New direction for football
Alan Kennedy | 27th September 2010
Head of Queensland Football Geoff Foster has helped restructure football in Central Queensland into one body with a unified goal.
FOOTBALL Queensland’s chief executive Geoff Foster spent the weekend in Rockhampton to put the first step in place for the future of football in Central Queensland.
Foster has been a regular visitor in recent months as the sport’s governing body makes changes to the way football is run in the region.
Football Queensland (FQ) has not been happy that the Cougars has operated in isolation while the Wildcats team was not being used as a stepping stone to the QSL as was originally intended.
The fragmentation within football has seen the conveyor belt from Junior Premier League to Hyundai QSL stutter and fail.
The reason for the failures are probably many and varied, this is recognised by Football Queensland who took over the CQ Zone following the resignation of its president Gwen Fox.
Foster came back and listened to the concerns of stakeholders both in Rockhampton and Gladstone before producing an overall plan for the area which has been approved by the board of FQ.
“It was all good and all positive, I met representatives from all groups which is encouraging,” he said.
“We will re-brand football, the game will be re-positioned in the market.”
The most significant change is the removal of the double layer of administration.
“We are changing the structure, the governance of the game,” he said.
Gone are Football Rockhampton and Football Gladstone with the sport run by the CQ Zone.
Until elections early next year the Zone will be run by a board selected by FQ.
“I have to speak to some people out of courtesy but we will know (who they are) in about a fortnight,” he said.
Once those positions are finalised the working committee will put together all the bits and pieces required to provide the outcome FQ desires.
“We are looking at two new full-time positions,” Foster said.
He said he expects to see these positions funded and not be an extra financial cost to those within the game.
“There will be no increase in fees (in 2011),” he said.
“We are looking to greater efficiencies.”
Foster also looked into the existing technology being used by football administrators of the region.
“We are getting new software,” he said.
Existing staff will then be trained up to gain the maximum advantage from these new tools.
Within the framework of the new Zone, Foster expects there to be a committee from the representative side of the game and one for community football.
Football will continue to run from the existing offices but Foster said that was another area FQ would be looking at.
“I want a football home, a single point of contact,” he said.
FQ will continue to closely monitor progress in CQ.
“We’ve got one more shot and we’ve got to get it right,” he added.
http://www.themorningbulletin.com.au/story/2010/09/27/new-direction-for-football/