A Letter from under the house

In common with you all I am a keen observer of the articles and
comments that are posted to Walter’s blog site.

Among the more recent postings was an appeal to us to put our thoughts in writing and submit them to FFT rather than merely express our
opinions under a pseudonym.

This induced a train of thought and awakened a memory cell.

I am not a ruminant although at this time of the year with the season well past I tend from time to time take stock of the season past.

This period of reflection usually takes place as I weed my vegetable gar-den or whilst waiting for my playing companion to emerge from a bunker at Kingston Beach Golf Club.

During my time on the Board of Soccer Tas people either accosted me at matches or stopped me in the street to give me the benefit of their latest brainstorm.

It got to the stage that if I went to a game I would hide my light under a
bushel thus ensuring I obtained some enjoyment.

If you are serious about putting a concept to the powers that be either FFT or your own club use the following as a template.

The subject I have chosen “ The Fantasy Tasmanian Premier League “


Football Federation Tasmania Agenda Item No
Board Meeting

Subject Matter

A Proposed Elite Tasmanian Soccer Competition



Preamble

This paper addresses a proposal for an elite Tasmanian Soccer Competition. I have been requested to advise on the feasibility, and general impact of such a Competition on the Soccer Community. I shall also make reference to the financial exposure of participants.

Background

Board members would be aware that there have been previous attempts to organize elite statewide competitions. Whilst these have initially created a great deal of inter-est eventually lack of finance and a disproportionate local representation led to their demise.


Discussion

It is necessary from the outset to determine what is the objective of such an elite Competition.

The objective is to allow the best 66,88 or 110 soccer players in the State to dem-onstrate their skills on a regular basis. It is the opportunity for the best 6,8,10 Coaches to ply their trade against comparable opponents on a regular basis. It is the opportunity for 6,8,10 Management teams to engage in a truly professional Soccer Club Management strategy without distraction.

Working on the hypothesis that such a Competition may proceed I believe usage of the term State League for the fourth time smacks of repetition and is also divi-sive. May I suggest the term TS league or something similar be utilised. This expression is more district neutral and can continue to be utilised should membership be for one reason or another be ultimately restricted to a particular area of the State. This would if a winter competition were implemented allow the continued use of the “ Premier” definition.

The crux of the matter is the composition of the membership. Previously members have been drawn from existing participants, however the number of individual clubs has decreased thus wholesale transferring of allegiance to a new concept would denude the Northern and Southern Premier Leagues of members.

The proposed member may be a stand-alone organization. It would not be compelled to field reserves, or juniors. This would free the member’s management team from these distractions thus allowing them to con-centrate purely on the success of their team.

However if an existing Club wishes to participate it may do so.

Membership of any such proposed competition should be no less than 6 and no greater than 10.






Venues

The venue for all Southern games would be KG V Soccer ground. Dependent on the number of entries matches would be scheduled at 4, 6, and 8 pm on Saturdays. Ground Management would be the responsibility of the FFT. Northern matches would be played at agreed venues with the ground man-agement be carried out by the FFT or its agents.



Finance

Membership fees of the competition should be no less than $7500 and no more than $10000. Members would not pay ground rent, referee fees, lighting costs and be allowed to register up to 20 players at no cost.

FFT would be responsible for all ground management thus collecting the gate receipts, canteen proceeds and sponsorship monies.

The minimum prize money would be as follows (based on 6 teams @$10000) a minimum of: -1st prize $20000, 2nd Prize $15000, 3rd prize $10000, the balance to be divided between the remaining 3 sides.
Dependent on the number of entries the Prize monies would be adjusted.


Time Frames

Any radical departure to the norm as described above will in the short-term cause disruption so it is necessary to try and achieve some compromise.

Crucial to this is the time frame when the Elite Competition will take place.

Previously we have both winter and summer state competitions.
The winter competition disturbed the existing Southern and Northern Competi-tions and as set out above the impact now would be greater than in the past.

The summer competition whilst a financial success for clubs with home grounds simply exhausted players and staff, as Soccer became a year round competition.

Consideration should therefore be given to either of the following alternatives:

1. An elite competition run for a limited number of entrants during the winter .As previously stated besides one off Teams (Clubs) current members are permitted to enter the elite competition. They can make the decision whether to commit to 2nd, 3rd, 4th adult sides and junior commitments.

2. An elite competition run for a limited number of entrants during the late autumn. As previously stated current members are permitted to enter the elite competition.

It is believed that the above whilst a compromise meets the objective.

Conclusion
It is recognized that the above is a radical departure from the Company benchmarks and current strategies. The merit of the proposal is that no current club need enter however they are not prevented from entering a team. Should they do so they can determine the extent of their commit-ments to the local league .


I commend the above for your consideration.


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I look forward to your comments not on the paper but if you think the format is suitable for expressing your thoughts to FFT.

Brian Roberts 1/11/10