Capital Football presents growth story to FFA
Plans to expand the catchment of Capital Football beyond the borders of the ACT have been presented to an FFA delegation headed by FFA CEO Ben Buckley in Canberra this week.
Plans to expand the catchment of Capital Football beyond the borders of the ACT have been presented to an FFA delegation headed by FFA CEO Ben Buckley in Canberra this week.
The visit is part of a national consultation conducted by Ben Buckley with FFA-s Member Federations.
Capital Football chair Rachel Harrigan and CEO Heather Reid made the case for Canberra to be the centre of a hub that takes in a broader footprint to include Goulburn, Yass, Cooma and the far south coast.
The president of Goulburn Strikers, Tim McGrath, representing Goulburn-s 1,000+ football players, endorsed the idea at a forum of 60 people including Members, club presidents and administrators, who were briefed on FFA-s Strategic Plan for the 2011-15 period.
“These clubs are currently affiliated with Football NSW, but are obviously closer to Canberra and in the case of Goulburn currently play in Capital Football competitions.
“FFA is open to receiving a more detailed proposal and examining the idea in conjunction with Capital Football and Football NSW. We have a working group reviewing the current governance model and clearly in this case lines on a map don-t always make sense in the daily lives of Australia-s football community.”
“We believe this would benefit many of the regions of Southern NSW as well as Capital Football,” Rachel Harrigan noted.
“For the regions of Southern NSW, we can offer geographically closer competitions, and facilitate coach, player and referee development. For Capital Football such an initiative presents new entrants to our competitions which we believe will benefit all areas and provide improved pathways for our elite men and women.
Ben Buckley identified the proposed FFA Cup as a vehicle to test the idea. “It would make sense that Canberra would be the hub for area stretching from Albury and Wagga Wagga into what is regarded as Capital Country in terms of the early regional knock-out phase of the FFA Cup,” said Ben Buckley.
In his Strategic Plan presentation to the Capital Football Board and in the subsequent forum, Ben Buckley covered a wide range of topics.
It was reaffirmed that Canberra-s possible inclusion in the Hyundai A-League was postponed for the foreseeable future. The idea of a separate, stand-alone Canberra team in the National Youth League was canvassed, but economic factors were identified as a major impediment at this stage.