Football South Coast – 2019 Year in Review Contents PAGE Chairman’s Report 3 FSC Board 6 CEO’s Report 7 Council Members 10 Head of Council Reports Junior Football Council 11 Men’s Football Council 14 Women’s Football Council 17 Referee’s Council 20 Football Development Report 22 Honour Roll Junior Competition 27 Men’s Premiership 29 Men’s Community League 32 Women’s Competition 34 Award Winners Men’s Premiership 36 Men’s Community League 39 Women’s Competition 41 FNSW Competition Honour Roll 43 Life Members 44 Contribution to Football Recipients 45 Summer Football 48 FNSW Competitions – Grand Final Winners 49 Sponsors 52 Page | 1 Football South Coast – 2019 Year in Review (Pictured above – Clubs involved in the 2019 Junior Grand Finals which were held at Myimbarr Sports fields in Shellharbour) (Pictured above – Players from the 2019 Summer Football program held at Ian McLennan Park) Page | 2 Football South Coast – 2019 Year in Review Chairman’s Report Welcome everyone to 2020. A new decade dawns in Illawarra Football with some very exciting trends and a new era of leadership, sports innovation and program creation emerging in our Sport. 2019 was a busy and successful year as we continued to grow and expand into a wider area of our region, the surrounding areas and into FNSW competitions. It was fantastic to see so many new members joining our large Football South Coast membership – more than ever before. Football was still the success story of all sports and was once again the leading and inclusive participation sport of this region and in the nation. Season 2020 is going to be as strong for our membership as it was in 2019. Governments, MPs, Councillors and business should take note that Football South Coast is now four times larger than the next largest sport in the Illawarra. That is a very deep and wide reach effect into all of our local communities. The Board of FSC are proud that as an organisation, our performance, particularly in 2019, has been successful as measured against our Strategic Plan and across three key measures (detailed below). The fact remains all of our previous years’ successes including 2019 are there for all to see: (1) SUCCESS: of our sport both on and off the field with (i) large player registration numbers, (ii) large club/team participation, (iii) creation of new community competitions, (iv) improving football facilities, (v) opening of an all-weather football facility, (vi) creation of new FSC business models, (vii) new sponsors with community connection partnerships, (viii) ensuring FSC has strong commercial financial stability and sustainability, (ix) dynamic strategic plan focused on diversification, investment in infrastructure / football assets and player development (e.g. like FSC All-Weather Football Facility, a FSC Members owned Property) and (x) Board/Organisational succession planning. Success is also measured by our Corporate Governance standards and our open, regular, timely and appropriate communication. (2) ACHIEVEMENTS: in developing and advancing football operations across all of our competitions and programs for all our participants through; FNSW licenced pathways and our representative club, improving club infrastructure and facilities, creation of community inclusive programs, ensuring the highest quality of FSC Competitions and finally, sustainability of all our programs and competitions. (3) CREDIBILITY: and trust with ALL of our Community – in simple terms this means: “doing what we say we will do” by being: (i) open, (ii) transparent, (iii) honest, (iv) timely, (v) equally fair to all concerned with all our communications and behaviour, (vi) delivering on all our goals, strategic plans and football programs and (vii) providing consistency in leadership, decisions and policy. This ensures that all stakeholders can be assured that FSC delivers on best business practices and adheres to community focused principles. The Directors of FSC are proud to have gained overwhelming support from our football community over the last number of years as we all stand together to tackle the difficult and challenging issues facing the future of our game. The Directors, Football Councillors, together with the support of the management and operations team are all committed on creating football competitions that ensure our game is always inclusive, played fairly and equally by everyone of all abilities, all ages and all genders at the lowest possible cost to our members and our community. Page | 3 Football South Coast – 2019 Year in Review 2019 was an extremely busy year for everyone at Football South Coast with the opening of FSC’s first ever all weather artificial pitch at Ian McLennan and creating a commercial business model for the running of that facility, expanding FSC competitions, the growth of South Coast Flame and youth development programs, the expansion of FSC’s Female and Community League Competitions plus the restructuring of the Referees Football Council. An urgent project that has suddenly emerged - very late in 2019 - is the relocation of the FSC Headquarters to a new property, as the Fraternity Club Board advised FSC that it required the FSC leased Office Space for their own business purposes and requires FSC to vacate by 30th June 2020. It was great that the strongest support from our members was for FSC Directors to secure a permanent FSC home. The success of football creates many challenges for the Directors but one of the highest priorities for 2020 is to improve facilities such as lighting as FSC and our clubs tackle to meet the “supply demands” of our sport. FSC Board’s strategic plan is in its final year of its 2 to 3-year cycle and I am pleased to report that FSC has delivered on many elements of that original strategic plan, including the Board’s South Coast Flame FC plan and strategy, which continues to develop and is providing football in this region with the opportunity of an additional step towards a state representative football pathway. So, as I welcome you to the 2020 Season, on behalf of my Board of Directors and our MD/CEO Ann-Marie Balliana and her team, I hope you enjoy 2020 and that you and your families, experience great fun times in football. I wish you all lots of great health, long periods of happiness and many great lasting memories this coming year. Finally, thank you all for your great support and for being part of this large football family and please don’t be afraid to contact me if you have any questions, ideas, suggestions or just want to help us. Eddy De Gabriele – Chairman Football South Coast Page | 4 Football South Coast – 2019 Year in Review Pictured Below: Photo’s from the 2019 FSC Season Launch Page | 5 Football South Coast – 2019 Year in Review FSC Board Eddy De Gabriele Milco Stojanoski Ann-Marie Balliana Chair Deputy Chair CEO and MD Independent Director Independent Director Independent Director Martin Rowney Bruce Whalan Independent Director Independent Director Joe Seco Cath Lear Bruce Cunningham Elected Director – Junior’s Elected Director – Women’s Elected Director – Men’s Dennis Makin Theo Papakosmas Director – Referee’s Director – Representative and Development Page | 6 Football South Coast – 2019 Year in Review CEO’s REPORT It goes without saying that football is a team sport, and as much as this is the case for on field performances, it is also part of football off field activities across the association and all of our clubs. Delivering competitions for 13,000 registered players across 80 clubs and our many different programs and community activities is at times very challenging, however the support from all members of our football family continues to be tremendous to allow us to be the biggest sport in the Country, State and region. I would like to thank the following people for their continued support and contribution to our game: • The FSC Board, all of the Football Councils and Committees for their tireless work in allowing our association to continue to grow • The many clubs committee members and volunteers that contribute endless hours to their clubs • The fantastic FSC staff who always go above and beyond their roles to support all of our stakeholders 2019 was our first year managing our own facility with the completion of the synthetic pitch at Ian McLennan Park. It was a proud moment after the many years of work to enable the region to access a much needed facility. The utilisation of the pitch was high resulting in the following uses throughout the year including; PSSA School Sports, High School tournaments, wet weather catch up games and training, pre-season games and trials, Junior Competition games every Sunday, FNSW State Cup and Champion of Champions, FFA Cup Games, School Holiday Clinics, Summer Football and various Finals and Grand Finals across all of our competitions. Clearly our biggest challenge lies in the infrastructure needed to support our game and its growth across our region including work around irrigation, drainage, lighting, amenities and storage across our football facilities. FSC will continue to support clubs in the implementation of infrastructure priorities and regularly discuss these issues with all levels of government. In terms of sponsorship and corporate support, we once again thank the wonderful organisations that support football in the Illawarra. These included; IMB Bank, The Illawarra Mercury, Besteam, Fryer Barry Orthodontists, Figtree Physio, Villa D’Oro, The Fraternity Club, Peoplecare, Fuji Xerox, Ochre Health, ANE Electrical, Sportzology, Guzman Y Gomez, RMB Lawyers, KPMG, and South Coast Floor Coverings. In 2019 we also welcomed MM Kembla, Dapto Leagues Club, The Grange, Wollongong Printing and K and R Fabrications as new corporate sponsors. Seafood Brothers have recently also pledged their support. We sincerely thank all of our sponsors for their support.