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Submission by Football Federation Victoria on 27 March 2009.
2. Better place sport and physical activity as a key component of the Government's preventative health approach
- Examine Government frameworks to ensure an on-going focus on grassroots and community sport and physical activity.
There are two key elements that are essential to the health of community sport: • provision of appropriate and adequate facilities; and • support for club development, game development and community outreach programs. It is FFV’s experience that in many areas in Victoria there has been a lag in community infrastructure for organised and recreational sport. FFV has commissioned independent research which has identified that lack of facilities is one of the key reasons for football clubs having to turn away an estimated 10,000 potential participants each year. Ongoing government investment in facility renewal and expansion is vital to ensure the capacity of sport to deliver its potential community health and engagement benefits. The Victorian Government has established a program of facility improvement related to drought/climate change; however, this program needs to be continued and significantly expanded in partnership with local government and with Commonwealth funding support. Facility upgrade and expansion is the essential platformto enable clubs and SSOs to deliver both grassroots and talented player pathway sports. Improved facilities are also needed to enable the viability of clubs. Stronger clubs can attract and hold participants because their venues are safe, welcoming and offer a healthy and comfortable environment. At good facilities families can be offered appropriate foods from kiosks and kitchens which meet health regulations and can serve fresh and healthy foods. The tin shed and the pie warmer are not the best deliver mechanism for quality health prevention programs.
- Examine Government programs to increase participation rates in sport and physical activity, including analysis of existing programs.
No response
- Identify and recommend opportunities to break down barriers to participation at junior, adult and senior ages with a view to making it simpler and easier for Australians to participate in the sport or physical activity of their choice, including for women, the disabled and Indigenous people.
There are two key approaches which can be applied (often in combination) to make participation easier and simpler: 1. outreach programs which target specific communities and segments with a view to introducing them to participation in the sport 1. provision of alternate/modified versions of the sport both as long term participation opportunities and as gateways into traditional competitive forms of the sport. FFV is actively leading both of these approaches but is constrained by facilities and funding. FFV successfully promotes football as the sport for all and provides opportunities for everybody to participate in the sport. Through various partnerships which are managed through its Community Development Coordinator some of the barriers that exist for individuals to participate in the sport of Football can be reduced. For disadvantaged groups, main barriers identified include costs, transport, and religious issues. Through creating relevant partnerships with other community organizations and communicating with leaders within each community these barriers can be removed. FFV has run programs which demonstrate the effectiveness of small sided-games not only for children but adults taking up or continuing the sp[orts (such as 7 a side social “competitions” on synthetic pitches at the State Football Centre). Again the availability of appropriate facilities – synthetic pitches, lighting, changes rooms – is a key factor in be able to roll out these modified versions of the sport across a vast metropolitan area and diverse regional centres. It is FFV’s experience that a whole of government approach incorporating different government sectors (such as sport/recreation, health, Indigenous, ageing) and agencies can be particularly effective in initiating, resourcing, supporting programs in partnership with the sport. However, it should be understood that very often these programs are well beyond the capacity of volunteer personnel to deliver and require a high proportion of government funding to deliver effectively. In particular, funding which can be offered over an extended term rather than with the expectation of self-sufficiency within a short twelve/eighteen months.
- Recommend strategies to increase the effectiveness of the promotion of sport by the Federal Government to better communicate positive health and activity messages to the broader community.
No response
3. Strengthen pathways from junior sport to grassroots community sport right through to elite and professional sport.
- Examine the capacity of the system to ensure optimal and efficient delivery of the athlete and coach pathway for any given sport.
The current lack of facilities is a major constraint on achieving an optimal pathway for footballers. The quality and availability of facilities directly affects player development. For our sport it is essential that the talented player stream has access to good quality facilities throughout the year. FFV has established a targeted program for identifying and developing talented young footballers through our new Summer League program. By playing in summer as well as winter talented players have the opportunity to hone their skills further in higher levels of competition – as a critical factor in best practice for the development of footballers. By operating this program in summer we have minimized the need for facilities as there is no clash with grassroots use focused in the winter season. However, unfortunately there are very few grounds and facilities of sufficient quality across metropolitan Melbourne and regional Victoria which can cater to this need in summer despite the relatively small number needed. FFV has developed a strategy identifying the high priority for the development of regional centres of excellence across the State and is working further on specific development proposals which will meet the participation and talented player development needs already identified and which continue to grow with population, interest in the sports and Australia’s ambitions for international success. The delivery of such centres is unlikely to be possible if local government is left as the only major source of funding. While FFV will attempt to assist though assistance in-kind and though commercial arrangements where possible the primary need is for Commonwealth funding to partner State and Local funding to enable these centres of excellence to be established strategically across the state.
- Recommend the most effective support and recognition for the coaches, officials, umpires, administrators and volunteers who keep our community clubs alive.
No response
- Examine how relationships between the Commonwealth Government and National Sporting Organisations, State Sporting Organisations and Australia’s peak representative bodies at key multi-sports competitions may be strengthened to deliver better performance outcomes.
FFV considers that the States Institutes/Academies and State-based sporting organisations are a critical component of effective talent-identification and player development. A single nationally-based program for players still in the developmental phase implies that a sport is capable of identifying all the required attributes of elite players at very early age. While this may apply to some sports, it is potentially very risky in football where many intrinsic and external factors come into effect during a player’s development and emerge at uneven times. Therefore there is a need to cast the net widely to ensure all potential players have access to developmental opportunities. State-based developmental programs allow more players to be included in the identification processes thus providing greater levels of support and variety for and within the groups. Thus it is a key challenge to for the sport to source additional funding to support the development of both players and coaches to assist in the provision of accessible, flexible and relevant programs Combing or better coordinating Commonwealth and State funding could assist in improved delivery capacity.
5. Identify opportunities to increase and diversify the funding base for sport through corporate sponsorship, media and any recommended reforms, such as enhancing the effectiveness of the Australian Sports Foundation
No response
Page last updated: 27 March, 2009