Letter from Chairman Greg O’Rourke – Standing Committees

Dear Members, 
Over recent years, Football NSW has continued to deliver on a significant change agenda for football in New South Wales, built on good governance and based around clear strategic goals to:

• Unify the game;
• Work with and support FFA in its National endeavours;
• Grow, develop and promote the game at all levels in NSW; and
• Work collaboratively and communicate effectively.

We have made much progress on many of these goals however there will always be more to be done.  To remain relevant to our participants and, importantly, to our future participants, the game at both a grassroots and an elite level must continue to evolve.
We have successfully delivered on our strategic growth agenda over the last three years whereby player participation is now 10% greater than it was in 2012, which was already the largest number of participants in any team sport in NSW. In simple numbers this is another 20,000 new players.  However this growth comes with new challenges in a society that also demands more of its service providers.  We need more opportunities in our pathways, more qualified coaches, more qualified referees, more playing fields and more professionalism in our administration.
The cornerstone of our success will be our ability to act as one across all levels of the game. The relationship between FFA and FNSW is stronger than ever, and it is our intention to further build relationships with the A-League clubs within our FNSW footprint. It is however most important that unity is demonstrated from within. Again we have come a long way but we have more investment to make in each other before we can truly be satisfied that we have a united and solid base. I am confident that this will be achieved in the near future.
Part of building a better future is an ability to listen, an ability to adapt and an ability to deliver change.  Earlier this year, the structure of two of our Standing Committees was challenged by stakeholders represented on those Standing Committees; namely, the Associations, who requested broader representation and input, and the National Premier League 1 Men’s Clubs, who requested a return to separate Standing Committees for each division of the National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s.
I am pleased to advise that, on 2 December 2015, the Football NSW Board unanimously approved amendments to FNSW’s By-Laws to give effect to the restructuring of FNSW’s Standing Committees to satisfy these requests as described in Lorenzo Crepaldi’s email to members on 9 November 2015.
Whilst the main changes to the By-Laws affect the Men’s Premier Competitions Standing Committee, the State Leagues Standing Committee and the Grassroots Standing Committee, other changes have also been made to the By-Laws to assist in the efficient operation of Standing Committees, Zone Councils (Association and Branch Boards) and the Inter-Club Zones as a whole.
In line with the feedback received, and to better reflect recent changes to the competitions structure for the 2016 season (and beyond), the Football NSW Board has agreed that structural changes will be made to the Men’s Premier Competitions Standing Committee and the State Leagues Standing Committee, with a return to four separate Standing Committees, to be representative of the four tiers of men’s competitions: NPL 1, NPL 2, NPL 3 and State League. 
In addition, in response to feedback received from a number of Associations, the Football NSW Board has agreed that the Grassroots Standing Committee will be renamed the “Associations Standing Committee”, with each metropolitan Association and each Branch to be represented directly on the Associations Standing Committee.
The Board is aligned with the view of our stakeholders that the restructured Standing Committees will achieve a closer engagement and greater connection with the broader football community and be better aligned to the strategic direction of our game and the changing dynamics, wants and needs of participants.
We also believe the new structure will significantly contribute to defining and delivering a better environment and value equation for all participants, including players, coaches, referees, administrators and the broader football community, and we look forward to working with these Standing Committees to optimise the experience within our membership.
We, therefore, attach the following documents to this letter for the information of members:

• Annexure A – Information Guide for Members, which sets out some of the key changes to the Standing Committees and to the By-Laws.  
• Annexure B – Standing Committee Member Nomination Guidelines, which calls for nominations from the football community for membership of the Standing Committees (with membership to have effect from 1 January 2016) and explains the nomination process that applies.

We encourage all members to read these documents, together with the new By-Laws, which can be found here.
The deadline for receipt of nominations is 10am on Monday, 14 December 2015.
Once the members of each Standing Committee have been confirmed, each Standing Committee will need to meet to elect one of their own as Chair and Deputy Chair of their Standing Committee.
Again, we wish to thank all members who have provided their feedback. Both the Board and senior management are committed to engaging with the broader football community with a common objective to ensure all members have a positive experience in participating in our game.  Many interesting stories are regularly updated on the Football NSW website and I encourage you to visit footballnsw.com.au to see our progress.
Kind Regards,
GREG O’ROURKE
Chairman, Football NSW Board
More information on the Standing Committees and details on how to nominate