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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