League Restructure - Campbelltown City

[shorty]

Oh ps - I think it's a lil unfair for city to beat c'town 16.0 yet metro will only recieve THREE goals due to a forfiet... So we should scrap every c'town game this yr....

[Tony_Mowbray]

Campbelltown City are off to a great start in division 4.

They have one a game, convincingly, against the Elizabeth Grove girls today.
Looked like a real professional unit out there ... keep up the good work ladies

[my_username]

What was the score? Was it more than 5 goals?

[sparts]

was 9-0 to campbelltown and heard it could of been a lot more. absolute disgrace, well done ffsa! can my side go down a div so we can win all our games? isnt that what it is all about...joke!

[Tony_Mowbray]

What was the score? Was it more than 5 goals?

9 Nil

Should have been a lot more

[my_username]

So what happened to them being told to stop at 5 goals? Having these girls in division 4 is not going to help them improve although I do think that some of the division 4 teams will step up and improve against C'town.

[sparts]

no one really gains anything from results like that, soft option ffsa. teams will stop playing them

[pecker]

This game today was an absolute disgrace, firstly no one from the FFSA could be bothered to come and see how good Campbelltown are. They are way to good to be playing Div 4. Maybe all clubs should refuse to play them, let them win the league and play in a division that is still probably to weak for them. Today they would have missed at least 8 to 10 one on ones, they even took there best player off after 15 minutes with an injury, only to return with about 10 minutes to go. When your 8-0 up why would take the risk, maybe there was no injury and they didn't want it to be 15-0

[Tony_Mowbray]

So what happened to them being told to stop at 5 goals? Having these girls in division 4 is not going to help them improve although I do think that some of the division 4 teams will step up and improve against C'town.

Was at the game today as an interested observer.
Overheard a conversation regarding the stopping at 5 goals. This WAS the original plan but to be honest it would have stuck out like a sore thumb had they tried that one.

Yes some Div 4 teams would gain some experience and improve over time Im sure as the Grove would have probably done today.

Not a good result for the sport though

Oh and the guy with the Mega Horn ... nobody likes that crap it must have been annoying for the players

[themagnet]

Oh ps - I think it's a lil unfair for city to beat c'town 16.0 yet metro will only recieve THREE goals due to a forfiet... So we should scrap every c'town game this yr....

pretty sure FFSA have said C'town still have to play this game, along with all the other catch up games they have to play against the div 4 teams they've missed in the first round of the season. I think they're gonna have to end up playing 25 games or so this season.

[Tony_Mowbray]

Oh ps - I think it's a lil unfair for city to beat c'town 16.0 yet metro will only recieve THREE goals due to a forfiet... So we should scrap every c'town game this yr....

pretty sure FFSA have said C'town still have to play this game, along with all the other catch up games they have to play against the div 4 teams they've missed in the first round of the season. I think they're gonna have to end up playing 25 games or so this season.

From what I understand, speaking with other Div 4 Club officials, is that Campbelltown will NOT have to play many games in Div 4 and will win by forfeit. A pretty relaxed remainder of the season I guess and an easy title in the bag for them.

Most clubs I have spoken with are considering the option of "Boycotting" all games against this team.

The only team I can see that will give them any competition is Salisbury Inter and they beat Flinders 11 nil on the weekend. Can you imagine what C/City will do to Flinders Flames

FFSA >> For the sake and reputation of your organisation and the respect owed to the Campbelltown City Reserve girls, get them into a more suitable division as they are the victims of some POOR management at their own club and you are responsible for the mess you have now created!!!

[Angela Porcu]

What a joke!

[neits/burgo/shadow]

They should have grading games for each of the divisions 2,3,4 and 5 at the end of each season.

[themagnet]

They should have grading games for each of the divisions 2,3,4 and 5 at the end of each season.

there was a major reshuffle in the lower divs as it was for this season, and I think for the most part, they've got it pretty close. With the C'town situation, surely FFSA would've seen how PH Knights 'reserves' have been going in div2 so far, and seen that that's a level that a poor performing reserves team can compete in, not pop them wherever there's a space without any regard for the ablility of the C'town team or the players they'll be against.

[beaches]

Did the former Campbelltown Prems play in DIV 1 this past round?

[on the side]

no game was 'postponed' ....

[Angela Porcu]

They should have grading games for each of the divisions 2,3,4 and 5 at the end of each season.

Rubbish. Promotion/relegation should be determined on league placings of the previous season.

[Tony_Mowbray]

Below is a letter that has been forwarded to the FFSA from Campbelltown City in relation to their position within the Women’s Competition


Dear Wendy
Re: Campbelltown City Senior Women’s teams
The Campbelltown City Soccer Club wishes to advise the FFSA that the Club finds itself in a very difficult position in
regards to the status of our Senior Premier League/Reserve grade Women’s teams.
Over the last few years the senior women teams of the Club have struggled to be a competitive unit in the FFSA’s elite
Premier League competition.
Last season with the assistance of Mr Camillo Lombardi, the then Club’s Senior Coach the Club and team was taking
steps to set up the women’s component of the Club for a secure and strong future in the league.
During his tenure Mr Lombardi was finding it extremely difficult to receive the required commitment from the women to
enable the squad to be competitive however with perseverance and his passion for the game and with support from the
Club, the senior women completed the season.
This season the same requirements where issued to the squads for trying to succeed at this elite level including
commitment to training, commitment to each other, respect of coaches and club which was commenced with good
intentions by all involved.
The Club has found that this commitment and respect for each other and club has waned and the recent results have
illustrated the difficulty in trying to be a competitive unit this season.
The Club has seen the writing on the wall for a number of weeks now and recently requested help and were ably
assisted by the FFSA in providing further training and advice for our senior women squads to assist them in trying to
become a competitive unit in the league.
It is now completely apparent by the Club that the current system of fielding teams in the Premier and Reserve grades
of the FFSA’s Women’s competition is failing and after much consideration and consultation with all stakeholders the
Club has decided to ask the FFSA that consideration be given to the Club fielding it’s two senior women’s teams in
lower grades of the competition so as to become a viable opposition and enable the Club to put systems in place for the
security and future of our senior women’s program at the Club.
It is understood that the FFSA has accepted our initial request and has placed our senior team in the Division 1 grade
and our reserve team in the Division 4 grade of the Women’s structure which is accepted by the Club and will be an
avenue whereby the Club can regroup and build its future for the upcoming seasons.
The Campbelltown City Soccer Club wish to acknowledge and sincerely thank Ms Wendy Carter of the FFSA for her understanding of the Club’s plight and her great assistance in helping the Club maintain a level of respect in offering the placement of our two senior women’s teams in lower grade competitions for the security and future of the Club’s
women’s program.
The Campbelltown City Soccer Club has a long established and successful junior women’s program and field’s
competitive teams in the Under 13’s, 15’s and 17’s competitions and the Club will continue to support and assist in
building women’s soccer for the future of the sport and offer interested players of the community and beyond the
opportunity to play at the elite level.
The FFSA must be commended for providing assistance and understanding to our club with the current situation we
find ourselves in at the senior level and the club is extremely grateful for the offer made the FFSA for support of our
Club continuing in the league and hopefully build a strong future for women’s soccer at our Club.
Furthermore i wish to add the following points for your consideration of the matter:
1. The Club wishes to reinforce our many thanks to the FFSA for trying to resolve this issue and the support shown
with the assistance of coaching and development and consultation advice offered.
2. The Club has been left with little choice in regards the requested changes considering the large number of injuries
and results achieved this year.
3. The Club has a duty of care to its players in regards to their physical and mental wellbeing.
4. The club feels that we were in a position of losing players to other clubs and to the game itself.
5. The Club hopes to use the rest of the season to try to build on in terms of players and coaches.
6. Finally the Club would like to request the support of other Clubs, and ask that they not pass harsh judgement on
the Club and the FFSA, but to perhaps evaluate their own positions in regards to the recruitment of players and/or
the development of juniors within its own ranks.
Again thank you for much appreciated assistance.
Yours in Sport
Mario Scalzi
Chairman
Campbelltown City Soccer Club

[on the side]

Below is a letter that has been forwarded to the FFSA from Campbelltown City in relation to their position within the Women’s Competition


Dear Wendy
Re: Campbelltown City Senior Women’s teams
The Campbelltown City Soccer Club wishes to advise the FFSA that the Club finds itself in a very difficult position in
regards to the status of our Senior Premier League/Reserve grade Women’s teams.
Over the last few years the senior women teams of the Club have struggled to be a competitive unit in the FFSA’s elite
Premier League competition.
Last season with the assistance of Mr Camillo Lombardi, the then Club’s Senior Coach the Club and team was taking
steps to set up the women’s component of the Club for a secure and strong future in the league.
During his tenure Mr Lombardi was finding it extremely difficult to receive the required commitment from the women to
enable the squad to be competitive however with perseverance and his passion for the game and with support from the
Club, the senior women completed the season.
This season the same requirements where issued to the squads for trying to succeed at this elite level including
commitment to training, commitment to each other, respect of coaches and club which was commenced with good
intentions by all involved.
The Club has found that this commitment and respect for each other and club has waned and the recent results have
illustrated the difficulty in trying to be a competitive unit this season.
The Club has seen the writing on the wall for a number of weeks now and recently requested help and were ably
assisted by the FFSA in providing further training and advice for our senior women squads to assist them in trying to
become a competitive unit in the league.
It is now completely apparent by the Club that the current system of fielding teams in the Premier and Reserve grades
of the FFSA’s Women’s competition is failing and after much consideration and consultation with all stakeholders the
Club has decided to ask the FFSA that consideration be given to the Club fielding it’s two senior women’s teams in
lower grades of the competition so as to become a viable opposition and enable the Club to put systems in place for the
security and future of our senior women’s program at the Club.
It is understood that the FFSA has accepted our initial request and has placed our senior team in the Division 1 grade
and our reserve team in the Division 4 grade of the Women’s structure which is accepted by the Club and will be an
avenue whereby the Club can regroup and build its future for the upcoming seasons.
The Campbelltown City Soccer Club wish to acknowledge and sincerely thank Ms Wendy Carter of the FFSA for her understanding of the Club’s plight and her great assistance in helping the Club maintain a level of respect in offering the placement of our two senior women’s teams in lower grade competitions for the security and future of the Club’s
women’s program.
The Campbelltown City Soccer Club has a long established and successful junior women’s program and field’s
competitive teams in the Under 13’s, 15’s and 17’s competitions and the Club will continue to support and assist in
building women’s soccer for the future of the sport and offer interested players of the community and beyond the
opportunity to play at the elite level.
The FFSA must be commended for providing assistance and understanding to our club with the current situation we
find ourselves in at the senior level and the club is extremely grateful for the offer made the FFSA for support of our
Club continuing in the league and hopefully build a strong future for women’s soccer at our Club.
Furthermore i wish to add the following points for your consideration of the matter:
1. The Club wishes to reinforce our many thanks to the FFSA for trying to resolve this issue and the support shown
with the assistance of coaching and development and consultation advice offered.
2. The Club has been left with little choice in regards the requested changes considering the large number of injuries
and results achieved this year.
3. The Club has a duty of care to its players in regards to their physical and mental wellbeing.
4. The club feels that we were in a position of losing players to other clubs and to the game itself.
5. The Club hopes to use the rest of the season to try to build on in terms of players and coaches.
6. Finally the Club would like to request the support of other Clubs, and ask that they not pass harsh judgement on
the Club and the FFSA, but to perhaps evaluate their own positions in regards to the recruitment of players and/or
the development of juniors within its own ranks.
Again thank you for much appreciated assistance.
Yours in Sport
Mario Scalzi
Chairman
Campbelltown City Soccer Club

my favourite part...shouldn't every club in Div 4 also consider the duty of care to its players in regards to their physical and mental wellbeing playing against a reserves side? surely these games will be more physical and mentally demoralising then the others?

[neits/burgo/shadow]

They should have grading games for each of the divisions 2,3,4 and 5 at the end of each season.

Rubbish. Promotion/relegation should be determined on league placings of the previous season.

Yes, I still believe top 2 and bottom 2 have relegation/promotion. But what about if a new team/club register in the federation. Rules say that most often than not, they have to start in the lowest div.....what if they are too good for div 5? Smash everyone in the first few rounds? Similar to the situation Campelltown are in with Div 4. Sometimes I think grading games could be a benefit.

[Angela Porcu]

They should work their way up the divisions like everybody else.

[on the side]

They should have grading games for each of the divisions 2,3,4 and 5 at the end of each season.

Rubbish. Promotion/relegation should be determined on league placings of the previous season.

Yes, I still believe top 2 and bottom 2 have relegation/promotion. But what about if a new team/club register in the federation. Rules say that most often than not, they have to start in the lowest div.....what if they are too good for div 5? Smash everyone in the first few rounds? Similar to the situation Campelltown are in with Div 4. Sometimes I think grading games could be a benefit.

NAB and ELIZ VALE were new to the comp this year and started in Div 4.... I guess like everything else the FFSA just decide on a case by case basis!!

[sparts]

well said tony mowbray. in the end by 'helping' 2 teams they have not even considered the well being of the other 18 teams affected. the only reason they have allocated them to div 4 is because they didnt have to re-structure the division to 'slot' them in. everyone knows they would of been better suited to a higher division but this would of involved more work on sawsa's behalf

[volim te futbal]

Campbelltown has little choice because of injuries and the results?! Western Districts had to put up with getting pumped every single week when they were in Premier division as well as some injuries along the way. So why cant campbelltown be like other normal clubs and wait until end of season to be relegated and not mess up the division 1 and 4 league

[beaches]

Forget going on about Campbelltown, being in Div 4, the more interesting aspect is how they are going to perform in DIV 1. Let us see whether they dominate there. If they do (which is no certainty). Then what is the point of DIV 1 teams having ambition to play in Prems. They get smashed and the current situation will repeat itself.

FFSA have to look seriously into grading. What chance are many clubs of ever getting to Prems and competing at that level.

As I have said previously on this forum, FFSA have to look at the growing areas and work with that.

There are plenty of clubs in the North, and surely with cooperation between clubs that a competitive Northern Suburbs Premier League entity could be forged. The clubs would not lose as many players to traditional Prem Clubs. These clubs would be instrumental in providing elite juniors opportunities in their own area.

The same in the deep south, although not as many clubs to do this, but there are players who live in the south who may prefer to only travel once every 2 weeks to play games, and not have to travel further for training.

We hear of Executive decisions creating precedents, now is the time for some positive ones or the whole structure of Womens Football will collapse.

[Redback]

If anyone is interested. The womens game in Perth has had similar concerns with the gap between Prems and 1st Div. Teams in the past who have won the 1st Div have been promoted (under sufferance), been flogged and then relegated back to the 1st Div. This yo yo effect happens every year.
Each year we talk about restructuring to find something that will suit and we are going through that process again for the 2011 season.
Reserves have been in and out as a requirement but now are in permanently. The reason being that they did not want one club teams in the premier league and that clubs should have some commitment to the league and a responsibility to develop players.
In future it is proposed that promotion to premier league will be by application only. (Certain criteria will need to be satisfied)
Some other suggestions have been:
Reserves be an underage competition with the capacity to have a certain number of overage players.
Have a grace period of a few years where teams in premier league can consolidate without the threat of relegation.
Premier league to be made up of teams that represent a region or zone (all other clubs in that zone to have dual registration with that "representative" team and be feeder clubs. (Similar to SANFL and WAFL in AFL) No relegation but eventually these "zonal" teams would have to have a prems, reserves and a youth team.

It has also been suggested that the lower div clubs be canvassed to establish who actually has premier league ambitions, and that the Association assist those clubs in achieving that. (rather than forcing clubs up who really don't want to be there)

FYI. In the past our association was just (and still is) focused on having a 10 team premier league (because it fits best in the fixtures template). This did not work because the "competitive" player pool is too small. We now have an 8 team premier league (which includes a regional representative team (2hrs out of Perth)) This isn't working too bad at the moment.

Just a final observation. The gap between our premier league and our elite WAIS / High performance squad (they play in the boys U14 premier league) is still too large in terms of most things. The focus for most of the suggestions that are being put to our womens standing committee from premier league /high performance coaches regarding the structure of the league are measures to reduce that gap.

In any case one of the largest stumbling blocks is personalities and people / clubs who push things for their own benefit, rather than seeing the big picture.

Good luck!

[juniorsupporter]

Thanks Redback. It's really constructive to know how other states approach the issue that it would seem we all share. We are all definitely interested.

[nanstar]

frankly I would have been pissed off if they added ctown to div 2 this year..
They did the same thing last year by adding Parafield Gardens and Eliz Downs to div 3 (which is now div 2)after about round 3. Gardens went on to win the league and downs didn't win a game. it was very disruptive, even after only 3 rounds. I can only imagine how bad this would be for teams in div 4. I think they'll be competitive in div 1, only time will tell.

[Tony_Mowbray]

Ive heard a rumour that a Div 4 side has called an emergency meeting with FFSA and all Div 4 clubs to discuss the inclusion of Campbelltown City.

Is this true ... anyone??

[southern]

I heard rumors of other emergency meetings between clubs and FFSA too. Maybe the "manifest inadequacy" of FFSA is actually helping the clubs to come together and look further than their own backyard!

About the game in Perth...it sounds good, especially the reserves being under age. But isn't this the FFSA's job to know what they do in other states? Apparently not!