David Gallop, the FFA CEO, launched the ‘Whole of Football Plan’, (WOFP), early in May. It provides the template for the next FFA Strategic Plan for the period 2015-19. It has some key strategies and goals that support what we are doing at the college and presents opportunities to work in football as the game matures in Australia.
David Gallop talks about Whole of Football Plan, including the development of high performance colleges, and explains what it means to everyone involved in watching, supporting, playing and working in the game. To become the largest most popular sport in Australia we need more grass roots participants than any other code, more fans than any other code and more world-class elite players than any other code.
The key long-term projections of the WOFP include:
- A 15 million strong football community by 2035, including 1 million club members
- A distinctive Australian style of playing that puts our national teams in contention for all FIFA and AFC championships
- Hosting the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup as the driver of women’s football participation and professionalism
- National competitions that attract 75 percent of participants to support a ‘Top Tier’ club
- A combined pool of 3000 elite male and female players from 12 to 19 years vying for future national selection and professional contracts
- Academies that provide world-class coaching so that no Australian youth needs to go overseas to find elite development
- A redistribution of resources to community football
- Lower cost and higher quality coach education from the grass roots to professional tier
- Making colleges and social football the focus of an ‘anytime, anyhow, anywhere’ approach to playing the game
- Sourcing football facilities that accommodate the increasing urban density of Australian society
- Redefining the role of referees as game facilitators, not just as arbitrators of the laws of the game
To make the long-term projections a reality, the WOFP lists participation, coaching, facilities, refereeing, administration, fan connection, competition, player development and national teams as its key areas to focus on.
I am most excited about supporting the streamlining of football administration, (surprise!), particularly since its current over-administration, (16 layers of bureaucracy in some cases!), means that precious dollars get swallowed up before the money can penetrate down the levels to those starting out in the game and to all of us ‘weekend warriors’ who still turn out each game because we love it.
Read the overview yourself and watch some of the videos at http://www.wholeoffootballplan.com.au/ I’d love to hear what you are most excited about transforming to keep our game strong.
Tracy Southern
Business Manager
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