The NSFA published a survey for its members to provide feedback stretching over a four-week period from August – September.
In total, 664 submissions were received with the vast majority of these respondents providing general comments based upon the NSFA’s activity.
With the 2021 season kicking off on time in April, members were excited to get underway with a season after the ups-and-downs that 2020 provided. However, the 2021 winter season was cancelled in late June due to the global pandemic that had nestled within NSW. Nevertheless, majority of age groups within the Association were able to participate in 11 weeks of football.
Our end-of-season survey was released to provide our members with an opportunity to provide feedback across a multitude of departments within NSFA to improve the various operations of the Association.
The season started off strong with a jump of 1,300 player registrations, taking our yearly total to 18,153 playing members. This is the strongest growth seen in recent history following on from our membership survey satisfaction of 81% in 2020.
With the cancellation of the winter football season, our marketing and communication channels once again took centre stage and provided our community with valuable, up-to-date information which kept the footballing community informed about decisions made by NSFA. The work conducted by the Marketing and Communications team has proved effective, with the respondents rating the ‘Communications from NSFA’ the highest out of the four components within the survey – an average rating of 2.7 out of 3 (3 = ‘good’ experience, 2 = ‘average’ experience, 1 = ‘poor’ experience.)
In a similar light to the 2020 Season survey, the two lowest-scoring pillars were experience of referees on matchdays and the standard of facilities and grounds (2.22 and 2.27 out of 3 respectively). In September, the NSFA released their Facilities strategy with an overarching clear objective to improve the capacity of sporting fields to meet the growing demand of participants. The major infrastructure project is spearheaded by the ‘Home of Football’, which is expected to start construction in 2022. Alongside the release of the Facilities Strategy, the Ku-ring-gai District Football Referees Association (KDFRA) are in the process of formulating and finalising their own future-focused strategy, aiming to improve the standard of their refereeing, mentorship, coaching and retention/attraction. With the implementation of both of these strategies, NSFA aim to improve both of these pillars to constantly evolve the experience of all stakeholders.
NSFA once again recorded 81% of members pleased with our performance during the 2021 season.
NSFA will collate, review and analyse all the feedback that has been provided and will use it as a platform to improve all aspects of NSFA for Season 2022 and beyond.
Yours in football,
Edward Ferguson