Report from State Zones Presidents Meeting hosted by Football Queensland: includes mention of meeting with Connelly Project Resources Group (CPR)

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1 Report from State Zones Presidents Meeting hosted by Football Queensland: includes mention of meeting with Connelly Project Resources Group (CPR) Report by Jim Douglas, General Manager FCQ 4 November /29 October Meakin Road, Slacks Creek, Brisbane. Introduction This following represents a summary of the zone Presidents meeting held on 28 October at Football Queensland s offices in Brisbane. Both FCQ General Manager and zone representative Andrew Pelling were in attendance and have contributed to this final report. Questions submitted by the zone for consideration on the agenda clarification on new competition rules - were answered through specific presentations. With the knowledge that meeting minutes plus copies of presentations given will be forwarded this report is not to be read as a detailed account of events. Note that all zones were represented with the exception of North Queensland (Townsville). Some FQ board members were also in attendance. Agenda items 1. Welcome by President Greg Redington Included the introduction of new Chief Operating Officer Richard Griffiths who comes from an AFL background; helped set-up Western Sydney Giants after playing for the Melbourne club. Has strong background in sporting organisational governance and sees a big future in our sport. There was some discussion and an update on the governance issues with FFA recognising that much of what is being reported is not completely accurate. Mention of the (then) upcoming EGM (since postponed) and the difficulties faced by an organisation trying to balance a mix of commercial business interests and operating with volunteer models. The FQ AGM is set for 28 April Sponsor Success & Our Respective Properties Geoff Foster Geoff Foster gave a report on the sponsors secured by FQ for the coming season, with NAB and Total Tools new additions to the previously mentioned Oaks, Kappa and Aldi. Geoff mentioned that FQ had acquired 5 new staff to date, with growth in the Marketing department especially. Geoff explained that there were some conflicts between FFA and federations over sponsorships and that would need to be sorted out with zones as well so that there were no conflicts over intellectual property and sponsors in the future. Some links to referee development programs were mentioned. 3. Refereeing David Wiebe David gave a presentation that covered state development programs, sponsor benefits, resources and an explanation on the new sin bin rule. One of the benefits coming from sponsorship is the availability of new resources to aid referee development in regional areas of the state; referee coaches would be able to go into regional areas and spend more time delivering programs as well as be able to visit more regularly (e.g. a week at a time, 2 or 3 times a year); coaches would work with regional referee development officers in identifying need and developing programs [what about areas without a referee development officer?] A referee s academy is being established with about 50/70 ready to start; a full time Referee

2 Appointments Officer was going to be employed to look after the NPL matches and organising assessors. Monthly meetings with regional referee development officers are being touted to work out appropriate coaching programs. [Gold Coast zone stated their concerns that they would lose sponsors under the new state approved preferred apparel suppliers while also saying they were worried that resources would be lost if there was a shift in focus to helping regional zones] David explained the new Sin Bin rule: designed to help deal with dissent. 10% of total match time to be served after 1 yellow card for dissent while 2 yellows would still result in a red card being issued. Players cannot be temporarily replaced while they are in the sin bin which will start off as the bench in recognition of the fact that players need to try and keep warmed up. Education and guidance on what would result in a sin bin offence would clearly be needed. 4. Female Participation Yani Rajdev (marketing) and Sarah Walsh (ex-matildas) Yani gave an overall picture of the levels of female participation around the state in various age groups. Most female players were in the age range. CQ s numbers were up in the MiniRoos groups overall but down in the older age groups including seniors (about 10% down in total). The Gold Coast zone reported an overall participation increase of 34%; they attributed their success in recruiting to various strategies including setting up social 6 a side comps to attract women in the first place; there were various results from across the state with the worst being a 50% decrease in participation. Sarah Walsh gave a detailed presentation in two parts with the first focusing on the benefits to females playing sport to not just the players but also to overall club culture. She then showed a case study from Northern New South Wales and the Hunter region specifically. In 2011 this region had no stand alone women s/female teams. It now has 130 teams. Sarah explained that with 60/70% of all female players playing in the NPL there was a need to grow numbers across all community competitions. Clubs/zones should look at setting up MiniRoos fixtures for girls with the goal being to align directly with the W-League; trying to link in with schools is another strategy but not without its challenges as schools don t like to pay the registration fees; FNQ explained how they have combined 9s and 10s to create female fixtures while Mackay stated that one of the reasons for loss of players is no clear female pathway being in place. Questions were asked about the impact of other sports such as the AFL with the response being that the AFL grossly overstate their participation rates; for instance, they have about 33 thousand female participants while football has over 330 thousand. And to participate or be regarded as playing AFL, they count 6 week social or try out programs in their figures (means potential doubling up of numbers for players that then sign up) Many asked that FQ state that it endorses more efforts be put in to female participation with a clear program stated that could be used by zones to encourage clubs to grow the sport; FQ agreed. 5. Marketing update Blake Birt and Yani Rajdev Both speakers gave an overview of the 2017 Play Football advertising campaign including the key dates that radio and social media engagement were targeted. This in turn was linked to details of spikes and surges in registrations. (there were questions asked about making the correlation between the marketing and registrations as much of the spikes could be attributed to usual and traditional sign-on times) The 2018 campaign will again roll out in several phases starting with a focus on retention in January

3 and February (MFC is expected to be available for registrations from 3 January). The overall aim in 2018 is to strengthen MiniRoos with Kick-Off programs, especially in the area of female participation. Creating a positive football experience for girls was signalled as important with buddy initiatives and partnering with schools seen as two key components. Female Football week (8-19 March) will again be targeted while free coaching sessions will be offered for girls at FQ headquarters; clubs should also consider constructing female fitness programs to attract girls/women to the game. Referees will be encouraged to up skill and convert their level 4 achievements to full registration status while ex-players and past referees will be contacted about continuing in the game. Coaches will be assisted to complete their C Licence courses in recognition that over 300 people have not completed the final video component to date. A Community Coach of the month/year initiative will be rolled out in 2018 and mentoring between experienced coaches and less experienced ones will be promoted. Efforts will be made to tailor marketing to each zone s needs. Website: there is a new FQ website template that has been taken up by 5 zones to date [JD: some are working towards transitioning to it, such as FCQ] New design appropriates simple look and feel of Cricket Australia s site. Lots of work is being done in promotion of the NPL and new QPL competitions with efforts to incorporate video recording of matches and live streaming to expand. Competition change: there is recognition that the efforts of teams winning their leagues is not as celebrated as someone winning a grand final cup; therefore there will be more emphasis put on labelling league winners as Premiers while grand final/cup winners will be known as Cup Winners (Top 4 Cup). A Football Foundation Cup will feature each year with the Brisbane Premiers playing the Cup Winners (helps to fundraise for the foundation). 6. Brisbane Roar update Brendan Boss An update on the recent governance changes within Brisbane Roar was provided to the group with advice that a representative of the Indonesian owners would be more involved by being stationed in Brisbane. 7. CEO Update Geoff Foster Registration Fees & Budgetary Considerations: Geoff tabled the $2 FQ fee increase noting that it should raise about $140K to be used to help drive initiatives like referee development while trying to remain competitive in the pricing market for the sport. It was noted that this did not fully cover insurance premiums. (Some complaints from Far West QLD about feeling disenfranchised by not being engaged in the budgetary discussion process. This point was acknowledged with a proposal put forward to ensure that zones drive more of the AGM than has been done previously) NPL/QPL/NPLW & SAP Licences: rolled out and executed in following week State Championships: a new format for state championships had been approved by the FQ Board on 27 October (more details to follow). The new comp acknowledges the desire of FQ to protect players outside of the NPL/QPL advanced player pathway and present more players with opportunities to be recognized. Only community club registered players will be eligible to participate in what will be zone representative teams. Other points: All age groups from 12 to 18, including girls Invitation only so no obligation to either take part or enrol teams in all age groups

4 Takes place in June school holidays Zones can still have their own internal rep-type games can use for selection purposes Zones will set budgets and organize travel and accommodation no centralized costs Football Eco-System: no junior nationals for boys anymore after collapse of AIS program; identity for community players will be through the state championships; possible some states without an A-League presence will hold something similar to old national titles but there is nothing official being offered; being handed over to clubs and their academies, e.g. the Roar Academy is already identifying promising young players (Roar School of Football -20 sites not rolled out as the momentum for the initiative was impacted by Cyclone Debbie and the program didn t get much take up so it has been cancelled. Digital Update: SportsTG SportsTG was expected to be more advanced in being able to deliver more options for our sport but they will not be ready in time for next season therefore the existing structures and functionality will remain for the next 12 months. Under 12s Confirmation from 2018 that U12s will move from 11 a side to 9 a side document circulated by FQ They will play across a main field (about 70m x 50m or similar) or on a specially marked field. They will still be regarded as Competitive. There was some confusion about the offside rule and use of club referees; FQ gave the point of view that club referees and not a referee will be used as an official with so called passive offside (no deliberate standing in an offside position for instance). This is contrary to advice from head of referees. FQ conceded that where there were enough younger or qualified referees available these could be used but there would be no assistants needed. 8. Zone items Gold Coast raised the issue of clubs playing in a different zone competition: FQ advised to consult with them and discussing on a one by one basis There was a concern raised about how teams will be selected to represent the state now that the NPL/QPL have expanded FQ explained that Queensland may lose one of its 4 spots due to the admission of amateur leagues into the South Australian federation. A decision made at a national level. Their third point about a rep type program that zones could run for those not in NPL etc was answered through discussion of the state championships Brisbane asked about compulsory fees upon registration through MFC: this will not be possible in 2018 but may be available in 2019 through engagement of a third party aggregator that will collect the money and chase up non-payments; a suggestion was also put to include Get Started vouchers in the registration packages but issues about aligning dates was an issue. Mackay raised their concern about clubs running unsanctioned events such as carnivals; how can this be prevented and what is the process? FQ stated that clubs are not permitted to run unsanctioned events and that all events such as carnivals must be approved by the state. FQ advised Mackay to write to them and outline the exact issues and they will follow up with the clubs concerned. Brisbane asked FQ to send out clear advice to zones and all clubs about what can actually be run and what attracts the $15 social fee. 9. Connelly Project Resources Group (CPR): State Facility Audit CPR gave an update on what their survey gathering process had revealed to date with the commitment that a report from across the state would be forthcoming prior to Christmas After some general background, the group met with member zones across the weekend. FCQ was represented by Andrew

5 Pelling and Jim Douglas, meeting on Sunday 29 October. The meeting examined each club submission to the survey with only one club in the zone not submitting anything at all. The zone also responded to the survey with further details on the unique arrangements/needs in both Gladstone and Rockhampton provided to CPR face to face.