AAFC Chairman Nick Galatas: “We want the best possible national second division”

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AAFC Chairman Nick Galatas has outlined his plans for the organisation for 2021, with the continued pursuit of the introduction of a national second division at the top of his list.

Speaking with Soccerscene, Galatas explained that at the core of the organisation’s work on a national second tier, is the importance of producing the best outcomes for the sport.

“It’s about having the best possible national second division,” he said.

“That is front and centre of what we have put forward. What we’ve asked our clubs to put forward is not the minimum they can do, but the maximum they can do. Yes, we can always do less than the best, work below our capacity and set low targets that we can achieve.

“But we think we can do better than that.

“The clubs are assuming the risk, they are putting up the money and their resources, they think they can make it work from within their capability. Let’s use it, why wouldn’t we tap into that resource?”

FA CEO James Johnson recently spoke with Simon Hill on the Shim, Spider and So Much Moore podcast, praising the AAFC’s model and philosophically agreeing with the concept of a national second division with 12-16 teams.

However, Johnson believes that a more pragmatic model is a two-phase system where clubs will play out their local NPL season, with the best sides to then progress into a national-based “Champions League” group stage competition at the back-end of the year.

Galatas believes it is up to AAFC to convince Football Australia that the research they have conducted, in their feasibility progress report, will ultimately show that their model for a national second division is the appropriate way forward for the sport.

“Our job is to show Football Australia what they philosophically think is better, is in fact better and does in fact work,” he stated.

“We are not rejecting the outline of what James put out the other day, it may turn out to be better. We will explore that further and try and look at that and imagine it to its best level and work on that in good faith. If it looks good, and the risk associated with that is so much lower to make it more viable, then great.

“But, our work to date shows that it is not the case.

“The cost to the revenue side of a more limited model and the difficulty our member clubs will have in selling that to their own people, in terms of generating the relevant interest, isn’t worth it, as the savings it involves doesn’t compensate for the forgone revenue and interest. We look forward to seeing the FA model James mentioned in more detail when it’s ready, but we have anticipated such a model in our progress report before settling on our preferred model.”

AAFC hopes to complete its final report on its national second division plans by April, with Galatas anticipating a lot of the year to be occupied by Football Australia’s modelling of the second tier, something the organisation expects to play a notable role in.

Alongside this, they will look to navigate through all the changes to the game that directly affect the NPL clubs they are representing.

The organisation intends to conduct some work on advancing the women’s game in the country in the build-up to the 2023 Women’s World Cup, whilst also keeping abreast with recent announcements from the governing body.

“Going on to the domestic transfer system and the white paper FA has introduced, we are definitely looking at that. We’re preparing our position and contribution to that,” Galatas said.

“Football Australia also recently put out its domestic football calendar, so we are getting our heads around that as well and where we fit in.”

Possible reforms are also set to occur to NPL competition structures across Australia.

“We’ll be working with the member federations and with Football Australia in continuing to evolve that,” he said.

“There have been reviews into structures in Victoria, NSW and one now happening in Queensland, so we are constantly working on that part of it because most of our member clubs are involved in that.”

Galatas, based in Melbourne, believes on the back of the enthusiasm and movement on the second division front, strong crowds should turn out for the NPL season in Victoria.

“A lot of people want to see their teams play, practice match crowds are up from what I’ve heard and hopefully there are bumper crowds for the season.”

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Gold Coast International drives futsal growth as international interest surges

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Image Credits: Experience Gold Coast

The 2027 Gold Coast International is set to be the biggest year of growth in the tournament’s history. The tournament has become one of Australia’s premier futsal events. Attracting the best teams from not just Australia but around the world. Andrew Parkes is the founder and managing director of the Gold Coast City Futsal Association and an advisory board member at Football Queensland. He says the tournament, and its international reputation, is only strengthening.

“Registrations are actually a step up from what they were last year,” Parkes said.

“We’ve got several teams from New Zealand. At the moment, we’ve got some Pacific Island teams that have expressed interest in coming. We got interest from Japan, and from England as well.

“We’ve got over 140 teams so far, and that’s not including anything from the local areas.”

Over 200 teams attended the 2026 edition, and the Gold Coast International is well set to break that record next year. The figures show the tournament is becoming more than a local competition. It is building a strong national and international presence.

Football Queensland and Football Australia unite behind growth

Parkes believes collaboration has played a major role in the development of futsal in Queensland. The tournament is sanctioned by both Football Queensland and Football Australia. He praised Football Queensland for its work across the sport. He said the organisation has helped create a stronger and more professional futsal system. This relationship between state and national bodies and the event has allowed the Gold Coast to play host to the national competition as well. This ensures shared resources including referees and courts.

“Football Queensland have been a major driving force and a godsend in relation to the development of futsal,” Parkes said.

“We’ve got the nationals the week before the Gold Coast International now. We’re working in harmony and synergy and supporting each other.

“I think the proofs in the pudding, not just with the Gold Coast International, but with the exposure and obviously the diversity of teams that attend. But then the further development in our local leagues, and that’s resulted in.”

E-sports adds another pathway for players and clubs

E-sports has become another major part of the Gold Coast International. Parkes said he had explored the idea for several years and that the tournament allows the community to grow beyond just the physical players on the court. The use of e-sports also allows friends and families to have an interactive experience with simulators and games whilst at the Gold Coast International.

“We launched e-sports about 2 years ago, just with a bit of a light feel. We’ve incorporated the competition into the tournament fees, which is excellent. So it doesn’t cost anybody anymore to be part of it,” Parkes said.

“It actually allows the clubs and academies to extend on their current offerings as it is at the moment and allows gaming players to be part of the club, to be part of the atmosphere and to join and that unity and be part of that sporting community.”

“We had three times the amount of teams that we had from the first year of e-sports. We’re looking to probably even double that again this year, which is really exciting as well.”

New pathways shape the tournament’s future

Parkes wants the Gold Coast International to keep expanding. He is now looking at ways to create pathways beyond the tournament itself. He said the use of its international experiences that can be earned through the tournament is not only about investing in players. But ensuring coaches have a more time-efficient avenue to be involved with futsal. It also gives more coaches the chance to work with players at an international tournament.

“We’ve now created the Gold Coast International All Stars, which is now embraced by many of the coaches and the players,” Parkes said.

“That also provides coaches who don’t have the time or the ability or whatever for the state teams, and the commitment that they need to put in the state teams throughout the year.”

“It allows us to have a lot more outreach to far more coaches that have a lot of passion and enthusiasm, and be part of the Futsal community. They want to build on the players’ abilities but may not have that year-long or eight-month-long exposure that is required by the state Futsal team coaching staff.”

For Parkes, the future is about widening access while continuing to raise standards. The tournament is growing its international reach, strengthening partnerships and creating new opportunities for both physical and e-sports players. The Gold Coast International is no longer just a tournament. It is becoming a broader platform for the development of futsal and its wider community.

For more information on the Gold Coast International and to inquire about competing in the 2027 edition, visit their website.

The Spreadsheet Is Dead: Majestri’s Fix for How Clubs Actually Assess Players

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If you’ve ever sat through a club’s end-of-season review, you’ll know the drill. A coach pulls out a folder of notes, someone half-remembers what a player was like back in Round 3 and a parent quietly wonders what they actually got for their rego fees beyond a team photo. Football club platform Majestri says it has a fix for that, and it’s built directly into its Player Assessment module.

Why clubs bother assessing players in the first place

According to Majestri, clubs run player assessments for one of three reasons – usually more than one at once. Some are chasing genuine development, using the data to lift the level across their high-performance squads. Others are after a fairer way to pick teams, putting every player on the same measurable scale so selection is based on evidence rather than a coach’s gut feel about who “looks the part.” And for clubs operating under a Football Australia or state federation licence, assessments at set intervals often aren’t optional – they’re a compliance requirement, with the paperwork to prove it when asked.

Whatever the motivation, Majestri’s pitch is the same: don’t let that assessment data die in a spreadsheet on someone’s laptop.

Build your own assessment, your way

There’s no one-size-fits-all template here. The Assessment Designer lets technical directors set their own criteria, sort them into whatever categories their coaching staff already use – think core skills, possession, defending, attacking – and decide what each point on the rating scale actually means. Crucially, every criterion also gets a comment field, because a bare number rarely tells the full story of a player’s development.

The Assessment Module Builder for an NPL Juniors assessment
The Assessment Module Builder, showing an NPL Juniors assessment with a 1-10 rating scale banded from under performing through to excelling and role-specific criteria grouped into core skills, possession, defending and attacking. Source: Majestri.

Build it once and it’s reusable every time that assessment cycle comes around, so every player and every coach – is working off the same yardstick.

Something for the parents to actually take home

One of the more relatable pain points Majestri is targeting: most families never see much tangible return from a season of fees beyond a team photo. Player Assessment addresses that with report cards – colour-coded against the same scale coaches used, grouped by category with averages calculated automatically, and delivered as a PDF or an interactive web page a parent can read without needing a coaching badge themselves.

A player report card for an under-15 player
A report card for an under-15 player, colour-coded from under performing to excelling, with a score for every criterion and a group average across core skills, possession, defending and attacking. Source: Majestri.

 

Turning the numbers into something useful

The real value, though, sits in what Majestri calls the Player Analysis Lab. This is where clubs can plot a player against their team-mates or an entire age group across two categories at once, spotting clusters and outliers at a glance. Every score gets read against the group average – so a “7” actually means something in context – and clubs can report at the broad category level or drill into individual fields underneath. The results can be filtered down and exported for selection meetings or grading purposes.

The Player Analysis Lab comparing players in an under-15 and under-16 squad
The Player Analysis Lab comparing seven players across under-15 and under-16 squads, with a scatter plot, a sortable table of scores against the player average, and controls for choosing which categories and fields to report on. Source: Majestri.

The admin side nobody enjoys, made easier

Beyond the flashy analytics, there’s a practical layer built for the volunteers actually running the process:

  • Sweep monitoring – a quick view of which assessments are done and which are still outstanding, organised into defined assessment periods so progress can be tracked against peers.
  • Individual development plans – every player gets a personalised plan, and clubs can group common improvement areas to run cross-team training sessions that lift the whole club rather than just one squad.
  • Access control – coaches and technical staff can only see assessments for the teams they’re responsible for, and completed assessments are only visible to people linked to that player’s registration.
“Hard numbers to draw on when you review coaching staff and curriculum – and something tangible for the players and parents who pay the fees.” – Majestri

 

The bigger picture

Majestri frames all of this as sitting on top of the club’s own data – assessment results live on each player’s profile inside the platform rather than in a spreadsheet that walks out the door when a technical director moves on. For committees, it also means hard numbers to lean on when reviewing coaching staff or curriculum, rather than relying on anecdote.

It’s a fairly clear read on where club administration software is heading: less about digitising paperwork for its own sake, and more about making the data clubs already collect actually work for player development, team selection and compliance  without adding to the workload of the volunteers who run the show.

For more information on Majestri’s Player Assessment module, visit majestri.com.au/player-assessment.

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