VAFA Staff

Chief Executive Offi cer’s Report

Constitution in February 2022. I would like to acknowledge the work of Peta Olive (Board Member) and Shona MacInnes (GM, Business & Projects) in relation to this important body of work. On a staffi ng front, Sean Walker joined us as Manager – Club Development and set about gaining an understanding of the needs of our clubs and areas of key support required. Sean’s role has been vital in making certain the sustainability of all our clubs is at the forefront of our minds. Susan Miller joined the Administration team in June to fi ll the role of Administration Offi cer and has been an excellent addition to team in the areas of administration, fi nance and events. There were also a number of staffi ng changes across 2021. Paul Wagland (Partnerships Manager) left in June to pursue other career opportunities. Mikala Sykes (Football Operations Co-ordinator) joined Melbourne FC in July in their football operations department. Matt Dervan (Manager – Umpire Operations) left in November and joined Cricket Victoria as Regional Cricket Manager (Outer West). Nick Armistead (Head of Media) took a role at Racing.com as their Social Media Editor and left in early December, while Lana Ryan (Media Marketing & Events Co-ordinator) will leave us prior to the summer break to take up a marketing consultant role with an international company in the city. While staff turnover at any time can be a challenge, we realise that within a small team further career opportunities are limited. Each team member who has left us does so with our best wishes in pursuit of further career development. Overall, to the Administration team a huge thank you. Yet again we faced extreme challenges on many fronts, your resilience is to be applauded, thank you all sincerely for all your eff orts in 2021.

Throughout the season, constant playing protocol updates from AFL Victoria meant “ a challenging time for clubs and Administration. ”

Sam Confait (GM – Football & Umpiring) and his football team once again managed the core business of the Association in an operations sense. A beefed-up integrity process was implemented to ensure the cornerstone of our competition, amateur status, was protected. Much work was done by the football operations team in ensuring the season got underway and assisted clubs when lockdowns hit, being guided by the COVID Football policy. In the end our season stopped on the eve of our men’s fi nals (11 rounds), with the women’s competition (1) week into their fi nals’ series. A disappointing result for clubs and the football operations team. Throughout the season, constant playing protocol updates from AFL Victoria meant a challenging time for clubs and Administration. Add to that the introduction of community concussion guidelines and a community transgender policy meant both clubs and Administration needed to remain agile in terms of compliance requirements. Dean Matthews (Football, Growth & Integrity Chair) is thanked for his energy and drive, particularly in face of adversity. Dean’s support of Sam and his team was greatly appreciated. The implementation of the VAFA Masters competition took its fi rst steps and while we were unable to conduct our own stand-alone competition, 2022 is looking promising with an increase in the number of clubs who have indicated that they wish to fi eld teams. We thank the EFNL for allowing all of our Masters Teams to compete in their competition in 2021. With the season ending abruptly and no premiers awarded for 2021, the task of what our 2022 structure looked like was a challenge. The Board determined that there would be no relegation or promotion, except where clubs requested to be demoted or promoted. After many meetings and discussions, Premier B and Premier C will play with uneven numbers in 2022. While certainly not ideal, the decision to move forward with this uneven number of teams was heavily focused on club sustainability. Matt Collister (Manager – Football Operations) oversaw our tribunal and investigation areas, as well as leading our football policy development in all areas of football operations. Rebecca Carter assisted the football and umpire operations teams throughout. Across 2021 we were also in discussions with the AFL and AFL Victoria in relation to a change of our competition management system. The VAFA, and all metropolitan leagues, decided that we would not change to a new system given we could not be assured that it would be the equal to, if not better, than the current system. To the clubs who were awarded minor premiers and all 2021 award winners, well done on persisting and having outstanding years. I would like to acknowledge all our clubs, the players, coaches and in particular the volunteers and thank them for the resilience and persistence throughout a very stop-start year. It is you who make our competition what it is. Our sponsor partners and suppliers are once again thanked for their support across another challenging year. The Association is indebted to you all for backing us across the last two years. We look forward to more prosperous years ahead for us all. To the VAFA Board led by George Voyage, thank you for your untiring eff orts in interests of the Association. As volunteers, your dedication to the Association is highly regarded. Looking to 2022, we are keen to return to the fi eld bigger and better. We will be celebrating 130 years of the VAFA and with two events planned we are excited about getting back together both on and off the fi eld. Stay safe, keep well and see you at the footy in 2022.