Albury Wodonga Football Association

A report proposing details of a change to the existing governance structure

A document for discussion

A report by the Strategic Review Committee

Simon Barlow

Phil Barrett

John Mahoney

Neil Mackay

Stephen Chaffey

2nd April 2016

Contents

Existing and Proposed Governance Structures

Members

The Board

The Operational Team

Representative Advisory Committees

Existing and Proposed Governance Structures

The following pages provide descriptions of each area of the new proposed structure and how it might work.

Figure 1: A proposed governance structure for the AWFA

Figure 2: An example of the current governance structure

Members

The current Albury Wodonga Football Association (AWFA) constitution describes seven types of members[1] (see table below). Only a delegate from member clubs can vote pending specific voting rights for Life members and Executive members.

Member Type / Voting Rights
Member clubs (delegate) / Present, debate, vote
Associate clubs (delegate) / Present, debate
Life members / Present, debate, vote (only at AGM)
Individual members / Present
Junior members / Present
Associate members / Present
Executive members / Present, debate, vote (depending)

Definitions

  • “Member Club” means a club in accordance with the Regulations, which is a Member, or is otherwise affiliated with the Association.
  • “Associate Club” means a club association or body associated with football andendorsed by the Association as an affiliate
  • “Delegate” means the person(s) appointed from time to time to act for and on behalf of a Club and to represent such Club at meetings of the Association and must be 18 years or older.
  • “Individual Member” means a registered, financial member of a Club and the Association or a natural person who is at least 18 years of age and who is otherwise recognised by the Association as an Individual Member.
  • “Associate Member” means an individual who is a member of an Associate Club
  • “Member” means a member for the time being of the Association under clause 5
  • “Executive Member” means a member of the Executive and includes any person acting in that capacity from time to time appointed in accordance with this Constitution but does not include the Executive Director.

The Executive do administration of the sport and reports to the Management Committee. To assist with the administration, the Executive appoints an Executive Officer and other personnel subject to the approval of the Management Committee. While this structure has served the AWFA over many years it has become dysfunctional and presents the following problems.

1.Poor separation of powers hence decision making is difficult

2.Tangled web of vested interest – the interests of the association are not well represented

3.Operationally focused, strategically neglected

4.Confusing language to outside stakeholders

  1. President: Are they the chairperson or the CEO?
  2. Management Committee: Is this management or the board?
  3. Executive Committee: Is this a board or is it management?

In the new governance structure members could include all the existing membership plus other parties who have significant interest in regional footballand want to become a member. Legal advice may be needed to determine the extent of membership options under the Associations Incorporations Act.

The Board

It is suggested the Board be skills[2] based and consist of a chairperson and four directors elected by Members. A common maximum period of directorship is three, three year terms.It is suggested a person does not have to be affiliated with any club or be a member to be eligible to be a director. The directors elect the chairperson.

The Board’s role is to govern as distinct from manage, it will include.

  1. Providing external accountability i.e. to members, stakeholders and legislative bodies
  2. Internal monitoring of performance of the Association
  3. Policy making and Strategy formulation
  4. Provide directional support and counsel to the operational team
  5. Align and manage expectations and goals of Members and Stakeholders
  6. The Board is accountable to Members.

The Boards role in strategy is to address matters such as;

  • The development of Jelbart Park and Alexandra Park
  • Decide asset allocation matters such as the Italo Club
  • Develop and maintain good working relations with Murray United
  • Work with local Councils to continually develop infrastructure and capitalise on funding opportunities that are in the interests of members and the sport
  • Decide the best use of assets and working capital
  • Act as an advocate for members to advance their specific interests in the sport.

Examples of work the Board might do include;

  • Repeat the past experience of working with Albury City Council to gain the $0.5m to improve grounds at Melrose and Glen Parks and establish a blue print for infrastructure improvement for all clubs
  • Hold discussions with the regional Primary Schools Sports Association to investigate ways to improve the experience of primary school students when they choose to play PSSA football and to make a link to the AWFA MiniRoo product
  • Work with all councils to determine how football can be used as a means to integrate newly arrived communities
  • Work with Albury City Council to replace the existing fence around Jelbart Park and ensure the interests of Albury City FC and Albury United FC and the sport as a whole are looked after. This initiative being part of a long term plan of creating Jelbart Park as a major centre for AWFA football in the region.
  • Work with Albury City Council to develop Alexandra Park as a second major centre for football in Albury and investigate the possibility of relocating a Club to Alexandra Park.
  • Develop a long term strategic plan for football in the region and work with all regional councils and clubs to ensure infrastructure needs are progressively improved
  • Work with Murray United to ensure they are able to thrive as a representative pathway for regional players
  • Work with the Albury Wodonga Soccer Referees Association (AWSRA) to ensure programs are in place to recruit and support referees
  • Consult widely to determine the most appropriate state affiliation and gain value for the affiliation fees paid
  • Ensure clubs have clear pathways to build coaching skills etc.

The Operational Team

The purpose of the operational team is to focus purely on the operational needs of the sport,for example;

  • Planning, running and reporting on competitions
  • Ensuring player registrations are carried out, complete and maintained
  • Fulfilling the role of Recorder
  • Supporting clubs to fulfil their role in competitions
  • Reporting progress to the Board and raise matters of success and concern
  • Deflecting issues of a strategic nature to the Board
  • Seeking advice from the Board

The major operational processes of the AWFA need to be reviewed to ensure the tasks of the operational team are made easy; take minimal time and are effective. The aim would be to reduce the number of people needed to carry out the operational tasks and to create paid roles.

Representative Advisory Committees

Representative Advisory Committees (RACs) are made up of member clubs. It is suggested that two RACs be formed to represent the interests of Clubs on each side of the State border. While this could escalate state rivalry, it has merit in that Clubs in each state have different issues, affiliations and interests and creating two RACs on this basis enables those interests to be expressed clearly to the Board. The RACs represent their respective constituencies and are a critical source of information and opinion informing Board decisions. This allows Clubs to represent their interests clearly to the Board and allow the Board to make decisions in the interests of the Association (the sport) something that is currently not happening.

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[1] Members are in effect shareholders of the Association

[2] Refer to the separate skills matrix for selection of directors for the AWFA