President’s Report to Annual Congress of the Kingston and St. Andrew Football Association (KSAFA) on Saturday 13th October, 2007

Introduction

Ambassador A.B. Stewart Stephenson President

When the present Council was re-elected at the Bi-annual Congress of KSAFA at the Heart Trust NTA Auditorium on Saturday 16th September, 2006, it had received a mandate to continue its mission of restoring the Association to financial viability and to maintain the image of KSAFA as the leading confederation in the country. Following the elections, Council renewed its effort to maintain the confidence of the private sector and corporate Jamaica in being the primary providers of sponsorship funds for our ten (10) competitions and our various activities. The Council also committed itself to strengthening our administrative efficiency, reviewing the composition of our Standing Committees, forging a strong bond with our clubs and maintaining our excellent relationship with the media which continue to provide excellent coverage for the activities of the Association

Objectives to be Achieved

Having re-established the basic standards of governance for KSAFA over the past two (2) years, including the strengthening of our Secretariat and communication with the clubs, Council was expected to pursue objectives designed to increase sponsorship of our competitions, including incentives offered to our clubs through prize monies and underwriting the cost of referees’ fees, while at the same time seeking to garner funds to under-write our administrative expenses. There was also the important objective of complying with our competitions calendar and starting our competitions on time.

Other objectives set by Council, included maintaining regular Council meetings, the re-establishing a KSAFA Website and ensuring that our age group competitions remained intact and underpinned the technical development of our players.

The vital role being played by KSAFA’s 1st Vice-President within the JFF and the co-ordinating role of our 2nd Vice-President in providing advisory support for our clubs, were important objectives to which Council remained committed.

Performance of Council during the Administrative Year 2006/2007

During the Administrative Year, Council held some twenty-seven (27) meetings up to the 4th October, 2007, with meetings being scheduled on the first and third Thursday of each month. Discussions were usually very lively and there was free and open participation by all Council members in all issues being deliberated. A special word of appreciation must be extended to our 1st Vive-President, Mr. Carvel Stewart for enabling Council to hold its regular meetings at his offices at 5 Norwood Avenue, Kingston 5. The Secretariat headed by Mr. David Hunt assisted by Mr. Jerome Spencer must also be commended for the preparation of Minutes and correspondence for our meetings.

Support provided by Administrative Staff

Bianche Marks (L) and Kedine Shepherd,

The activities at the Association and the co-ordination of our competitions were undertaken by our two (2) young Administrators, Bianche Marks, Administrative Officer and Kedine Shepherd, Administrative Assistant. They were required to handle correspondence flowing into and out of the Office, to liaise with our clubs, co-ordinate the running of our competitions and arrange all Press Launches and Presentation of Award Ceremonies as well as the hosting of Semi-final and Final matches by the Association. They were also required to arrange meetings for Council and our Standing Committees and implementing their decisions.

In February 2007, our former Co-ordinator, Miss Margaret Sutherland, left KSAFA after ten (10) years with the Association for the Jamaica Football Referees’ Association (JFRA) in the position of General Secretary. She continues to serve KSAFA as a member of our Competitions Committee.

Enhancing the Image of KSAFA

Since September, 2004, when the current administration took office, the image of KSAFA within the football fraternity as the most professionally run and leading confederation within the JFF, has steadily been restored. This has been attained through the very positive achievements of Council, the increased sponsorship of its programmes and our leadership and advocacy publicly on issues affecting football nationally on radio and television.

The increased marketing of our competitions through very effective Press Launches and Presentation Ceremonies and media advisories of our Semi-finals and Finals, have served to create increased publicity for the activities of the Association and enhanced our image as a Confederation.

Members of the sports departments in the print and electronic media, as well as our own Videographer Jose Walton, should be specially congratulated for covering the activities of KSAFA and giving them national prominence.

Website Development

On 2nd April, 2007, KSAFA re-launched its website www.ksafa.net  during the Presentation of Awards Ceremony for the 2006/07 Western Union KSAFA Jackie Bell Knock-Out Competition. The Website Developers Vilcomm Limited were contracted by Council to re-establish and maintain the Association’s website. Mr. Basil Waite, former General Secretary and Chairman of the Website Development and Information Systems Committee must be congratulated for the work which his Committee has done in ensuring that our website is of world class standard and showcases all aspects of the KSAFA’s activities and history. A visit to our website will provide detailed information on all our competitions in an attractively designed format.

The website is now suitably developed to enable our Sponsorship & Marketing Committee chaired by Mr. Carvel Stewart to commence the sale of advertising to potential sponsors.

Attracting new Sponsorship for Competitions

I wish to remind Delegates to Congress that when this Council took office in September, 2004, there was only one confirmed sponsor for our competitions, the Jamaica National Building Society. Since then, KSAFA has attracted the support of seventeen (17) new corporate sponsors during the period 2004/07 to provide funding for all our programmes and ten (10) competitions. These private sector entities have together provided just over Twenty-seven Million Dollars ($27,000,000.00) in sponsorship funds over the three (3) year period.

A breakdown of the sponsorship reveals that we received Seven (7) Million Dollars for 2004/2005, just under Nine Million Dollars ($9,000,000.00) for 2005/2006 and Eleven Million Four Hundred Thousand Dollars ($11,400,000.00) for 2006/07. Interestingly, during the three (3) previous years 2001/04 the Association was only able to attract sponsorship of Six Million Two Hundred and Fifty-eight Thousand Dollars ($6,258,000.00).

Media Coverage and Publicity for KSAFA Competitions and Activities

During this Administration, Press Launches and Presentation of Awards Ceremonies have been held for the ten (10) competitions run by the Association. In most instances, these functions have been hosted in the Board Rooms of our sponsors. All of our activities and programmes have attracted tremendous media coverage and restored KSAFA’s image as the leading and most professionally run football Confederation in the country.

Restoring the financial viability of the Association

The Association generated total revenue of just under Thirty-four Million Dollars ($34,000,000.00) for the period 2004/07, representing a 200% increase in the amount generated for the corresponding period 2001/04 of just under Eleven Million Two Hundred Thousand Dollars ($11,200,000.00). In 2004/05 we generated income of almost Nine Million Dollars ($9,000,000.00), this increased to Eleven Million One Hundred and Forty-five Thousand Dollars ($11,145,000.00) in 2005/06 and jumped to Thirteen Million Seven Hundred Thousand Dollars ($13,700,000.00) in the 2006/07 period.

We reduced the deficit on our football operations from $133,000.00 in 2002/03 to $43,000.00 in 2004/05 and having generated profit of just over $6,400.00 in 2005/06, we are proud to announce today that our profit has increased to $393,000.00 in 2006/07. Importantly, I must indicate that the profit this Financial Year would have been closer to $760,000.00 had it not been for the write-off of $370,000.00 in bad debts, because of the failure of one of the sponsors during the 2003/04 season to honour their obligation by paying up their sponsorship funds in an Age Group Competition

Role of the Vice-Presidents

During the past year our Vice-Presidents Mr. Carvel Stewart and Mr. Carlton Dennis, played a very effective role in their assigned duties within the JFF and in building relationships with our clubs.

KSAFA’s role within the JFF

As our Confederation Chairman, Mr. Carvel Stewart served on the Federation’s Management Committee and continued his efforts to build the football academy on Munro Lands in St. Elizabeth. Construction is now in progress on the property and the academy is on its way to becoming a reality.

The President, 2nd Vice President Carlton Dennis and Mr. Stewart all serve on the JFF’s Board of Directors, while other Council members served on the JFF’s Finance, Competitions and Technical Sub-Committees.

The Crenston Boxhill led Administration will demit office on 4th November, 2007, paving the way for the return of former President Captain Horace Burrell, who will be elected unopposed and his team to assume the reigns of office. Captain Burrell was nominated for the post of President by all the parishes with the exception of KSAFA and the Portland FA. Persons nominated for all other positions were unchallenged, except for the position of 1st Vice-President which will see a contest between the parish Presidents of Manchester and Trelawny.

Monitoring the Activities of Clubs

Our 2nd Vice-President Carlton Dennis was assigned responsibilities for monitoring the activities of our clubs and ensuring that particularly our weaker clubs were given assistance with their developmental programmes. He played a vital role in resolving the crisis which had emerged within the leadership of Elleston Flats FC prior to the start of the 2006/07 season. Through his efforts, not only was Miss Charmaine Samuels able to assume presidency, but was successful in guiding the club to victory in the Major League Competition.

The Way Forward for the coming Administrative Period 2007/2008

The current Administration is committed to maintaining the prominence of KSAFA as the leading football Confederation in the country. We intend to strengthen the Association’s administrative capabilities with the planned increase in the staff complement through the introduction of a Co-ordinator to improve the delivery of quality service to our clubs and affiliates.

The Sponsorship & Marketing Committee has been assigned a clear mandate to attract sponsorship advertising on our letter head and also our website. In this regard, potential sponsors have already been identified and it is expected that this should provide a major source of long-term revenue for the Association. We are extremely hopeful that the Committee will be able to exploit the full marketing potential which advertising on our letter head and website can provide. It is anticipated that up to One Million Dollars ($1,000,000.00) can be raised from this project.

During the 2006/07 season, prize monies were extended to 5th and 6th place winners in all our leagues, thereby providing greater incentive for clubs to maintain their competitive interest throughout the season. This welcomed initiative will be continued by during the upcoming season.

We intend to provide continued support for our Premier League Teams and Confederation Qualifiers to ensure that KSAFA retains at least six Clubs in the National Premier League. Importantly, the President’s Cup Knock-out Competition which kicked off the start of the 2007/08 season on the weekend of Saturday 8th September, 2007, was welcomed by the participating Premier League Clubs which used the competition as an opportunity to expose newly recruited players to their teams. This competition not only attracted a new sponsor in Locker Room Sports, but also saw an increase in sponsorship of over 200% of $375,000.00, up from $120,000.00 in the 2006/07 season. Locker Room Sports has agreed to a two year sponsorship deal.

Our succession plan will ensure that our talented young Administrators are given responsibilities and exposure as part of their development and enable a smooth transition of leadership when the current Administration demits office by September, 2008.

This Administration will continue the technical development of our players by ensuring proper preparation for the JFF Confederation Age Group Competitions. Over the past three (3) years, KSAFA has spent One Million Six Hundred Thousand Dollars ($1,600,000.00) in preparing our Age Group Teams for competition in JFF run competitions. In the 2006/07 KSAFA maintained its dominance in these competitions by again winning both the Under 13 and Under 15 Competitions.

Council will continue to provide opportunities for our Confederation Coaches to be exposed to advanced coaching courses. During the 2006/07 season KSAFA coaches attended the FIFA conducted coaching course and other coaches will receive advanced level training during the 2007/08 season.

Our commitment is to treat our affiliated clubs as business enterprise units. Accordingly, this Administration intends to closely monitor the development of our clubs to ensure that they meet the affiliation requirements and strive for self sufficiency and financial viability.

Finally, we have now identified and will shortly acquire electronic software to enable computerization of the registration and transfer of players and for recording competition data. This programme should take effect early in the coming season.

Conclusion

The past three (3) years has been extremely outstanding for the Association and we look forward to improvements in our overall performance and revenue as we undertake our final year in office.

Let me extend sincere appreciation to the members of Council, Standing Committees and our hardworking Staff for their support and co-operation over the past three (3) years. Special thanks also to the KSAFA Referees Group for officiating in our matches over two gruelling seasons and to the electronic and print media for providing extensive coverage for our competitions and programmes.

As always, I end with the Salutation-KSAFA is # 1.

Ambassador A.B. Stewart Stephenson
President, KSAFA

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