Dear members,
I hope everyone enjoyed some downtime during the New Year’s break and time with family and friends.
We are excited to be kicking off our season in a few months and myself, NSFA Staff and the NSFA Board wish to welcome you back for an exciting year ahead.
We anticipate a positive year for football and participation throughout NSFA due to the launch of many exciting initiatives and opportunities. COVID-19 is still occurring throughout the world and we will keep one eye on its growth and trajectory to ensure we maintain a safe and responsible playing environment for everyone. For quick updates please visit the NSW Health website. We will be in regular touch with our governing bodies in football and government health to ensure your Club is up to date.
In 2020 we released our ‘Future Football’ strategy with a strong focus on putting football first and the experience and enjoyment of our members – some 16,828 players and thousands of volunteers; coaches, managers, committee members and club supporters. After the obstacles endured in 2020, we are enthused to push ahead with some exciting new developments, and I look forward to hearing your feedback over the course of the season.
Key highlights in 2021
Female Football: Our new Head of Female football, Eilidh Mackay is leading the way in NSW regarding attraction, retention and development initiatives for female participants. There will be lots happening in this space to ensure players, coaches and Club volunteers are supported and provided the best environment to thrive within. We also welcome a new female club, Northern Galaxy, with Berowra FC and Mount Colah FC working together in the space to ensure the player experience is a priority.
Under 12 9 vs 9: This year we join football juggernauts around the world, Football NSW’s competitions and our Girls Under 12s by implementing 9 vs 9 matches for the Mixed Under 12 age group. The shift to a modified field with less players is proven to increase enjoyment, player development and engagement within the game. We look forward to seeing the format unfold and the benefits it has on our playing group.
Northern Tigers: You may have seen many familiar faces and names in this year’s W-League competition with many Northern Tigers players currently plying their trade nationally over the summer. Our Women’s First Grade continue to flirt with top spot, reaching the finals for two consecutive years and we are confident of another great year ahead. Our Men have a great opportunity for promotion to NPL1 in 2021 with four teams being promoted from NPL2.
We encourage all members to come along to NTRA to support our players and teams throughout the year and to watch the beautiful football on display.
INSPIRE FC: Our coaches will be provided further support in 2021 with the launch of NSFA’s very own INSPIRE FC platform. The INSPIRE FC platform is the Netflix of Coach Development, providing coaches access to a library of videos for session organisation, delivery and personal coach development. We look forward to the roll out during April.
Home of Football Development: For many years the NSFA has been working towards the construction of a ‘Home of Football’ (concept design below) at North Turramurra Recreation Area (NTRA). Over the coming month we will be submitting our development application and put in place our plans to build undercover, elevated seating grandstand, new change rooms, amenities and office space. We will be posting updates throughout the season.
Facilities: We have a number of upgrades on facilities this year, including the construction of Norman Griffith Oval to a synthetic field (ready by early 2022). We hope by working with our local councils we can continuously upgrade and improve existing amenities and provide safe environments to train and play within.
Last but not least, we are looking forward to achieving a full season of football. Each year we welcome close to 4,000 new players to our game and we cannot wait to share in the excitement, enjoyment and challenges you experience throughout the season.
We will be in regular contact with fortnightly ‘XTRA Time’ newsletters from March 11 to keep you updated on all things NSFA.
Enjoy your preseason preparations and REGISTER TODAY.
Yours in football,
Edward Ferguson
