This program will be broadcast on 2xxfm (98.3mhz), Tuesday 1 March 2011 across the Australian Community Radio Network.
We begin the program with something for the Coaches as we navigate the pre-season (sourced from the ASC). A short description of the physiology of the athlete and how that must be considered in preparing a player(s) and as the season progresses, how to maintain peak fitness and performance. Gone are the days of run around the outside of the oval and don't worry about the footballs till later. If you have a coach doing this rubbish, get another coach or a new club.
Then its on to Part 2 of our interview with CEO Vikings Futsal, Alasdair Miller. The CEO talks a ittle more about the business model used by Vikings Futsal, the need for Futsal to secure its own playing facilities and a fascinating update on the impact of the floods/cyclone in Queensland and Victoria on Vikings Futsal operations. They got hit hard, but the game goes on! Nothing much stops the Vikings Futsal mob for long. The CEO just talks plain sense. Its refreshing. Wish others could do the same! For those that have asked whether Vikings have considered coming into the ACT - the CEO answers that question in this part of the interview.
We have precious little in the way of dedicated Futsal and Football playing facilities in the ACT, after so many years of running these sports. The difficulties this imposes on both games, at every level of the games, constitutes a major threat to the competitive viability of both games. Our flexibility to change how we organise Football and Futsal is very much limited by a lack of playing facilities, which we can control to effect change. The pressure from other sports on ACT Government public facilities drives what can be done for football. For futsal, we are int he hands of private owners who also service other sports. This must change if things are to improve.
Futsal has no home in the ACT. Nor does Football. We have no Futsal and Football complex in the ACT and our circumstances would indictae that this is the most obvious infrastructure development to be undertalen by Capital Football. The small but commendable introduction of a FIFA standard artificial surface at Hawker Enclosed is a step in the right direction, a beginning!
The Kambah 3 field is so often touted as the Capital Football centre for High Performance football - no one believes that! Not in its present confiuration. Not even close. However, there is no doubt that the Kambah fields area would make a fantastic multi playing surface hub for Football and Futsal. That's one view that has been around for a long time - and yet nothing has happened. Just talk! Same for the vacant space at Woden, near the Mawson playing fields. So much talk about it being a site for a FIFA standard playing surface (like Hawker enclosed) on the South Side of Canberra. Talk, talk, talk, inspection and wait, wait , wait. What's the plan, when and what will be done and where does the money come from? Is the ACT Government with us. We control nothing, we just wait for "crumbs from the master's table"! The artificial playing surfaces at Gold Creek High School are a terrific playing facility, alas, you need to take a long trek to a neighbouring field get to the toilets, as the school facilties are made available outside school hours.
We cannot rely on the good grace of the ACT Government. Nor should we. We should expect the ACT Government to be willing to make investments in the sport with the highest participation rate in the ACT. The tourism dollars generated by the Futsal Nationals and the Kanga Cup in the ACT, must be worth preserving and investing in. The AFL don't do anywhere near as much, nor are they likely too, but the sum contribution of nothing in the past and a bit in the future saw the ACt Government Minsters, Mr Barr, liberate $26 million over ten years ($2.6m per annum) from the Tourism and Chief Ministers respective buckets of public funds. So there is obvioulsy money around, just not much for Football or Futsal! And we accept it?
Alas, the departure of $26 million to the AFL, seems to have left Futsal and Football investment (in terms of ACT Government expenditure), high and dry! There has been no explanation from the CF Board as to the reason Football and Futsal missed a cut of this cake, nor did they go on the front foot and make a noise about it in the media. Its a subject that should be visited at the CF AGM. So, what's the plan now?
I know that Capital Football liaises with the ACT Government. So they should, as we are almost entirely dependent on the ACT Government for access to playing surfaces all over the ACT. The limitations on access to ACT Government playing surfaces (they are for they sports), menas that we are severely limited in how we can manage Football. As for Futsal, we hire facilties becasue we own nothing of our own - the wonderful "MPower Dome" facility is a good example of what can be done, but its not being by us!
The two ACT Football powerhouses of Belconnen United and Canberra FC own their playing surfaces and have developed good supporting infrastructure around them, while Capital Football, after all these years has established next nothing by way of a supporting playing infrastruture. Hawker Enclosed, as I have said, is a step in the right direction. It seems very unlikely that in the medium term, other ACT Football Clubs will do as Belco and CFC have done.
As to Futsal, we have three clubs in the ACT. The North and South Canberra Clubs are instruments of Capital Football, staffed by hard working volunteers, but in the contxt of this subject, little more than competition managers and venue co-ordinators. We shouldn't expect them by anything else. They don't raise and train teams. They are not like Belco or CFC. They have no capacity to do as say Vikings Futsal does when confronted with the same facilities issues. So its back to Capital Football. The other Club is Boomerangs FS and given the wonderful successes in the NSW Supa League, populated by creative, passionate, determined and business savvy people, they may turn out to be the savour of Futsal in the ACT on the subject of future Futsal facilites. I'll wager that had the Boomerangs FS been given a fraction of the ACT Government's grant to AFL, to sort out a playing centre for Futsal in the ACT, the solution to Futsal (if not Football's) infrastructre issues would already be solved and building begun.
If you go to metro NSW to play Futsal, you will find a robust Futsal environment and among the many Futsal Clubs, you will find community, NSW Government. Football NSW partnership arrangements and club Futsal owned / leased specific futsal facilties, and all this demonstrates is that it can be done and should be done. Same can be said for Football.
Its intersting to listen to the CEO Vikings Futsal talk about this important matter. Vikings know the value of creating Futsal specific facilties. This is a central activity in the Vikings Futsal business model. The CEO also speaks on other aspects of the Vikings approach to Futsal.
We desperately need a Football / Futsal centre, a hub for our sport(s). But who will do it? Does the FFA care? What's the plan Capital Football Board?
This program was broadcast on 2xxfm (98.3mhz), across teh Australian Community Radio Network on Tuesday, 22 February 2011 at 7:00PM.
This program is Part 1 of an interview with CEO Vikings Fustal, Alasdair Miller. This candid discussion is around many aspects of Futsal in 2011 and going forward, from the Vikings Futsal perspective.
We need to get one thing straight before the interview -Vikings Futsal is all about Futsal. No distractions. Futsal as a sport in its own right.
Vikings Futsal is not part of the FFA's Futsal arrangements, nor do they pretend to speak for all in Futsal. But there can be no doubt of one thing, Vikings Futsal is a very substantial presence in Australia, New Zealand and has grown some remakable links to our region and elswhere in the world of Futsal. The Vikings Futsal business model is well worth a close look. They know how to make Futsal work.
Vikings Futsal have done astonishing things in Futsal for a long time. Some say that Futsal would have been a lot less than it is in parts of Australia had Vikings not appeared and made things work. I have heard some say that Vikings are "only in it for the money". This has always struck me as ill informed and often disguising other agenda.
The Vikings Futsal business model seems to me to be first rate - they try to keep every dollar in the game - and they plough a lot back into the game. I stress - the sporting business model. Go back into archive on the NPL and have a listen to the Vikings CEO explain how they do it and why they do it. Hard to argue against it.
When we last spoke to the CEO Vikings, we spoke at some length of the "conflict" between the FFA / FFA Federation members and Vikings Futsal. The FFA has only recently (in terms of the time the game has been played) taken over Futsal through its member Federations. Of course, that does mean the FFA is the sole proprietor of Futsal, bu that's the way they would like it. Plenty would suggest that precious little funding is put to Futsal by the FFA. We don't exactly spend a lot on it here in the ACT - parents and players do that. We don't own a dedicated Futsal facility in the ACT to underpin the game, preferring instead to pay others for the facilites they build to accommodate our needs. As a result, we don;t have enough availbel facilities to train. Not good.
Both the FFA / Federation members and Vikings seem to be contesting the same sport for the same pool of players around the nation, with varying degrees of success. Its a bit hard to know the full story. Vikings are not in the ACT, never have been. In one respect that's a pity - we need their business model in this game.
As we know, Football NSW's Futsal teams (Thunder and Lightning as they call them) are almost completely dominat at the FFA Nationals these days. Its been heading that way for a few years. Changes to Futsal Nationals preparations for ACT teams may have slowed the decline, but 2011 saw us barely stay close to last years Nationals performance.
To this add the FFA's woeful record in relation to Futsal Coach Education in the ACT. There was just nothing availabe for the FFA that anyone at Capital Football could call upon. In the last two years their has been a modest attempt to run Coach education and a good thing it was, but it has barely scratched the surface. Mostly, we are Football coaches coaching Futsal. Vikings have always been strong in the conduct of Futsal coach education, as they have with support for referees. Point of difference.
The Football NSW Futsal competitions (Premier and Super Leagues) are incredibly strong local competitions, which probably eclispe all other State Federation competitions under the FFA banner (if I can put it that way). Not sure how this proposition holds up where Vikings are dominant or have a substantial competitive / participation precence. Again, hard to know for sure.
In the ACT, our domestic competition doesn't come close to the Football NSW Premier League or Supa League. We have only one Club that competes in the Football NSW Futsal Supa League - the Boomerangs. This was a priate intitiative by two committed Futsal Coaches from the ACt - they just got off the backsides and made it happen. And boy has it happened. They are going gangbusters and very close to being promoted to the Premier League for 2011/ 2012 season. They get precious little support to do this important Futsal development work for our young players. Vikings Futsal would in all probability take a different view and push their success - but that's just speculation on my part.
But back to the point of this Blog.
Futsal in NSW is dominated by the Football NSW Futsal organisation / competitions. They are strong and very competitive, week in week out. The proof is in their superior performance at the FFA Nationals.
Vikings appears to have had a very difficult time breaking into NSW to the degree it has in other States.
Vikings held their "Nationals" at the same time as the FFA Nationals. It did not go unremarked upon by some Futsal officials from various places during the FFA Nationals.
However, I did notice that Vikings televised (streamed) their Futsal Nationals competition, produced short video summaries of the finals for publication on the web and made video copies of each final (full game) available at a reasonable cost to anyone who is interested. The FFA did none of this for the patrons / players / parents for the finals. Makes you think.
The article below makes some intersting points. Time the NPL spoke to the CEO Vikings to get his point of view (and some ideas). Futsal in intersting times!
Vikings Futsal NSW in turmoil - Vikings struggling to increase their presence in NSW
By Kay EmmayPublished 8/12/2010
Vikings Futsal NSW is again in turmoil after the sudden departure of its NSW Manager, Phil Dolton, after only 5 months in the role.
Despite their formidable presence in QLD and NNSW, Vikings have struggled to establish clubs and build playing numbers in NSW. The appointment of Dolton, one of the most experienced Futsal administrators in this state, was seen by many as a strategic move to either gain a stronger foot hold in NSW or unify the sport & integrate the Vikings club into the FNSW structure.
After testing the system at the Australasian School Futsal Championships the Live Streaming Crew will be in Kuala Lumpur from October 26th streaming games from the 2010 Vikings World Futsal Championships.Games will be streamed at www.futsaltv.org and when the draw becomes available you will be able to follow the Kiwi’s live.NZFA CEO Paul Wadsworth has been involved in the setting up of Futsal TV and was in Brisbane for it’s lauch earlier this month. “The streaming now means our futsal fans and supporters can just go online and watch all the games”. “The only limitation is the upload speed of the internet connection in Kuala Lumpur but have been informed all is good, I expect large numbers from NZ to follow the men and women”.
5500 tuned in to watch the Australasian School Championships and it is expected many thousand more from around the world will take the chance to follow the games online.
To view the games go to http://www.futsaltv.org/
By popular request we have Part 1 of the interview the NPL did with CEO Vikings Futsal, Alastair Miller. This guy really thinks big and he and his organisation deliver the goods. This is one Futsal organistion, no, make that one sports orgainsation that really knows how to get itself organised and promote it's game to people. As a business model, Capital Football Board may wish to take a close look, get a few tips and do something truly inspirational for Football and Futsal in the ACT!
