From the Chairman of Football Mid North Coast

March 2020

Hi to all of you in our extended Football Family.

Welcome to season 2020!

I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait for the season to start for our local competitions.

Having survived drought, bushfires and flooding rain and currently the Covid-19 Virus and its implications, it is more importantly than ever a time to celebrate our strengths and solidarity and sense of community that has been so evident over recent months.

It is our opportunity to regain some of that family time and enjoyment simply for enjoyments sake,

To see the joy and excitement from all our new under 6’s as they take up the sport for the very first time, to those of us that have been around for what seems and is a “lifetime” of involvement it is a special time indeed.

To all the club volunteers and our own office staff that have contributed to the planning and successful launch of season 2020 a massive thank you!

To our Referees’ and match officials welcome to you and as we continue to see record numbers our recruitment and training and mentoring is going to plan.

We continue to have a much better structure of education, recruitment and retention moving forward so again my thanks to all involved in providing a safe and structured environment for our children and adults to play.

Please remember these match officials do their best every week and depending on their level of experience are appointed to your matches and deserve nothing but appreciation for the sometimes-difficult times out on the field.

Please show respect and good sportsmanship in the manner you would demonstrate to your own friends, children or family in the way that you would have them treated.

The number one reason match officials leave the game is personal abuse. There is no place in our game, or any for that matter, for insulting or detrimental /hurtful behaviour.

Your encouragement to our match officials is primary to keeping them involved and improving on a weekly basis.

Our High-Performance Football squads have already kicked off their season and newly rebranded as” Mid Coast FC “to give a more club like atmosphere and a sense of aspiration to even higher levels of Football in the A- League and W- League and beyond.

Perhaps eventually coming back to our local teams and Coastal and Zone Premier Leagues with so much to offer in terms of skills and experience that they have acquired and can then share.

We continue to develop promote and encourage female participation and as the Matildas head to the Olympics and we see role models like Sam Kerr playing for Chelsea and one of the top money earners in World Women’s Football there has never been a better time to play and be involved in women and girls’ competitions.

2019 saw the greatest increase in women’s and girl’s participation in the history of our sport. A trend we hope to see continuing into the future.

Our game is one of inclusiveness for boys and girls, men and women and also special needs programs such as the “Rainbow Warriors FC”. A big shout out to Matty Zarb and all those that are part of this ever-expanding program.

We continue to put programs and coaching clinics on throughout the year and also to encourage and support clubs to achieve accreditation, as so many already have, and register and train your coaches and administration personnel.

We have our “Coastal Premier League” kicking off on 28 March, an exciting new competition which puts 4 of our top clubs into a competition with the top clubs from Coffs Harbour, providing the highest level of competition outside of Newcastle and the Gold Coast.

A space has been reserved for a 5th FMNC Club to participate from 2021, based in the southern zone from Taree to Forster Tuncurry and beyond.

We welcome Wingham into the revamped Single Team Zone Premier League.

This competition allows for aspirational clubs to compete at the zone level, opening the door for clubs who in the past could not maintain a First and Reserve Grade structure.

I look forward to the future of this competition as more of the smaller clubs take this opportunity to compete at the higher level.

At the time of writing this report we have almost 6,000 registered players and hoping to gain a bit more traction as the season commences.

The Board, Bruce Potter and our team in the office continue to work on your behalf to secure better infrastructure, facilities and funding across our Zone and if your club has any needs or requires assistance please feel free to contract Bruce in the office and we can arrange to meet with your club to give you support and guidance to those aims.

FMNC continues to lead our state in securing funding from Federal, State and Local Government with our zone securing an unprecedented 16 million dollars in funding for Football Facilities over the last two years.

This week I was delighted to attend Bulahdelah Football Club to celebrate a grant of $92,000 awarded by our State Member, Mr Steve Bromhead.

I encourage all clubs to contact our office to discuss grant opportunities.

We are indeed linked by one common thread and that is the love of our brand of Football. This can only be a recipe for goodwill and harmony.

We all have our personal experiences of the recent bushfires and the heroics and the tragedies that where experienced and FMNC is here to help when and where we can.

Having said that spare a thought for “the Upper Macleay Yowies” whose area and as a result so many families where devastated by fires to the point...

The small community of Willawarrin has suffered enormously from the recent bushfires. We intend to hold a “Bushfire” round to raise much need funds for the Yowies who appear to have suffered more than any of our clubs.

Please advise the office should your community be included in this assistance.

Thanks again for being a special and personal member of our Football family, the world’s number one participant sport, Australia’s' number one participant sport and the number one participant sport on the Mid North Coast.

See you out and around the grounds.

Mike Parsons

Chairman FMNC