Manly Warringah Football Association continuing to kick goals

With David Mason at the helm, grassroots football continues to thrive throughout the popular Manly Warringah Football Association catchment.

Following a four-year stint with Football Federation Australia, Mason was appointed CEO of the MWFA and Manly United FC back in July 2017.

After over two decades spent in roles at the Northern Spirit, Australian Olympic Committee, Sydney FC and the FFA, he has enjoyed applying a wealth of experience within the Australian sporting landscape to his local association.

“I think the advantage has been that I have worked across almost every level of the game, so I have an empathy for the entire sport rather than coming in with a narrow view,” Mason reflected.

“Being able to lean on people at higher and lower levels that I have made friendships over the years is an advantage as well.

“I feel it has all granted me a broader understanding of the whole ecosystem of the sport to be able to make decisions.”

With over 17 member clubs and 18,000 registered members from under 6’s to over 45’s, MWFA oversee a thriving hub of grassroots football that spans all the way from Mosman to Avalon.

Every season, the association continue to produce a conveyer-belt of successful sides in the Football NSW Champion of Champions, State Cup and FFA Cup competitions.

Locally, there was action aplenty at Cromer Park last Sunday where 32 junior Grand Final champions were declared throughout the facilities’ five pitches.

The day culminated in the U18/1’s final, where State Cup-winning outfit Forest Killarney picked up another piece of silverware after a dramatic penalty shootout under lights.

“A fantastic day was had by all,” Mason recalled.

“I think it’s the highlight of the season, seeing the smiles on faces when people win trophies, have medals hung around their necks and sing their teams songs.

“That’s what grassroots football is all about.”

Finals football rolls on this weekend, with the association hosting its Men’s, Girl’s and Women’s Grand Final fixtures at Cromer Park on Saturday and Sunday respectively.

Saturday will be headlined by the 5:30pm Premier League decider between Seaforth FC and Curl Curl FC, the same two clubs who met in the MWFA Cup final a few weeks ago.

The weekend is always standout time in the Northern Beaches footballing calendar, and Mason is expecting another wonderful collective occasion.

“It’s always a massive day crowd-wise and we get just as much enjoyment from watching the AL/9s run around as we do with the Premier League,” he said.

“We’re a participation-based grassroots sport and we try to put as much focus on every single competition.”

With large crowds expected, MWFA are utilising the opportunity to raise funds for a worthwhile cause.

This year, they have teamed up with Gotcha4Life, a Brookvale based foundation dedicated to combating men’s mental health issues.

“The last two years we have decided to get in touch with local charities that are connected to football.

“Last year was extremely successful in raising money for Richard Tombs after his accident.

“Gotcha4Life are doing some really great things in our local area in relation to men’s mental health, and it’s something that is important and real for both sporting participants and members of the community aged 14-40.

“It’s a fantastic cause that we’re excited to partner with this year.”

In his two years as CEO, Mason has overseen some exciting additions to the MWFA Men’s Premier League competition.

This season, a weekly ‘Game of the Round’ was scheduled for 6pm every Saturday night.

This granted all of the squads an opportunity to experience the glamorous facilities of Cromer Park, the home of Manly United FC, whilst attracting healthy sets of spectators.

“Cromer Park is a wonderful facility that is the home of sport on the Northern Beaches,” Mason explained.

“We try to fill it up with grassroots games as much as possible.

“We work really hard with the Northern Beaches Council to improve the facilities not just at Cromer Park but everywhere, and it is important that we get as many people playing games down there as possible.

“That’s how the idea of Saturday night Premier League games came about, and it has been really a successful addition.”

Premier League clubs continue to experience a period of exciting transition, as the competition plans to expand from ten to twelve teams ahead of the 2020 season.

This saw the Belrose-Terry Hills Raiders and Harbord Seasiders United earn automatic promotion from the AL/1s competition, whilst Manly Vale FC were granted a shot at Premier League status in a standalone playoff against top flight wooden-spooners Dee Why FC last week.

In a historic affair, the underdogs came up trumps as a dramatic late winner sparked remarkable scenes at Cromer Park.

Mason assured that with the revitalised competition format, there will be many more fireworks to come.

“Over the last few years some of our AL/1s sides have done well in our MWFA Cup competition, and we try to make our Premier League competition open to as many clubs as possible,” he added.

“We went through a twelve-month process where we put a working group together of AL/1 and Premier League players, coaches and administrators, and everyone agreed it was time to move to twelve teams.

“A part of that was to try and add in some more excitement at the end of the season.

“We had our first play-off last week and Manly Vale, the AL/1 team were successful in beating their Premier League opponents.

“It was a fantastic night down at Cromer and it goes to show that when there is something on the line, people will come out and watch.”

Earlier this year, a couple of MWFA’s clubs made waves in the FFA Cup Preliminary Rounds.

Dee Why FC produced two against-all-odds triumphs against State League opposition Balmain Tigers and Fraser Park, whilst Pittwater RSL FC took on the Wollongong Wolves in Round 6 of the competition.

Pittwater put up a courageous fight against the NPL NSW Premiers and led 1-0 until the final ten minutes, before a quick-fire brace from Wolves superstar Thomas James put a cruel end to their hopes.

“We encourage all of our grassroots clubs to enter the FFA Cup,” Mason said.

“I believe that for players of any level to aspire to do something outside of their own competition breeds excitement.

“The Pittwater and Dee Why guys got a thrill out of their results this year.

“For me the FFA Cup is the best thing that football has done in the last five or six years, and we encourage grassroots clubs to take advantage of that.”

Mason and the MWFA are also placing particular emphasis on growing the women’s grassroots game, where the association boasts over 6000 registered players.

“Our strategy for Women’s Premier League and AL/1 Competitions actually goes all the way down to our U/14s,” he explained.

“We want to try and encourage as many clubs as possible to aspire to play in the Premier League.

“This year, we have surveyed all girls aged 14-18, to try and find out from them what will make them continue to play football into the older age groups.

“We’re trying to make some fact-based decisions in the next couple of years so that we can further grow women’s football.“Our strategy for growth is the same both the women’s and men’s game: retention is more important than recruitment.”

Over the last three seasons, MWFA have successfully implemented the FFA Club Coach Coordinator (CCC) program; exemplifying their immense effort in driving community engagement on and off the field.

“One thing we’re really proud of our CCC program,” Mason said.

“Our strategy based around retention of players relies on giving them a good experience.

“All of the research suggests that the main driver of that positive experience is the coach.

“We’ve spent a lot of time on our CCC program, with an employee of the association whose sole job is to go around to the clubs and put in place systems which help educate and support their coaches.

“We are hoping that as a result more people would like to coach at a grassroots level, and the coaches in those roles are armed with the resources that allow them do so confidently and competently.”

By Football NSW Reporter Chris Curulli (Twitter handle @ChrisCurulli)