General Manager’s Report Linda Cerone

2020 seaso n, both the main winter season & our summer activities have drawn o n our resilience, o ur ability to rep osition ourselves when o ur paths were b locked and p leasingly, our ability to show patience, tolerance and generosity. I’m again thrilled to be able to lead a team who have d isplayed all of these attributes, both personally and p rofessionally, while serving clubs and committees. Tho se same clubs who we serve have worked harder than ever to keep people in the game when the universe was wo rking as hard as it could to undermine our goals. There isn’t a club in our district that this comment doesn’t apply to. To say yo u have all done an amazing job wo uld b e selling yourselves short.

We have lo ng managed our f inances in a somewhat conservative manner at Nepean Fo o tball. Our stewardship of the funds we are custodians of, d uring my tenure, has been temp ered with caution and long-term planning. This method of stewardship paid off in sp ad es this year, allowing us to keep o ur staff throughout an uncertain time until the Federal Government’s JobKeeper scheme kicked in. In keeping our staff active and paid, with mino r cuts to p ay and ho urs, we were in an enviab le position of being able to bounce b ack q uickly when the time came for us to reb oot football. It also allowed us to show a g o o d measure of empathy and practical assistance to our members who did need to retire f ro m their proposed football activities by d e-registering without p enalty and to also allow club s to withdraw teams without p enalty. We were also ab le to red uce o ur f ees in line with a red uced season. We were ab le to make these concessions without having to worry ab o ut o ur financial p osition because o ur reserves were strong.

In relatio n to the impact of Covid-19, we q ualified for 2 g rants of $10,000 each, one directly to Nep ean FA and o ne for Nepean FC. We also received over $30,000 in stimulus p ayments and $117,000 in JobKeeper subsidies, all of which allowed us to maintain jobs, f inancial security and to confidently plan for the future. How g reat is it to b e in a country that d id this for their p eople instead of leaving us to flounder like some other nations have done!

Desp ite the d isruption to our b usiness, Nepean FA still returned a healthy surplus this year o f $34,300. I b elieve that the p andemic impact o n finances will b e evident again in next year’s f inancial report and it’s negative impact is likely to affect us for several years to come as our members find their place again after it’s full financial effects are known on everyone.

It’s also extremely pleasing to start seeing the decrease in team sheet erro r fines, following the lo ng o verdue and successful introduction of Electronic Match Sheets (EMS).

While o ur f ace to face contact with clubs came to a g rinding halt in March, cutting short o ur Ro ad shows for coaches, managers and club admins, o ur club meetings and standing co mmittee meetings along with all coaching courses and skill development

clinics/academies, I b elieve that our actual contact with members and club administrators enjo yed more direct and accessible connections.

Mo ving to o nline meetings with our clubs d uring the time we were lo cked out of our sport and thro ug hout the early re-boot phase g ave us record attendance at meetings. Club ad mins were ab le to attend meetings in the comfort of their o wn homes, wearing their b est PJ’s and with their microphones muted, were able to munch out on chips and Twisties witho ut d rawing disapproving looks from their fellow attendees.

We held a f ew non obligatory “drop in” info sessions for those who just wanted to come along and ask questions on information circulars we’d sent out, which many attendees co mmented o n how much they enjoyed b eing able to attend.

We also enjo yed emails directly to club members keeping them up to date first hand rather than club s having to p ass on the information. We received tons of p ositive feedback about this metho d of communication.

Our Fo o tball Manager, James Rankine was eventually ab le to g et Coaching Co urses, our Acad emy and School Ho liday clinics up and running again and before long, all returned to no rmal.

We didn’t necessarily get everything right first time, but overall, I’m pleased with how we manag ed o ur communication throughout a very testing p eriod.

As the sp orting landscape changes, and the expectations of our clients b ecome more demanding, we regularly review how we deliver football in our district, and I’m pleased to b e ab le to work with a g reat, caring and p rofessional team who seem to take all the challeng es in their stride and just get on with the job. Being a Nep ean FA staffer is def initely no place for slackers (there’s nowhere to hide!) and I love working with the team here. This year we welco med two new staffers. Eric Alvarez joined our team in February this year taking over the previously vacant role of Grievance & Disciplinary and general ad min. In Octo ber, Brayden Issa joined the team in a newly created position of Ad ministration Co-ordinator for Nep ean Referees Group and Nep ean Summer Football. Brayd en will also handle some general admin for NFA in his role. Both young men come to us with stro ng p ractical and ed ucational backgrounds and have fast p roven themselves a g reat asset to our o rganisation.

Sadly we’ll be farewelling our Football Manager of 11 years, James Rankine at the start of No vemb er as he starts a new chapter in his life in the Northern Rivers District of NSW with his p artner Trish. James has had a hug e and beneficial impact o n o ur association, p ro p elling us as leaders in the coach accreditation and coach & p layer education land scapes. He b rought with him a g reat love of our district on a p ersonal level that manif ested itself in ho w he ap plied himself to his work. He has crossed paths with literally thousands of people and I know he will be sorely missed by many. I’m sure you will all join me in thanking him for his contribution and to wish him well in the future. pg. 18

It’s been pleasing to witness the change in direction taken by the Nep ean FA Board of Directo rs in the past few years as they shift their focus from time spent putting out spot fires at b o ard meetings to taking a more strategic and relationship building ap proach to the asso ciations business.

The d ays of the Board having to d eal with the day to d ay affairs of the association have b een rep laced with a b oard who no w has time to b uild relationships with clubs o n a closer level, visiting clubs and discussing with them what their challenges are. Tho ugh there are still some clubs out there with an “us and them” mentality, who look upon Director visits and p ho ne calls with suspicion, most clubs welcome the interest from the board and are hap py to wo rk more closely with the association o n a new and different level.

It’s reassuring to o , to see a b o ard who is lo o king into the f uture need s of the asso ciation rather than o nly co nsidering the sho rt term future, which is usually the result o f an o p erational board rather than a strateg ic b oard. Discussing infrastructure visions and p lans as far as 10-15 years in advance, along with possible alternate revenue streams is exciting. That’s not to say that they’re not looking at next year, they are, but their vision now extends a little further than a year o r so. The Directo rs, alo ng with myself, all wo rk more closely with Co uncils and with FNSW that ever b ef ore, ensuring that our association is noticed far and wide and o ur issues are never far f ro m the top of the p ile of those responsible for helping us to help o ur members.

You’d think after 22 years in the same job, that I’d be able to sit back and say, I’ve seen it all, but that’s not the case for 2020.

Af ter a suspenseful and stressful three months working closely with Football NSW (who in turn were wo rking with NSW Health, Services NSW, FFA, Cricket NSW, and the NSW Rug b y leagues), other associations and local councils to b ring about a p layable season, sho uld the dreaded shut-downs caused b y the Coronavirus allow it, we were f inally ab le to co nf irm that we could offer a season. No t like previous seasons as we knew them, b ut a seaso n for the many thousands of p layers who were d esperate to play. Some for their very pg. 19

f irst time (well they’d purchased the boots in February now what would they d o with them???), and f or some for their very last time (and they had no intention of being short chang ed their swansong season!)

On the 10th June, just two d ays b efore our Go /No Go cut off date, we received the go ahead f ro m the NSW state g overnment that we could re-b ook our 2020 season. Thanks to Alicia Green, o ur Co mpetition Manager, for wo rking b asically around the clock to deliver the d raw in time f or the season start.

So , o n the 3rd July, fourteen weeks after o ur original kick off d ate, we kicked off a season lasting just 15 weeks. No p re-season friendly games, p re-season training with so many restrictions it was difficult for clubs to navigate and no Finals. We acknowledged co mp etition winners as those who were first past the post at the end of competitions.

As well as no Finals, we had no Nepean Cup s, no FNSW State Cups & no FNSW Champ io n of Champions.

It was truly a season of NO’s. No kissing, hugging, handshakes, training, extended warmup s, p ost g ame catch up s, change rooms, close contacts o n the sideline and almost no sp ectators. 98% of p articipants & spectators took these limitations in their stride and b ehaved in a commendable manner. The remaining 2% showed us how good most of us truly are d eep d own. Co ngratulations to all clubs and their members in managing this unp reced ented season as part of the 98% good g uys crew!

On Sund ay 11th October o ur 2020 Winter season wo und up, and in another first, o ur summer season started the very next day! No rest for the wicked they say.

Alo ng with almost losing the Winter season this year, o ur Summer Football also came und er threat. The treat was d ue to the delayed start & finish to the Winter season, coupled with the co nstruction of our new synthetic fields no t keeping to schedule, req uiring us to seek an alternate venue. The mo untains operations were also hampered d ue to Blue Mo untains City Council not being able to commit to a f irm and timely decision on whether o r no t we co uld use their fields.

The washup f or summer football was that we were ab le to run a scaled d own competition f o r o ur Penrith location only, moving o ur operation to Eileen Cammack Reserve in Jamiso ntown for 2020 activities. Unf ortunately, the Blue Mountains Summer Football has had to take a hiatus this year, and with some careful p lanning, we hope to have it b ack up and running in 2021.

Graham Chap man and his team are still doing a stellar job and keeping the operation ticking o ver and this year, have b een joined b y o ur newest employee Brayden Issa. Summer Fo otball is always a lig hter version of Football, in attitude and ap proach as well as in red uced match time and field size.

The Asso ciation continues to be rep resented in the Football NSW Standing Committees of Wo men’s Football (Stacey Fanella), Association’s Standing Committee (by me, Linda Cero ne as the Dep uty Chair) and Technical Standing Co mmittee (James Rankine – Deputy Chair). We co ntinue to give o ur members a voice at this vital level of governance.

Stacey, James and I were also part of the successful 2023 Women’s World Cup Bid Team. It was g o o d to be a p art of this successful b id and we look forward to watching o ur hosting o f this tournament develop and hopefully continue to be a p art of the p rocess.

I have also consulted with Football NSW on several niece p rojects and consulting panels.

We have also wo rked very closely all year with various local members and Penrith City Co uncil o n current and future p rojects. I f irmly b elieve that building and maintaining these stro ng working relationships is o ne of the best ways to serve the b est interests of the association clubs and members and to help fortify our future and I’m always happy to assist in these areas.

Even tho ugh we were unsure o f our future at the start of the season, and what we could o f fer our p artners, we continued o ur partnerships with Deploy Football and OnePointHealth with a view to co ntinuing o ur mutually beneficial relationships into 2021.

Of co urse, we continue to enjoy a strong community partnership with WESTERN SYDNEY WANDERERS FC and will continue to wo rk with the club in 2021 to maintain their co mmunity connections with o ur members while we help to grow and strengthen the p o p ularity of the A-League in Australia.

It’s always a good thing to celebrate our achievements whether personal or professional and no matter if they’re big or small.

At club level the clubs who have celebrated their milestone anniversaries this year:

Nep ean Drag ons FC – Year 1 d one and dusted. Co ngratulations to the Dragons team on g etting thro ugh their first year as an ind ependently managed club. Well d one everyone!

60 Years – St Marys Band Club Rangers FC

50 Years – Wentwo rth Falls FC

40 Years – St Clair United SC & Craneb rook United FC (celebrated and acknowledged in 2019)

30 Years – Pitt To wn & Districts Sports SC

It sp eaks volumes about the communities that support these clubs, that they also continue to p ro vide volunteers who remain consistently committed to their community. Co ng ratulations to all who have contributed to the lo ngevity of these clubs. We lo ok forward to acknowledging your achievements in p erson at 2021 Awards Dinner (f ingers crossed and to uch wood that it g oes ahead)

I’ll admit to struggling with a little p ersonal discomfort at the end of last year b eing ackno wledged with the FNSW Service to Football Award, and then a couple of months ag o also b eing acknowledged b y Western Sydney Wanderers as their Volunteer of the Year. Tho ug h mo stly uncomfortable, it’s a very humbling thing to be acknowledged by your peers and I am g ratef ul for the acknowledgement.

I’ve had a very f ortunate employment history working in a job that I absolutely I love, so it’s no t really like working at all.

I’d like to say that I’m going to spend three months in the foetal position recovering from 2020 o r p erhap s floating on an inflatable p ink flamingo o r unicorn complete with a d rink ho ld er in my pool in Kurmond with my every need being catered for, b ut like you, I’m a realist, and a hard worker, and I know that what’s around the corner is (if we’re lucky) a wee b it o f a break before we start again.

It’s been a honour to work with our Directors, my Staff, our governing bodies and local and state g overnments and it’s been a special honour working with the community angels who manag e o ur clubs and coach and manage o ur teams. Truly spectacular people who just keep g iving and smiling and make you want try to do your best so you don’t let them down. Thanks f o r surviving 2020 with us.

Lind a Cero ne

General Manag er