Antonella Care elected as President in Football Victoria AGM

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Football Victoria's first ever female President was announced at the 2021 Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Wednesday, May 12.

Football Victoria’s first ever female President was announced at the 2021 Annual General Meeting (AGM), which took place on Wednesday, May 12.

The groundbreaking moment took place at Darebin International Sports Centre in front of a strong attendance including Members and Life Members from the Victorian football community, where Antonella Care was elected for Presidency unopposed. She has become the first female to be elected for the position in Football Victoria’s 137-year history and will serve a two-year term.

Care has been a Member of the Football Victoria Board since March 2016 and has over 20 years’ worth of corporate experience. She has proven to be a highly qualified professional, priding herself on a strong understanding on governance matters and having positive working relationships with many Local Government departments.

The democratic electoral process also saw the appointments of three Directors, who will each serve four-year terms. Their wealth of experience involves a range of unique skills that will bring fresh initiatives and ideas to Football Victoria.

Jo Bladen is an experienced commercial business and marketing professional mainly in the entertainment industry for The Walt Disney Company, Yianni Zaparas is a Partner of firm Zaparas Lawyers after spending time playing for a range of Victorian clubs in his junior days, while Steve Forbes has had an extensive career in technology, product development, marketing and strategy, in a career spanning 15 years.

Once the electoral results were confirmed, Football Victoria CEO Kimon Taliadoros spoke to the audience summarising the year just gone and targets for the future. He presented the 2020 report and went through the organisation’s key strategic goals for 2021 and 2022.

Taliadoros was followed by Matthew Green, Senior Executive Manager Business Operations – he read out a financial summary.

The impacts of COVID-19 ultimately took their toll, but Taliadoros and Green were equally confident for the future, signalling that stability is starting to return for Football Victoria and the wider community across the state.

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Liam Watson is the Co-Founder & Publisher of Soccerscene. He reports widely on football policy, industry matters and technology.

Football Victoria encourages state teams to take part in Governance Workshop Series

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Image credit: NakoPhotography / Shutterstock.com

Football Victoria are endorsing the joint partnership between the Victorian Government and VicSport, as football clubs across the state can become involved within the participation of case studies – dedicated to the understanding and importance of governance within sport.

Three workshops will eventuate over the course of May, June and July. Industry experts, sport directors and operating officials will all be in attendance at each workshop, discussing their insight upon the plethora of information they possess in correlation to Board Policy & Procedure (completed April 3), Risk Management (TBC in May), Sports Integrity (June 6) and Diversity & Inclusion (TBC in July).

VicSport are a Victorian non-for-profit organisation dedicated to attract as many Victorians as possible in participation and engagement across a variety of sports and/or physical activity.

Working in conjunction with the Victorian Government, it is their duty to ensure that recreation within the state remains at its optimal level.

Advocating, assisting and supporting its members since its inception in 1994, their extensive network branched out to over 3.9 million participants.

Football within Victoria has quite the pulse. Engagement levels are high within the amount of participants across all abilities and genders.

Knowing the importance of governance is fundamental for emerging and present clubs, hence the importance surrounding the FV in urging club officials in attending these various workshops.

Football Victoria have made continuous strides in becoming more accessible and engaging to potential participants. All-abilities April is a symbol of the inclusivity in which the state has made across the last decade.

Governance within sport is crucial. It covers a magnitude of aspects all required to be considered when operating an entity. Given the vast amount of contributors governance is essential for the promotion of accountability, sustainability and stability for a football club.

The success garnered on the park must be achieved off of it through a harmonious collective.

For up-to-date information, you can view it via VicSport here.

Football Queensland’s two-year referee strategy to drive development and retention

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Image credit: Andrey Popov via Shutterstock

Football Queensland (FQ) are embarking on a transformative journey.

Seeking to elevate the current refereeing regime on a state-wide level is a high-priority within their objectives. The Referee Strategy plan will run from 2024 until 2026, where the current framework of officials officiating within Queensland looks to be recrafted.

Referees are the unsung heroes of any sport, especially football. The decisions they make as a collective can have historical ramifications. They are ultimately tasked with making correct decisions, while under the microscope of the entire footballing audience, governing bodies and participants all watching attentively on to hear of what the decision may be, which ultimately impacts their respective teams.

The constant pressure, scrutiny and tension they are under does not go unnoticed, nor should their presence. Referring on a global scale is a tedious aspect of sport. It is simple to attract people that are keen to participate within a sport on a playing level. In an officiating role, it is a whole different kettle of fish.

The Strategic Pillars 
The priority placed upon the recruitment and retainment of officials is a focal point of the FQ referee strategy. Unification of their already established referee base is crucial. Their primary objectives include:

3600 FQ Registered Referees across all formatted of football within Queensland.

50/50 Parity: Resulting in FQ wishing to foster 1250 more female referees.

Queensland founded referees to be represented on a global scale.

Developing pathways for educators, referees and match day officials.

With all of those objectives in mind. To execute such a tall order is achievable all through the basis of a solid foundation. The “Strategic Pillars” assorted to accumulate 3,600 referees by the year 2026 include the following stages. 

Pillar #1: Recruitment and Outreach
The re-imagination of talent recruitment, combined with diversification and expansion all are at the forefront of the strategies initial phase.

Pillar #2: Pathways and Opportunities 

Creating a community that thrives upon the continuous growth of refereeing through the establishment of a unified culture, spearheaded by the passion involved for the game and officiating.

Pillar #3: Retention and Engagement

The pressures involved within the occupation can deter potential participants or current officials for wanting to exercise their skillset within the field. The third phase within the pillars involves support directed towards the wellbeing of officials. Ensuring that they are recognized, celebrated, supported and encouraged.

Pillar #4: Training and Development

The fourth and final phase is equally as important as the previous three. The creation of cohesion amongst a community is of great importance. Looking to gain participants through revolutionary training activities in which showcase the intense art form of officiating in an engaging manner, while improving and establishing skills.
There are currently over 2000 registered referees within FQ.

They are attempting to increase their refereeing basis by 425 participants, compounding each year until 2026 while striving to double their current female referee basis.

As a footnote to Australia’s presence on a global perspective within the football world, we remain a nation in that possesses immense interest in the sport, yet haven’t found their strides in translating that passion into becoming a top-level contending country upon the football pitch on the international scale.

It was Queensland’s very own Jarred Gillet who pathed the pathway in which Australian referees should look to charter. From officiating some of the A-leagues all-time greatest clashes to becoming a primary referee within the Premier League all over the span of 11 years.

It’s a feat in which FQ will strive for within this new strategy plan. All for the benefit of football within the state of Queensland, and most importantly, for Australia.

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