Introduction

Welcome to the 2011 Annual General Meeting of Matamata Swifts Association Football Club Incorporated.

This has been a challenging year and a learning year for our club and we now find ourselves at a significant cross-roads. Our choices tonight and over the next few months will very much determine the future direction of our club.

In many ways we have stretched our resources to breaking point. Financially we are doing okay in what are tough times but, with a bit of imagination and greater club-wide support, we could be doing much better.

Where we are really struggling, however, is with our human resources. We have too few people taking on too many things. These people – my management committee, the sub-committees and the people who manage and coach our teams – have my eternal gratitude, admiration and thanks. I would like nothing more than to be able to provide them with more of support they need. Hopefully over the next twelve months we can do this.

Below is my summary of our 2011 season.

Senior Men

We had a difficult year in division 1 of the NRFL, culminating in relegation to division 2 for next season. It was a tough ask for a club our size to take on clubs with vastly superior resources but, for all the trials and tribulations, we only fell a couple of games (and a few goals) short of survival. I know from first hand experience the difficulties Duncan had to deal with – it seemed like something new every week. Hopefully he won’t have to deal with anywhere near that amount of problems again.

In hindsight I’d suggest that as a club we weren’t fully ready for the challenges of division 1 football. The whole season was a struggle but, if we actually apply the lessons we learnt from this experience, 2011 could end up being one of the best things that has happened to our club.

Our reserves also struggled for results this season in what wasn’t a terribly strong Federation division 2. With the players we had available I would have expected a higher finish in that league. On a positive note, however, we were able to introduce a lot of young players to senior football and this contributed to the good results of our under-19s in Napier.

The 3rds, on the other hand, had an enjoyable season, with a healthy team culture leading to good results. Much of this success can be put down to the good work of Dave Taylor. The team narrowly missed out on winning Waikato Division D. Another positive is that we will likely be in the position of being able to field a 4th team in 2012 which will help grow our membership base by providing football to more local players.

Ladies

A few weeks from the start of this season we faced the very real likelihood that we may not be able to field a ladies team, but good work by Nat Gaskell ensured we had a team ready to go when the games commenced. The team battled away from week to week and gained some good results. Nat was again to the fore, with her club-leading 31 goals taking her to a career total of 456 in Matamata colours.

Unfortunately Nat has decided to call it a day and retiring the number 7 she has worn with such distinction was the least we could do. Looking forward to next year, however, I think we may be in a similar position to the start of 2011. Unless we can find someone who is prepared to take on and drive this team we could be struggling. Without Nat’s energy this looks to be a tough proposition.

Youth

The 2011 season ended on a bright note with the performances and results of our under-19s at the NZ Youth Champs in Napier. The team finished their group games unbeaten, but an unexpected draw cost them first position and a place in the semi-finals of the satellite section of the tournament. Congratulations to Martin Redwood for the work he put in with this team during September and October, and for the support provided by Julie Clothier and Cory Rosser. We have some good young players at this club and I hope to see many of them pressing for positions with our NRFL squad in 2012.

A new project for 2011 was the entry of an under-15 team in the newly formed Federation under-15 league. This was a worthwhile experiment for us as it offered something different to school football for another group of players. This team also sits as a bridge between the school and club at an age group where many players are lost to the game. My thanks to Malcolm Raynel for getting this off the ground and for keeping the team going through what would have been a long season for most of the kids.

Juniors

The junior section of our club continues to run smoothly and efficiently. Playing numbers were steady and we again had a good number of players named to Waikato and Federation age group teams.

At the start of the season we signed up as a pilot club for New Zealand Football’s new Whole of Football Plan (WOFP). We were one of only two Waikato clubs to feature as a pilot club. The feedback I’ve received suggest this was a worthwhile project for the club and the Federation. With the WOFP being officially rolled out across the country next season we should be in a good position to hit the ground running.

My thanks go to Kim Hancock, Malcolm Raynel and the junior sub-committee for their efforts during 2011.

Action Area 1 – Financial Sustainability

Our finances are in a solid if unspectacular position. We achieved one of key 2010 action priorities by having $10,000 in the bank at January 1, 2011, which was a marked improvement of our position at the same time twelve months prior.

Through the efforts of Pete Vossen, Malcolm Raynel, Julie Clothier and Barry Simonsen, we have been able to continue adding local people and companies to our family of sponsors. This is great on two fronts: the money, of course, is a massive help, and it is also great to bring more people into contact with what this club is doing.

My feeling, however, is that we should be able to leverage our membership base better to increase our revenue streams, even in such tough times. A particular focus should be on holding one or two decent sized events where we can look to bring most of our club members together and aim for sizeable returns in one hit.

We must also continue to reach out to the business community as I feel we have a solid product that can offer genuine returns, which is not something that can be said for many amateur sporting organisations.

To increase our financial base we will need everyone’s support.

Action Area 2 – Inspired Performance

Results are not the be-all and end-all for any club, but we can’t hide from the fact that 2011 was a step back on the field. Winning is an important anchor of our club’s cycle for long-term success. Off the field, too, there were times we struggled and we had to re-consider certain projects due to our lack of available human resources.

I’m hopeful that things are about to change. Since the season ended, much of my time has been discussing what we’re doing and how we should do it with people whose views I respect. We have some good people with some great ideas and now is the time for them to come forward.

We must also focus on returning to winning ways in the NRFL. A successful flagship team will ensure our brand is prevalent, potential sponsors are interested and our supporter base grows. People like being associated with winners and that is what we must aspire to be once again.

My hope is that we can add depth to our senior squad by entering our reserves in the NRFL division 2 reserve league. This will, of course, depend on having the finances in place and, more importantly, having the right people available to take this challenge on.

Success breeds success as much as losing can lead to complacency and defeatism. It will be tough, but then anything worthwhile usually is.

Action Area 3 – Quality Facilities

Our Domain facilities are at breaking point, as they have been for several years. At last year’s AGM I reported that the council would allocate $100,000 in their 2011/2012 annual plan for our relocation to Swap Park. This has been done, but our progress on doing the work required to accelerate this move has been slow.

There are two reasons for this. Time is, of course, a biggie. I have been sitting on the resource consent application information for months and have struggled to get to it. That’s a shame, but one can only do so much.

The other reason is the discussions we’ve been having throughout the course of the year with the A&P Association about re-location to an alternate venue. This potential project came up in May and the discussions dragged on through until September. To cut a long story short, this project ended up being too vague and too long-term for us to persevere with.

We need new facilities and new playing surfaces now.

Over the summer I hope to complete the resource consent application and steer the club through that process. Our first task will then be to use the $100,000 available to bring the playing surfaces at Swap Park up to scratch for football, and then move a certain number of games up there. Clubroom facilities will have to follow when time and funds allow.

Action Area 4 – Continuous Development

The core purpose is of Matamata Swifts AFC is to be the beating heart of our community. How will we achieve this? We will provide the best sporting experience in our community.

During the last couple of seasons we have implemented an annual plan, which has helped move the focus of the management committee a little bit away from day-to-day issues. We have worked on our strategy and club structure and I think we now have a clear idea of what we stand for, what we hope to achieve and how we should achieve it.

The trick now is to turn all this theory into reality by recruiting the right people into key positions and improving communication through all levels of the club. We must spend a lot of time getting our club culture right and that starts with me and our management committee. I see this as one of my key tasks for 2012. Hopefully my work over the last few weeks has led to the addition of several new faces on our management committee. This will be a great start.

On the playing and coaching front, we hope to expand our successful holiday camp programme, along with the work done with our under-19, under-15 and college teams, into a more formalised coaching academy structure. We now have interested and qualified people available to add depth to our coaching offerings. In the long-run, having more and better coaching available right here in our community will give our players greater opportunity to achieve their potential in the game. It should also be a great reason for more people stay in the came and for others to come to our club and become members.

Action Area 5 – Imaginative Promotion

The club maintains a strong local profile but I wouldn’t say that much of what we’ve done during the last season has been overly imaginative. Our attention has been on other areas.

Game Day remains our main event focus. We receive good coverage in the Matamata Chronicle and the Waikato Times, while our online presence is significant. Our website is one of the best around and receives solid traffic numbers, while interaction with our Facebook page is well up on previous years. I’m dabbling with Twitter and, should time allow, would like to do more with our YouTube channel.

As I mentioned in the financial sustainability section, a particular focus should be on holding one or two decent sized events where we can look to bring most of our club members together, engage with the community and aim for sizeable returns, all in one hit.

I must mention summer 5-a-side soccer as one of the best ways we currently have of engaging with the community. Numbers remain high, with 36 teams competing in this summer’s competition; meaning over 300 people are at the Domain every Thursday.

The Future

I’ll admit to doing much soul searching over the course of this difficult year and, in particular, during the last couple of months. Am I the right person to lead this club? Are we trying to do more than is realistically possible? Wouldn’t it just be easier to give up and pass the responsibility to someone else?

It’s easy to become introverted and overly self absorbed, but when things get tough I try to look outwards for inspiration. I look to Duncan and how much of himself he’s invested in the club over the last seven years. I see what a team like Wairarapa United achieved this year and ask, “Well, why can’t we do that too?” A little closer to home I see how Ngaruawahia have bounced back from a disastrous 2010 season. I also have a vision of what we could do up at Swap Park.

I am fired by our Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG), which is to become the leading country football club in New Zealand by the end of 2013. I genuinely believe we can do that, and my role will be to organise and energize the many good and talented people we have in our club so that we can give this a decent shake.

There are so many things still to achieve and so many reasons to stick around, so that is what I’d like to do. I offer my services in the hope this can continue into 2012.

Please accept this report as my summary of the season just completed.

Dwayne Barlow
President, Matamata Swifts AFC
November 20, 2011