Long-serving CDSFA CEO Ian Holmes to depart at season’s end

Avatar
Ian Holmes
Image via Football NSW

After half a century of serving football, Chief Executive Officer of Canterbury & District Soccer Football Association, Ian Holmes, has announced that he will depart the CDSFA at the end of the season.

Holmes, who has served football for almost 50 years at local, state, and national level, will leave a lasting legacy within the football community of the Canterbury District.

Starting his football life at Belmore Police Citizens Boys Club, it did not take long for a young Holmes to become heavily involved in sports administration as he took on a committee position with his local club.

From there, he progressed to the CDSFA where he was elected the Association’s youngest ever President when he was elected on December 1, 1975 at the age of 19-years-old. Seven years later, Holmes was elected President of the NSW Amateur Soccer Federation in 1982.

With football needing an overhaul from the top down, Holmes was soon in a position to help make fundamental change as the General Manager of the NSW Soccer Federation (1987-1991), the NSW Amateur Soccer Federation (1998-1999), Soccer Australia (1999-2002), and Football NSW (2007-2011).

With his services to the national and state governing body coming to a close, Holmes returned to CDSFA in 2012, taking over as CEO in 2014. His last day with the Association will be Friday, October 14, 2022.

In his most recent time with CDSFA, Holmes has been instrumental in securing over $15 million in government grants for the region and its clubs.

Holmes’ contribution has been recognised with several awards and achievements, including:

  • Life Member of CDSFA (1982)
  • Life Member of Football NSW (1987)
  • NSW Soccer Federation State Award (1991)
  • George Churchward Medal recipient (2016)
  • Vince and Val Laws Medal recipient (2019)

A strong believer that no individual is bigger than the game, Holmes also helped mentor and mould many up-and-coming sports administrators, with many in the game gaining benefit from his knowledge and experience.

Holmes’ services and achievements will be recognised at the end-of-season Volunteer Recognition Dinner.

Ian Holmes, CEO of CDSFA, shared the following in regards to his upcoming departure – via Football NSW.

“Change is a constant in football. There is a time for renewal and the future. A time for transition.

“The CDSFA needs to maintain dynamism and the Association cannot be flatfooted, so you need to create the pipeline for future talent. It has been my privilege to have been able to serve the game. I did not want to make the mistake of staying too long.

“Leadership is about working with others to make things better due to your presence and ensuring that impact lasts in your absence. It has been my ultimate aim at the Association to do so.

“Working with positive difference makers at the CDSFA and the clubs has been very meaningful. I have been fortunate to work with volunteer directors at the board level who have placed genuine honesty ahead of corporate jargon.

“There is a fundamental principle I share with my Chairman, Armando Gardiman. It is this: you don’t make decisions because they are easy; you don’t make them because they are cheap; you don’t make them because they’re popular; you make them because they are right.”

“I trust the culture created that this should remain the mantra in the Boardroom and with the membership.

“The Association has at the club level an extraordinary army of volunteers. They deliver the football opportunity and experience at the community level. One can only be in awe of their contribution. Many things have changed over 50 years but the CDSFA relies upon volunteers to deliver the game at its very core. Working with so many of them has been an honour.

“The CDSFA is celebrating its Centenary season in 2022. It will commence season 101 in 2023. Season 101 should be the focus for refreshing and resetting. There are challenges ahead. A new generation now needs to take up the mantel. While people matter, we need to get comfortable with change. I need to get out of the way.

“In Gough Whitlam’s words: It’s Time.”

Previous ArticleNext Article

Western Strikers Nominated FSA Club of the Month for Equity Outcomes

Avatar
Image Credit: Football SA

Western Strikers SC has been nominated for Club of the Month after a period of deliberate structural investment in its female program that is already producing measurable outcomes, and offering a model for how community clubs can drive participation growth through equity-focused planning rather than passive goodwill.

The nomination recognises a program that has moved beyond surface-level commitment to women’s football and into the kind of structural change that determines whether female players actually stay. Improved lighting across training and match pitches, equitable scheduling, extended training hours and dedicated pitch allocation have addressed the practical barriers that clubs often overlook. It’s conditions that tell players, implicitly or otherwise, whether the game was built for them.

 

Leadership as Infrastructure

Central to Western Strikers’ approach is a leadership structure that takes female football seriously as a technical and administrative priority. Women’s Coordinator Michelle Loprete and Technical Director Georgia Iannella, a former Matilda, provide the program with both organisational direction and the kind of visible role modelling that shapes whether younger players can picture themselves progressing through the game.

The presence of a former international player in a technical leadership role at a community level isn’t incidental. It signals to junior players that the pathway from their Friday night training session to elite football is real and navigable, and it gives the club’s coaching staff access to experience and credibility that most community programs cannot offer.

That pipeline is already functioning. Western Strikers’ Under-13 to Under-16 girls teams all qualified for finals in the Youth Premier League this season. Under-15 goalkeeper Sian Schopfer made her debut in the Women’s State League team which is a direct product of a club environment designed to move players upward.

 

The Friday-night model

One of the more quietly significant initiatives at Western Strikers is the scheduling of Friday night women’s matches, with junior girls training beforehand encouraged to stay and watch senior football. The structure is straightforward but its implications are meaningful. Aspiration in sport is not abstract. It’s built through proximity, through watching players a few years older doing what you want to do, in the same kit, at the same club.

The absence of that experience is one of the more consistent reasons girls disengage from football in their mid-teens. When junior female players cannot see where the game goes after their age group, the logical conclusion is that it goes nowhere. Western Strikers’ scheduling decision addresses that directly, at minimal cost, and whose effects are starting to manifest.

 

The Club Changer framework

The club’s participation in Football South Australia’s Club Changer Program has provided a structured framework for identifying and addressing barriers that might otherwise go unexamined. Pitch allocation, training structures and safety conditions are the kinds of issues that accumulate quietly in club environments; not because of deliberate exclusion but because the default systems were built around male participation and have never been comprehensively reviewed.

The Club Changer Program creates accountability for that review. Western Strikers’ ability to project an additional 146 female players over the next three years is a product of planning rather than optimism.

 

Industry implications

Western Strikers’ model matters beyond its own membership. At a time when women’s football in Australia is navigating the challenge of converting a participation surge into sustainable long-term growth, the question of what community clubs actually do with increased interest is among the most consequential in the sport.

Record crowds at the AFC Women’s Asian Cup and sustained national visibility have opened the door. Whether players walk through it and stay depends on whether the club on the other side looks anything like Western Strikers

Melbourne City expand youth program with Hallam Secondary College

Avatar
Image credit: Melbourne City FC

The school will join the City Futures Program in its mission to consolidate pathways and community bonds for students.

From pupils to players

Hallam is the latest school in Melbourne’s South-East to join the City Futures Program. Also backing the program’s ambitions are Narre Warren South P-12 College, Gleneagles Secondary College and Timbarra P-9 School.

Partnerships between professional clubs like Melbourne City and local schools help to promote community connection, as well as providing pathways from the classroom to the stadium.

“City Futures is about creating genuine opportunities for young people to stay engaged in their education while feeling connected to something bigger,” said Head of Community, Sunil Melon, via press release.

“By bringing the Club into schools and providing access to our environment, we’re helping students build confidence, explore future pathways and see what’s possible both within football and beyond.”

Gone are the days when young players must choose between football and education. Through the City Futures Program, they can enjoy both worlds and still have the opportunities to develop.

 

What City Futures provides

Hallam sudents will be at the centre of the benefits provided by the connection to Melbourne City.

For example, high-quality coaching sessions delivered twice a week will instill confidence and teamwork skills into young participants. And as Melbourne City coaches are set to deliver the sessions, the students will truly learn from the best in Australia’s footbal landscape.

Furthermore, participants can visit Casey Fields, home to the City Football Academy, where they can experience the ins and outs of how an A-League club operates and trains.

“We’re proud to be part of the City Futures Program,” outlined Acting Principal at Hallam Secondary College, Shelly Haughey.

“Seeing our students come together and commit to their training is setting them up for success both on and off the pitch, and we look forward to building a strong and lasting partnership with Melbourne City FC.”

 

The future of football pathways

This isn’t the first – nor will it be the last – partnership to connect football and education in Australia.

Earlier this year, Queensland-based John Paul College embarked on an exciting journey with Spanish outfit, RCD Espanyol, to provide unique coaching support, player education, and pathway opportunities.

But these partnerships aren’t merely about giving young talents a place in the starting XI.

They are designed to ensure all participants develop into confident young people – whether their future lies on the pitch, in the dugout or in the boardroom.

Most Popular Topics

Editor Picks

Send this to a friend