under-preparing our young players and making them less identifiable as talented players going forward. Which is a bit troubling, since parents pay for the cost of development training and attendance at the NJC. Parents want to be assured that what they are spending their scarce disposable income on, is value for money - they want their children to be as well prepared as possible. Football development is a discretionary expenditure in families - is the program good enough, are the coaches good enough, will the program enable their child to improve, will the players get enough of the right sort of training and games to be competitive, will they be provided with a detailed periodised program before the commencement of the development program, are the facilties up to standard and so on.

To do better, requires more time with players and coaches and greater resources than are expended at this time. But you can't transfer all costs to parents.

Given the rapid expansion of the women's game in the ACT, the issue is now a critical one. The first critical section of the pathway is for Capital Football to ensure the Under13/14/15 age group talent is identified and developed for the NJC, playing for a Club at the appropriate level during the normal season, and continuing their training in the off season (perhaps including Futsal for the Boomernags FS?).

Every young player in these age groups (13/14/15) who has been  to an NJC and selected to a National squad level (where / when they pick a national age team) or an All Star selection at age at the NJC, surely must warrant an ACTAS training agreement. My understanding is that this is not true at this time. It must happen.  What is the point of being selected by the technical assessment team at the NJC, only to find that judgement is ignored at the NTC level? The process must work at Capital Football and then going forward , in our case, to ACTAS. Capital Football has considerable influence over both of these elements in the development process - and so it should! This is a Capital Football leadership issue.

Each member federation tackles all this develop in their fashion and in the context of the FFA national curriculum and development plans. Tom Sermani is experiecned enough to know that the community level development processes, which constitute those early techncial interventions in a player's development, together with strong State Premier League competitions, will accelerate development and help retain and sustain players. As they say - everything counts!

Sermani also makes good sense on the role and composition of the NTC (ie ACTAS here in the ACT). Parking senior Canberra United and National level players is a thing of the past. The NTC is for the development of young players.

Importantly, their will be an Women's NTC Challenge, just as there is for Men. Age limits will apply, so there is even greater incentive to tidy up the roster at the NTCs.

This raises an interesting point here in the ACT. The Coach of Canberra United is also the Coach of the ACTAS womens program. It is an arrangement that has its attractions. While ACTAS continues to be a football parking area for National players and more recently W league players for Canberra United, it seemed to make good sense. However, if, as Sermani indicates, the NTC really is for the development of young players (because there are now better options for W League and National players), then the NTC (ie ACTAS) and Canberra United must be seen as completely separate football activites - which they are! That is only to the good of Womens football in the ACT region.

Tom Sermani is pleasure to talk to and he sees the development of the women's game more clearly than anyone I have heard speak on it. Better than most – he illustrates the essential difference between a “coach” and a “trainer” of football players. Informed and pragmatic – a powerful combination in a coach. He gets results at the National / International level and is very conscious of the subtle differences in the use of that word "develop" as the players moves forward to the elite level.

I think you will enjoy what Tom Sermani has to say.

Download Podcast here:

As Good As It Is - But Not Good Enough

In a previous Post titled "As Good As It Is - Have We Missed An Opportunity Here", I asked a simple question - couldn't we have raised an ACT Youth League style team to play the Mariners when they visit?

Capital Football has made a response to this Post and the relevant extracts with regard to not conducting a youth league style game are as follows, together with my comments:

“..The main reason for the lack of a representative team was time. The Mariners visit was only confirmed around a fortnight ago and that, unfortunately, did not afford Capital Football the requisite time to select a coaching group, hold trials and put together a structured formation that would give the Mariners the kind of ‘hit-out’ they were looking for at senior or youth level. I agree that a representative selection would have been the ideal but, alas, the logistics surrounding it made it impossible at this late stage. …”

Nevertheless, the question put in the title to this Post is “As Good As It Is - Have We Missed An Opportunity Here?” I think the answer, whatever the reason(s) is self evident – yes, we have missed an opportunity.

Could we have done better, knowing that there was the possibility of a Mariners training visit and given that there is a history of these visits by the Mariners? Again the only answer is that we have appeared to missed an opportunity. What will CF do to ensure there is a lead time they can work with and what other plans do they have to create opportunities for the U17-20 ACT players? There are no answers to these questions in the CF response, which is shame because that was the purpose of the Post.

“….The selection of the teams to play the Mariners this time round was actually very simple. Canberra FC, as the pre-eminent force in the Rock Premier League and the fact that they have a superb stadium with floodlights of course, as you mentioned in your blog, fit the criteria. Belconnen United was selected as the second team as originally, back in 2007 it was they who forged the initial links with the Mariners and indeed played the first match against them on 1st July 2007. Since then the match with the Blue Devils has become an annual fixture on the calendar whenever the Mariners come to town. Current form wasn’t taken into consideration when this decision was made…..”

Not sure why this was part of the CF response as I believe I acknowledged these matters in my original Post. Obvious really.

And finally – it has been suggested to me by a CF spokesperson that this Post is “negative”. Now that's a bit rich! I believe I made it clear that these were fixtures I would support, indeed, said I would be at the games. Again, check the title of the Post “As Good As It Is - Have We Missed An Opportunity Here?”

Two things – it’s a good thing that these games are happening and could we have done more with the opportunity when it presented. I conclude that two weeks notice ( not including any earlier discussions) is currently beyond Capital Football's operational capability at this point in time. And that is the problem, isn't it? We all agree that an ACT Youth League style team game is a good idea, but we can't make it happen to take advantage of a two week notice of an impending visit and playing opportunity. That needs to be fixed - not accepted as the status quo.

There is nothing negative in my Post in respect of the fixtures that will be played – but there is a question. A question that will continue to be asked for as long as we do not have a coherent solution to the lack of a prospective pathway for our talented ACT U17 – 20 players – that tragic vacant space.

It seems to me we need to make the best of every opportunity presented to us and that implies a rate of staff effort in forward operational planning that can deal with these shorter notice opportunities.

We are permitted to question Capital Football decisions. This was not a complicated matter to contemplate. Harder to resolve – yes – all the big one are in my experience.

And now that I have asked a question on this matter it leads me to another – what decision making process was used in contemplating this potential playing opportunity and what is planned for the future in order to take advantage of these playing opportunites for our youth players?

When Is The Premier League The Premier League In The ACT???

Have you read the article in the Canberra Times today (22 June 2011 - Sport Section Page 22)? You should. Its a good piece of Football journalism and its about about our local game.

The title of the article is "Woden questions need to put back game against FC". The involvement by Capital Football is the key ingredient in this story.

The situation is simple - Canberra FC made application to make a tour to participate in an overseas tournament in Croatia during the PL season (they are there now). Capital Football said yes and further to that, rescheduled the PL game they would miss while on tour. It could have been two games and two Clubs affected, but one game is a bye for CFC. Importantly, the other Club affected, WVFC was not consulted by Capital Football during the decision making process, they were simply told of the outcome. The WVFC position was not known to the decision maker(s) at Capital Football, because they either forgot to ask them or felt it was not necessary to consult the other PL Club affected by the CFC application (in the context of the PL competition draw). What Premier League Club would be happy with the sitaution WVFC found itself in?

What follows from Capital Football's handling of this situation is not so simple or pleasing for Premier League Clubs.

Has anyone breached any competition or other related rules or regulations for the Premier League? Doesn't seem like it and WVFC aren't saying Canberra FC or Capital Football has done so.

At the heart of this issue is how well the matter was handled by Capital Football. Is this the right way for Capital Football to be doing business between Capital Football and Clubs on very important matters? Obviously Woden Valley FC don't think it is appropriate and I very much doubt other Premier League Club Presidents would have much sympathy with Capital Football's handling of the matter. It could be them next time.

Has Canberra FC done anything wrong - No! They asked and Capital Football gave them everything they wanted. Both WVFC and CFC maintain a good working relationship.

Nothing could illustrate more plainly than this matter, just how poor the communication / consultation can become between Capital Football and Clubs (in this case a Premier League Club) and just how much work needs to be done by Capital Football to come to grips with all aspects of the most senior level of Football in the ACT region - Premier League Football - Men's and Women's.

Some Junior Clubs have similiar concerns for the state of communication with Capital Football. Not for nothing did those who successfully sort election to the Capital Football Board make it clear that communication with the Club was a top priority. It was good to hear. The CEO made some similiar utterances and the Captial Football staff were all present and correct! So who is not getting the message?

The response by the CEO Capital Football in the Canberra Times (see article below) is very disappointing and unlikely to either convince or satisfy anyone who cares to examine this matter closely and asks one simple question - "When is the Premier League the Premier League in the ACT?" Or as one one colleague in Football preferred "How hard would it be to consult and communicate in advance with the other Club affected by any decision by Capital Football?" My response to that was - "only if you don't want have to deal with the response."

This could have been handled so much better and should have been. How hard would it have been to extend Woden Valley FC the ordinary courtesies? Too hard it seems and yet, the CEO seems inclined to go on the front foot in the Canberra Times and attempt to make WVFC seem unreasonable. How do you build communication, trust and co-operation on that basis? I can see the WVFC Womens officials nodding their agreement with the WVFC Mens PL Co-ordinator and then shaking their heads, wondering when this will stop.

But I digress! This matter (subject of the CT article) involves two good Mens Premier League Football Clubs. There is no difficulty between the Clubs - lets be clear on that score and any suggestion to the contrary should be treated with caution and suspicion on this matter.

As is often the case, there are unintended consequences arising from lack of consultation.

Here is another one that that has arisen in WVFC discussions from the original action by Capital Football. When the PL16, PL18 and PPL games are played this weekend between the two Clubs, it will be interesting to see if those CFC PL players who are not on tour (and there are several), will play in the PPL. Now that would raise further concerns for WVFC (and other clubs when they contemplate the situation). Would it be fair for CFC to use these players in the PPL game if they are eligible to play (competition rules prevail here)? Perhaps there has been discussion between CFC and Capital Football on this issue arising, but as there was no consultation between Capital Football and WVFC before a final decision was made on the tour approval and scheduled PL game, WVFC was unable to address this possibility of this additional  matter. One wonders whether this even crossed the Capital Football CEO's mind at the time. Difficult to do so now between the Clubs. Its a delicate matter. I guess we find out on Sunday.

One thing must be said - the Premier League draw must be viewed as something of high importance, not something you make sweeping changes to without careful consultation, an underpinning document that is generally set in cement and only altered if there is no detriment to any Club. Once the season is under way, Clubs train, compete, meet obligations to sponsors, make their plans, generate income and develop their competitiveness on the basis of that draw. That's why proposed changes to a PL draw anywhere in the world are met with careful discussion between ALL the parties. That's the way it should be in the Capital Football Premier League. But it seems it is not! Why?

The CEO Capital Football would probably argue that any changes to the PL draw is an "operational" matter and that the competition rules provide for the Mens League Manager / CEO make the decisions. That may well be the problem. Seems to be in this case - but only if you think it appropriate for Capital Football to have consulted with both Clubs. I do and I should think every other PL Club would feel the same way - and on this point alone, the CEO's defence of this discourtesy to WVFC, is absolutely skewered! This was so avoidable.

Then you ask yourself - where does the Mens Standing Advisory Committee fit into this picture? If they don't they should. A matter of this signifcance should have been referred to the MSAC, it is within their remit. Do the Regional Representatives (South) fit into the picture and having read the CT article I would hope they have contacted WVFC to render assistance and that WVFC ask that this matter be referred to .... who? Yes, a problem there I think! The Mens League Manager or the CEO? Hmmm by the CEO's response that doesn't seem like a good idea. So, as the Regional reps sit on the CF Board, perhaps its time to have the matter elevated to the next Board meeting. I can just imagine how that will cause the emails and mobile phones to buzz in an effort to see it doesn't happen. And maybe that's also part of the communication problem between Capital Football and Clubs.

None of this noise should prevent WVFC from doing what they can to see that future matters are dealt with in a more open and collaborative and consultative manner.

A NPL follower called to remind the NPL that there was a recent difficulty between WVFC Womens PL concerning a proposed later start time in a recent game with ANU. The reason given for the request by WVFC was that it would give time for ACTAS players who had the ACTAS coach's approval to play a whole or part of the PL game with WVFC to make it to the game (they were coming back from Goulburn). And heaven knows, WVFC has taken a lot of stick from Capital Football over the availability of their ACTAS players. The request was denied and WVFC Womens felt they had probably been unfairly handled on the matter (again), a matter that seemed the very epitome of "operation" decision making. As it turned out, it seems ANU would have been advantaged by a later start that day as they had players arriving after the scheduled game start time. Now its worth remembering that the structure inside the Capital Football organisation ensure that Mens and Womens Premier League Football is managed by different staff. Makes you wonder!

But back to the substance of the CT article in todays edition. What was the decision making process that underpinned the decision to postpone the WVFC v CFC PL game? Was it made by the League Manager in conjunction with the CEO? Was the matter elevated to the Mens Standing Committee (the place the competition draw was settled) and if so, who in that committee considered the matter (and how did they meet, was it a telephone call from a CF staffer or CEO), and if not, why not? Did the matter get elevated to the Captial Football Board or was this considered to be a low level "operational matter". Well, if it was the latter, and it seems that is exactly how it was done - I suspect it will not be in the future and nor should it be. Important decisions need to be visible, defendable and auditable - not simply "advised" after the decision is made.

So many questions and a number of them seem to touch on that important distinction between governance and operational matters. Lets have a full and forensic accounting of this one. It further illuminates another compelling issue in front of Capital Football Board - is the Capital Football operational structure now appropriate to the business? I would suggest not and it would seem that thought is shared by others with whom I have been in conversation at Capital Football and in some Clubs. The absence of an operational entity to deal exclusively with the Mens and Womens Premier League (jointly) is a case in point. Its holding the back the development of the Premier League.

How quickly this escalates once you start to think about it and how it affects your Club.

The spotlight now seems to be set squarely on Capital Football and the comments in the article in the Canberra Times, attributed to the CEO Capital Football have ensured that this is one matter than will escalate - but not between the two Clubs.

Just unbelievable, a really poor example of sports administration.

Appeals to the correct application of the rules, risk setting aside the need to contemplate what is best going forward for the integrity of the Premier League.  If you like - the difference between the "letter" and the "spirit" of these rules. This was one matter that was never going to be decided on a simple application of rules as they exist and most definitely not without both Clubs affected by the matter, being consulted in advance of the decision by Capital Football. How did they miss that one?

And then there is the very unfortunate reference in the CT article by the CEO Capital Football to approval given to Junior Football Club teams to tour overseas during the playing season (specifically WVSC). Unbelievable!  Junior Football is all about "DEVELOPMENT" , it is not Premier League Football and indeed, the Club(s) concerned do not send PL16 or PL18 teams overseas during the season. There is one exception in the past - the ACTAS mens teams (U14- U16 players) which plays in our Premier League at an appropriate level and it is a tour which is also for developmental purposes and everyone understands that requirement. It was wrong of the CEO Capital Football to throw this at WVFC and an apology to both WVSC and WVFC would bean appropriate course of action.

You do not judge Junior Football by the same standards (in relation to this and technical matters) as you do the Premier League. The entire National Football Curriculum and Development Plans makes this abundantly clear. How could any Capital Football representative seem to fail comprehend this important distinction, much less appear to use it as justification for a decision in the Premier League situation described in the Canberra Times article? Makes no sense at all and indeed, only inflames an already unsatisfactory situation. Its unlikely to be forgotten in a hurry.

The WVFC PL Co-ordinator, a hard working, respected, fair dealing and very experienced Club official quoted in the CT article, has been told that he should expect a call from Capital Football. I hope it is to apologise, because there is not much point in ringing him or anyone else in WVFC to tell them WVFC has got it wrong.

Will Woden Valley FC make representations to the Capital Football Board to ensure this situation is not handled in this fashion again in the Premier League? I hope so. If they did, it would be a good service to the conduct of game in the ACT.

Will this situation attract the President of Capital Football and the Board members, including the Regional Representatives? It should and as a matter of urgency.

So just in case you haven't a copy to hand, here is the article from the Canberra Times:

Woden questions need to put back game against FC



BY DAVID POLKINGHORNE, SOCCER
22 Jun, 2011 08:20 AM


Woden Valley has questioned the appropriateness of Capital Football's decision to reschedule this weekend's men's premier league clash with all-conquering Canberra FC.
Canberra FC flew out on Monday to play in the Croatian World Club Championship and will return in 2 weeks.
The championships are held every four years and FC was runner-up at the 2007 tournament, losing 2-1 in the final to Canadian club CNSC Toronto Croatia.
While away, Canberra was only scheduled to play Woden, the game pushed back to a mid-week clash on August3.
Woden premier league manager Mike Swan said FC had the depth to cover the absence and the fixture should have gone ahead as planned.
Not all of the senior squad has gone to Croatia, with Adam Spaleta arguably the best player in the competition and John Glass both unable to make the trip.
Swan believed a team could have been built around those two with the addition of reserve-grade players.
''Canberra FC is such a strong club ... that they could field a very competitive first-grade side,'' he said.
''...They might lose, well they might have to put up with what every other club puts up with every week at their hands.''
He said the rescheduling put Woden in a difficult position.
Capital Football chief executive officer Heather Reid said Woden Valley had agreed to the rescheduling.
''It's not like half a dozen of their players were out to attend a wedding, or they're all heading down the coast,'' she said.
''This is quite a legitimate reason and Canberra FC will be representing the national capital at that tournament so we would do what we could to assist.''
But Swan said the club was ''told'' about the change via email rather than asked.
Reid also pointed out that Woden Valley was sending an under-14 girls team to Europe to play in tournaments in Sweden and Denmark in July and had also been allowed to reschedule games.
The Woden Valley senior and junior clubs are separate entities and Swan said there was a distinct difference between junior soccer and the premier league.
''This is first-grade football we're dealing with here, it's not kids football,'' he said. ''... I don't think it would happen in the other [football] codes and I question whether it should happen here.''
Swan said Woden had no issues with Canberra FC, which had been extremely helpful in the rescheduling.
FC coach Rob Graham, who also couldn't make the trip, said it was a great opportunity for his team to play against some quality sides.
''They're going across to play a very high standard of football ... as a coach you should be encouraging your teams to be playing in the highest standard they can,'' Graham said.

NPL and CEO Capital Football Discuss Some Football Issues - Part 2

This program is broadcast on 2xxfm (98.3mhz), across the Australian Community Radio Network, on Tuesday at 7:00PM.

The Mens and Womens Premier League competitions are underway.

In the Womens PL its Belconnen United, Woden Valley FC  and Western Creek that have jumped out to an early lead. Woden Valley has made a particularly impressive start with wins across all grades in the last two rounds, including undefeated records after five rounds for the PL Reserves and PL18s. They are very closely followed by Belconnen United. The two powerhouses in Womens PL football at this time.

The Mens Premier League has completed two rounds and already there are alarm bells ringing. CFC are dominant, although Canberra City came as close as anyone has in 2011 with a 4-2 scoreline against them. Woden Valley FC has been triumphant in all four grades in the first two rounds, a remarkable achievement so early in the season. Cooma has had a very disappointing start by their high standards. Olympic's very impressive young roster is playing fine football and are a serious problme for every club.

But the alarm bells that are ringing loud and long, signal trouble for two PL clubs. Goulburn Strikers are doing it tough and we covered that story last week. Nevertheless, they are contesting every grade, just as they said they would and got their first win in PL18 over Monaro.

Monaro Panthers are in real trouble and it's difficult to know how they got themselves into this position – their PL18 side is simply not to PL standard – by a considerable margin. What preparation did the club do in the off season to construct their team? I understand that they had to start the game against the Strikers with less than a full team. Advertisements now appear on the Capital Football website for players. This is in sharp contrast to the Monaro PL16 team which is very competitive.

It seems to me that the Panthers are more strife than the Strikers. Will Monaro be able to continue to field a PL18 team for the season, because if it unable to do so, will this bring the Clubs involvement in the PL to a premature end? I sincerely hope not – but it is a requirement of the licence to field teams in all grades.

The Strikers and the Panthers have serious deficiencies in their playing strengths. It is most unlikely that either club will be able to resolve these deficiencies for the remainder of 2011 season. The worst case scenario is that one or both find it impossible to continue to field a team in one of the required PL grades. The next worst case is that the losses become more pronounced, which in turn brings other in-season problems for a struggling club.

Each club poses different problems for Capital Football. If Capital Football intends to do something – best its done now and not later. The question is – how flexible will CF be in these matters – because we certainly don’t want to loose either club to the PL, but the weekly destruction of a team is of no value to the PL at any level.

Just how well informed is the Mens League Advisory Committee, what did they glean from any club debriefs they held at the end of the 2010 season, how much homework did they do in the off season and is this committee sufficiently able to manage the Premier League on a continuing basis?

The CF committee appointed to review and recommend PL licences, concluded its work in 2009, so there is not much point in looking back to their work for answers. Things have moved on, and things have changed as they do, which brings us back to the usefulness of the Mens League Advisory committee. And to whom is this advisory committee really accountable? All the other PL clubs? These early but serious stumbles by two of the new Clubs to the PL, together with other important football related club matters, that demonstrate just how important it now is to have the Mens and Womens Premier Leagues managed as a separate entity.

For now, the Strikers and Monaro seem to require some flexible and practical assistance. Looking for new players of the appropriate standard in the ACT is the least likely solution.

All this fits nicely into the continuing discussion the NPL had with the CEO CF.

We continue with Part 2 of this discussion. Remember it’s a discussion, not question and answer. We continue with what seems to be the Womens PL, ACTAS players availability and so on. But its more than that. This discussion goes in its way to the heart of football problems between clubs and CF – consultation or lack of it, competition rules that may or may not be helpful going forward, the rights of players to determine which PL club they wish to play for, how much should CF involve itself in the regulation of players participation in club football, the differing philosophies of the PL clubs, does the CF structure for communication (Club Pres / Regional reps / Standing Committees and so) really work and what is a reasonable level of consultation, how effective and acocuntable are the advisory committees and to whom, how often do these committees meet and with whom do they confer and report, why are Junior clubs limited to one Div 1 team ar age if they have more than one team at the appropriate standard at a time when we are trying to build capacity among talented players not restrict it, what is CF prepared to do to prevent the wholesale poaching of young teams by clubs, if clubs have responsibilities to ACTAS what responsibility does ACTAS have to Clubs (and in particular PL coaches), what happens to players post ACTAS, the impact of the national curriculum and development plan and the increasing roles that junior and PL clubs must play in this process and so on and so on.

You make up your own mind on these matters.

For myself, I think CF has a lot of hard work to do around the issues of communication and consultation with clubs. They seem to be too reactive and not proactive - the Strikers and Panthers Pl predicaments are cases in point. Then their are the Womens Pl issues and Junior clubs issues. I very much doubt the league standing committees have been as consultative and inclusive, as might have been best for the development of the game, and that’s heavy lead to carry in the saddlebags. It seems to me that the CF organisational structure is now not best placed to handle the increasing needs of a PL competition.

Its against all this that the CEO and the NPL speak. As ever, the NPL is pleased the CEO Heather Reid is prepared to talk of these and other matters.

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Goulburn Strikers FC Are Here To Stay!

This program was broadcast on 2xxfm (98.3mhz) across the Australian Community Radio Network, on Tuesday, 3 May 2011 at 7:00PM.

This program is given to the Goulburn Strikers participation in the Capital Football Premier League.

It’s no secret that the Strikers have had a hard start to the 2011 season, with some big losses in the pre-season Federation Cup and the extra-ordinary misfortune of meeting CFC in the opening round of the 2011 competition, loosing all grades and amassing a total of 70 goals against themselves. It must have been a long drive back to Goulburn.

In fact, the Goulburn Strikers have been experiencing difficulties since the middle of the 2010 season, their first season in the Premier League, following a stellar start to the entry to the CF Premier League at the commencement of the 2010 Federation Cup. Who can forget their game against CFC in the Fed Cup final, the very team that handed out a such a hiding last weekend. But my guess is that CFC will hand out double digit defeats to a few PL teams this season and the Strikers are likely to find themselves in good company before the season is over. But that’s another story and doesn’t help the Strikers become more competitive in 2011.

Perhaps the troubling aspect of the Strikers First round in 2011 is that scope / magnitude of the defeats across all four PL grades. That got everyone’s attention among the other Premier League Clubs last Sunday. It wasn’t pretty. The trouble that beset the Strikers in the latter half of 2010, was more than any Club should endure and ravaged their playing rosters.

What will Capital Football do about this situation was the most frequent comment last Sunday on the sidelines and subsequently among many the Premier League Football community. This thought ran in close company with another – this is not good for the other Premier League clubs and surely the Strikers will not be able to sustain repeated severe losses across the grades. Premier League Club officials, supporters and players who had gone through tough times themselves at their Club in past seasons, had no doubt how hard the road would be in front of the Strikers.

There is a lot of goodwill for the Strikers among the Football community. And that brings the discussion and spotlight back on Capital Football.

This is a very sensitive matter and a substantial test for Capital Football going forward. How accommodating and flexible can Capital Football or will Capital Football be in this matter. How much wiggle room do the Strikers feel they have going forward with a season just begun? Its important to understand the Football environment in which the Goulburn Strikers exist and it’s not like any other I have encountered.

Easy to conclude that the Strikers should not be in the PL. And if that is your conclusion, I think you are wrong.

We must persevere with the strikers and by that I don’t mean go easy on them.

As the scores came in from Deakin on Sunday, some wise Club Football people began to think and communicate on the subject of how CF could help the Strikers remain in Premier League. One thought from a former Club President showed just how smart and pragmatic some of our Club people are: perhaps Capital Football could make the necessary adjustments to competition rules and licence provisions, and excuse them from the Premier League level and allow them to reorganise to play PL Pathways, PL18 and PL16 in 2011 and until they are ready to be competitive in the top level in Premier League. So simple and so pragmatic. But of course, this discussion was without the benefit of knowing how the Strikers might feel about things. Those speaking seem to all agreed that Capital Football should take the initiative and create circumstances that can keep the Strikers in the Premier League, without regard to competition rules – rules can be changed.

This discussion gave rise to an interesting point, one that is a sore point among the personnel of the two clubs in this football discussion – has Capital Football asked the other Premier League Clubs how they feel about the Strikers predicament? Consultation! Not likely was the view. Pity, I thought, because I don’t know of one club that wouldn’t want to help if they could. But how do they get into a discussion that also affects their Football future this season and into the future?

Consider the strategic implications for Capital Football implicit in the Goulburn Strikers continuation in the Capital Football Premier League. As the President, Tim McGrath, says – “Goulburn is the Campbelltown of Canberra.” I wonder why the STFA just doesn’t simply leave NSW and join Capital Football. Perhaps that’s something the CF Board could turn its mind too.

There are numerous strengths to the Strikers organisation and their regional representation (southern tablelands) is something that must be maintained through these early years. They sit across a wide player attachment area and give absolute priority to the development and promotion of the home grown player in a region that is poorly serviced by Football NSW. The Strikers are financially sound, have a robust and experienced committee, strong community support and sponsorship, and teams well coached. Their constitution specifically precludes payments to players, over the ordinary reimbursement of costs. All this and more does nothing to immediately make the 2011 playing roster more robust, but it does provide a precious base for future success. They are exactly the sort of community based club we want in the Premier League.

The Goulburn Strikers have endured the off season from hell. The drama around the departure of their coach and the subsequent departure of a number of senior players, seems to sit at the heart of the problems. It also included the closure of the club website. Very unpleasant stuff.

And then - only today I was told that the Goulburn (STFA) U15 Boys (it has been referred to as a “rep team of players from the region that would have played in the local competition) had moved to what I have been told is a Canberra based Premier League club for 2011. The President of Strikers confirmed that this is so, but thought it might be Queanbeyan, who also play in the CF competitions – but are no longer a PL club). As if it wasn’t hard enough for the Strikers! I hope these young players haven’t been poached and return to Strikers next year. No doubt they would have been an important influence on the Club’s PL16 playing roster for 2011 had they remained. Surely Capital Football (and the relevant Standing committees) understood the implications of this undertaking and if so, why did they agree to it? This is not the first time this sort of thing has happened to CF PL clubs and it’s a real shame that CF does nothing to discourage it from happening. Capital Football seem to be quick enough to make rules and pursue other far less important matters.

If you think you know what happened to the GS in the off season, I’ll bet you don’t, I don’t think the CEO CF did until CF met with the GS last week. If Capital Football (including the League Standing Committee) did comprehend the difficulties that the Goulburn Strikers were encountering in late 2010, why did they not intervene, consult with and provide guidance and/or assistance? Probably because they just didn’t join the dots.

Fortunately, the Goulburn Strikers have moved on, they are not looking for handouts, they are concentrating on retaining their Premier League licence at the end 2012. They are a PL Club that is sticking with the principles which underpin their Clubs foundation. But this is far from over for this Club and there must be something that can be done to assist that gives hope for this season and importantly, 2012.

We begin with an extract from a discussion I had with the CEO CF – just prior to a meeting CF had with the GS. Then it’s on to the Pres of GS, Tim McGrath. You’ll be impressed by this fellow. Take him at his word.

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Winds Of Change Begin To Blow at the Capital Football AGM

Capital Football held its Annual General Meeting (AGM) last night.

Three Board members positions had been declared vacant (their time had expired and they had to be relected in order to remain on the Board). There were two new people who had nominated for election to the Board. A ballot would therefore, have to be held to establish who would fill the three vacant positions. As they say "game on'!

The voting is done by the current Board members and elected Zone Representatives. A small group. Clubs do not get a vote in this process. That's teh way the consitution is written.

The public can attend. You would expect some of the Football commnity to attend - few do. You would think Clubs would send a representative to attend - few do. I guess some Clubs woould feel that if they can't vote why turn up. I'll get back to Clubs.

All the Capital Football staff attended, indeed, they were the majority in the audience. Curious that, but then, they too are part of the football public, they certainly are at an AGM. From where I sat, a roll call for attendance at the AGM looked like this:

• All Board members attended (probably the best result they have had in a while given the attendance record of a couple listed in the Annual report.)
• Not all Zone reps attended (majority did)
• Only two Clubs (Tuggeranong United and Monaro Panthers) had representatives in the audience.
• The audience numbered 12 persons, 7 of whom were CF staff. One fellow left early, he was sitting next to me, there was a quiet but audible groan and he got up - the combination of the financial report and the CEO's report seemed to do him in, which is a pity because some fo the dicsussion that followed was well worth listening too. The Football public can be so fickle!

I thought the lack of represntation by the Clubs was simply very disappointing.  Now some Clubs were represented by the Zone representatives, who are themselves are office bearrers at thier club (eg Belconnen United, Western Creek, Woden Valley juniors). But the rest were conspicious by their absence. Where were the Premier League clubs and the Junior Clubs? Not good enough. Not when you have legitmate concerns in Football and express them elsewhere. This was Clubland's chance to put these matters on the table, recorded in the minutes. Make the Board, Zone reps and CEO sit and listen till you had talked yourself to a stnadstill. The role of the Zone rep is not entirely clear, Evolving" was teh word used by one Zone rep, which is true. Much more could and should be done by Capital Football to make this process work for Clubs. At the moment, it keeps the Clubs at arms distance form the orgainsation and Board. That's not good for the development of the game.

The thing that gets me is that the complaints you hear at Clubs are signficant (from their perspective) - for example -  "Capital Football" doesn't consult, they don't communicate, they are only interested in the talented players, they atek too much money and what do we get in return, never seen techncial development at our Club, the Womens' game gets too much, they don;t know what it costs to run Premier League football at Club level, they don;t listen to concerns at Club level, they keep too much secret, we they don't get much from Captial Football from one year to the next, when did you last see a Board member at  Premier League game and so on and so on..". Too many to list here. The dialogue is vibrant at CLub level. There is a remarkable pool of talent across all the disciplines / professions among players and parents at Clubs and with that, a lot of good ideas. But you ahev to have a dialogue - both ways - for things to work. AT the present time its seems to be broken both ways.

What message does your Club send to the Capital Football Board, the CEO and staff if your Club makes no effort at all to enagage in forums like the AGM? Without your input CF will definately get things wrong more often, because with the best will in the world, your lack of engagement means they get isolated. Their conversations about the things that impact on your Club are discussed among themsleves. You risk placing them in the position of having themsleves for the Football client. In these circumstances we all risk sub optimal outcomes, things stay the same, group think predominates. We get what we deserve sometimes, and sometimes we get more than we deserve - both are true around Capital Football and your Club(s). But have a good look at yourself and your Club before you hurl the next brickbat. Not bloody good enough, not by half!

But I digress, back to the AGM -  there was a wind of change in the air before the AGM opened. There was every reason to think change was afoot.

Well, this is a wind that seems to have been blowing gently since the last AGM.

The twitter around the grounds and among club officials seemed to be predominantly  one of dissatisfaction with "Capital Football", that easy phrase which captures, often unfairly for some, all Board members, CEO and staff. There are lots of opinions in Football, lots of passion, Clubs have their own view of the world and Football is currently in a process of fundamental reform through the FFA, particularly now in the areas of the National Curriculum and National Development plan. We have some hard problems to resolve here in the ACT, particularly around the provision of good playing facitlties for ever increasing participation rates in the ACT region and the development of players. The challenege is to create a meaningful dialogue with the Clubs,  as President Belconnen United and Zone Rep, Mark O'Niell, ever the forward thinker, pointed out during the meeting. A view that was clearly shared by several of his Member colleagues.

The Capital Football Annual report was tabled and it tells a tale of progress and limitation, and if you look closely, the imposing scope of the task to build our game in the ACT.  Dots points, graphs, good news aplenty, how many times did the Board members attend Board meeting that year (hmmmm!), everyone thanking everyone for all the work, and always, a financial report that is definately worth discussion for the insights and understandings it brings when words elsewhere in the report just don't seem to bring enough clarity. The Treasurer answered questions in an energetic, candid and informative fashion and that helped a great deal.

Then came the election.

Three Board member positions were declared vacant and candidates nominated for election /re-election. The outgoing members all re-nominated and importantly, two new candidates made themselves available for election to the Board.

The nominees for the Board were

• Alan Bradbury (former Director)
• John Logue (former President)
• Racheal Harrigan (former Director)
• James Selby (new nominee)
• Eddie Senatore (new nominee)

 The nominees were asked to speak to the Members at the table. To give their pitch for a position on the Board. Bradbury and Logue spoke of the past and they obviouisly had a lot to be proud of in their work over many years in Football and with CF. John Logue has a massive history in Football in the ACT, a voice of reasonableness in difficult times, and he could certainly claim to have seen much of the worst of some of Football adminstration. Harrigan spoke passionately of the future, work with the Kanga Cup and of her strategic interest going forward. Senatore and Selby were a breathe of fresh air, different, but clearly seemed to bring something new to the table. Selby was an impressive speaker and has considerble experience in sports adminstration, which seemed highly relevant to the needs of the CF Board.  Senatore seemed to capture the audience with his no nonesense catalogue of professional achievements, depth of exeperience immediately transferrable to the CF Board, strategic business and sports experience and his focuss on communication with Clubs. A formidable skill set that seemed highly desirable to the CF Board.

The wind had turned into a gust!

There were some good options on the table. The members appeared to go with an eye for the future change over the next four years. The successful candidates for the CF Board are;

• Racheal Harrigan
• James Selby
• Eddie Senatore

The position of President of the CF Board is resolved by a separate ballot among the Board members, time not yet known. Three people appear to have something to recommend for this important role. Maybury looks to be too good a treasurer to loose. Harrigan's passion is highly commendable and so necessary. But for me, they could do no better than the newly elected Eddie Senatore, who has considerable experience in this role in other important community organisations (eg St Edmunds College).

My one thought as I walked to the car. If you have a broom, might as well use it!

I suspect this is only the start of a new era at Capital Football. An opportunity for Captial Football to reinvent itself to meet new challenges. I expect it to be a very productive one in the years ahead and a lively tweleve months in front of us.. More power to them I say.

Its the Vision Thing You know! Its Time To Think Big About Community Football and Futsal Faciltities in the ACT

It seems that the NPL has stirred a hornet's nest in some quarters at Capital Football.

Front and centre is the issue of owning our own Football and Futsal facilities in the ACT.

Lets start by reminding ourselves that it was a long term drought that saw many ACT Government community grass playing fields decommissioned, no water, no maintenance and left to decay to the point where they now require large investments to get them to playing standard. These open spaces have become very juicy targets for developers of medium density housing ("urban infill"??)

It seems that there is a view among some in Capital Football that Capital Football is not in the business of owning and maintaining football and Futsal facilities. It's such a completely underwhelming position. No hope and no vision for the future.

Capital Football, on behalf of the ACT Football community, provided a very significant proportion (50% +) for the  redevelopment of Hawker enclosed with a new FFA standard Tiger Turf surface. And what a terrific playing surface facility it is. So don't tell me we are not in the business of investing in something we can call our own and how much better would it be if we did "own" Hawker Enclosed?

But the next "Hawker" is said to be about five years down the track! Too slow. We need another six of these facilities in the next three years!

My response to that suggestion that Capital Football does not own / maintain facilities for Football is simply this - is what we are doing now working to the complete satisfaction for the Football and Futsal community in the ACT? A community that is growing faster than we can service demand with suitable playing surfaces, even for our Premier League teams. Is it happening with the speed and frequency necessary to sustain and build the game? Are we "future proofing" our game?

When we ask questions, the answer is always the same - we are talking to so and so in the ACT Government, their are plans for new playing fields in new suburbs, we had a meeting with so and so. All that ever seems to be spoken of is "process", the sort of stuff you just expect to be happening, but not firm, detailed outcomes.

Take the Hawker Enclosed example - after a fine first effort to redevelop the ground, where is the expansion capability at Hawker for the next ground or the Futsal Facility? There is real estate in that area, but no plans. So in the end, we have one isolated playing field. If you ever go to see the HPP squads and others training during the week, you'll quickly acknowledge the limitations of a "one field site" solution.

So we look elsewhere for ideas and inspiration. Do we do that? Valentine Park in metro NSW for Football NSW comes immediately to mind. What about that fantastic community Football  development in the London, home of Barnett FC, called "the Hive", a very recent development. There's a message here for Capital Football, but are they "on receive"? Is this sort of "vision" a bit too demanding? Here's a promo video for "The Hive":



We need some visionary, bold thinking for Football going forward in the ACT, particularly in the area of playing facilities.

The FFA launched a National Curriculum and a National Development Plan that is intended to influence every level of the game, particularly in the junior and youth age groups, boys and girls. How can these wonderfully praiseworthy initiatives by the FFA be supported in the ACT Region without bold strokes across the playing facilities requirements in our region?

What we are doing, is what we have always done. Its not good enough, never was! And that seems to be the where the thinking stops! Dare I raise the matter of the $26m of ACT Gov funds that escaped to AFL (in Sydney)!

Why don't we have a Football and Futsal Centre in the ACT where we could focus the game in our community, provide a number of first rate playing surfaces, a family friendly cafe, Football / Futsal shop, medical services, swimming pools, live in accommodation for visiting teams, just to name a few elements that come to mind. A place to cater to all levels of football development from ACTAS to Capital Football and Club development training, competitions across all age groups and levels from Junior to State League to Premier League, a place to focus the Kanga Cup and the FFA Futsal Nationals.

And why not two of them? Is this something that the ACT Government would be likely to be interested in? You bet! Why? Because its a plan that stands to continue to benefit all the Football community for many, many years to come. And ours is a very large sporting constituency.

If we had the flexibility with regard to playing facilities, delivered available and up to standard faciltties, we could, if we wanted to, completely restructure when and how we play our competitions during the year, giving both games a whole of year presence, without the constraints currently limiting the conduct of games in the ACT.What a fantastic thing it would be.

Why wouldn't Capital Football, together with the Clubs and in partnership with the ACT Government want to be a proud "owner" of this type of vision for Football and Futsal?

Every time we talk of doing something different with the scheduling of our game, we are told that the grounds are not available. And they are not, because we don't own or have any priority control over them! And nothing changes. So tell me why / how our present and long standing approach is making things better for the game in the ACT? Its not good enough in 2011 going forward.

So Capital Football - tell us what the plan is in detail!