The venue for the AGM is the Heartland Hotel, 14 Airpark Drive, Auckland.
 So the complete details are:
Date:     Saturday 29th September
Time:     4:00pm
Venue: Heartland Hotel, 14 Airpark Drive, Auckland
 
The AGM will be followed by a meeting regarding National teams.
The AGM and the meeting following the AGM are open to all members.  At the AGM only delegates have the right to speak and to vote.
 
There is a vacancy for an elected Board member position. 
Adam Felix has confirmed that he is not standing for re-election.
Nominations for the position must be sent to the GM by the 31st of August.
Members can nominate themselves.
The nomination must be accompanied by a resume which will be forwarded to the clubs for consideration prior to the AGM.
The election (if there is more than one person seeking the position) will be held at the AGM. 
​If there is only one nomination that person will be appointed.

Like great Coaches, experienced and qualified Officials are critical to laying a foundation to grow our Sport. It can be at times a somewhat thankless job, but the positive impact a good officiating crew can have on player, Coach and viewer enjoyment of our game is massive.

Even at a Club level a minimum of 4-5 Officials is really the base line for a good Officiating crew, which carries a much greater burden than any other Sport. Add to this the fact that only a tiny amount of New Zealanders have watched, let along played a game of American Football (as opposed to something like Rugby) and the rules are arguably about as complex as any Sport gets, and you can see why a big effort is going to be needed to get us to where we need to get to.
NZAFF are committed to doing what we can to support the Development of American Football Officials in New Zealand, and to kick this off have again worked with our friends over the ditch in Australia to leverage their existing program. Australian Gridiron Officials Association (AGOA) have been hugely supportive of helping us put some building blocks in place, as they see a strong New Zealand as critical to making Oceania a region which is taken seriously when it comes to American Football.

At the end of the day, it will primarily still need to be NZAFF member Regions and Clubs who put forward the volunteers to Officiate games around the Country, but our commitment is to ensure these people have a basic infrastructure to support them to learn and grow as Officials. Whether this is simply to help out on a Saturday at a Club level to give back to the Sport they may have played, or as part of an aspiration to develop to a level where they can officiate internationally, we want to implement a multi-level development program that can cater for this growth.
Our initial focus will be on Level 0 which aims to give some basic support and training to the Officials who will support our Club games week to week, and to try and make an immediate impact on our game as soon as this season. This alone probably requires a pool of at least 100 New Zealander’s around the Country so is no mean feat, so we will all need to work together to get there.

The risk of just throwing someone a whistle on Saturday and saying “can you help us out?” is that the people feel overwhelmed, so we hope that with some basic training and development the Officials themselves will get more enjoyment from the experience and want to continue to help out. Having recognised “qualifications” we think also makes a difference, as it feels good to commit to something and have that hard work and effort recognised.
We also recognise that we do already have some talented and experienced Officials who have been engaged with our Sport in the past, but not always been appreciated or nurtured. We hope this Program gives them a platform to get some recognition and pass on their experience to others, and we certainly welcome their feedback.

As with our Coach Development Program, we are starting pretty simple but we need to start somewhere, and we feel if we can start with a wide pool of entry Level Officials we can build on this in years to come.

For more information and to register for the program follow this link.

The Annual General Meeting of the New Zealand American Football Federation will be held on:
  Date:    Saturday, 29th September, 2018
  Venue:  To be confirmed   (Will be held at a venue near the Auckland Airport with parking available)
  Time:    4.00 pm
 
The AGM will be followed by a meeting for all those interested discussing opportunities for National Teams.  This meeting will start at approximately 5:00pm.
 
Both meetings are open to NZAFF Members.
 
Only Delegates representing fully affiliated clubs and who are Members registered with NZAFF may speak or vote at the AGM.  
 
In accordance with the New Zealand American Football Federation Constitution we are calling for Nominations and submissions for:

1. Board Members
Applications are invited for the two positions available.  One for an elected position and one for an appointed position. 

• Elected Position – Adam Felix is retiring by rotation.
• Appointed Position – The position is vacant subsequent to Patsy Whaanga resigning.  This position is being advertised on the Sport NZ web site and on the Appoint web site.

The roles require a corporate governance focus, with responsibility for monitoring the strategic direction and management policies of the organisation while taking into account the interests of relevant stakeholders.
The Board Selection Panel’s will review the applications for the appointed position available on the Board (timetable below).
The applications for elected members will be forwarded to the eligible Associations for their consideration prior to the AGM (timetable below).
The two incumbent Board Members have one more year in their term and can stand for re-election or re-appointment as applicable. 
Applications for Positions
Applications for positions should include:

1. Which positions they are applying for – elected or appointed.
2. Name and any other details that the applicant feels are relevant.
3. Experience in Governance
4. Any relevant experience including management or other senior positions.

Applicants should read the relevant sections of the Constitution (on the NZAFF web site under About Us/Federation Documents) especially section 16.
Please note the Federation is not providing a form for applications.

2. Patron 
This position is not required by the Constitution.
The Constitution states that the Federation “may” appoint a Patron.  A patron is a person that the Sport gains a benefit (higher profile in the community or advice from time to time) from the association.
If there is a person that an Association feels would provide such a benefit then the process of appointment is through an election at the AGM and then an invitation to hold office.  The person should have agreed to the nomination prior to the AGM.

3. Other items
At this time, the following items are also called for:

1. Any notices of motion re Constitutional amendments,
2. Any other business for consideration at the AGM.

 
 
The Members that are currently eligible to vote as at the date of this notice.

1. JC Spartans
2. Nelson AFC

 
The Timetable leading up to the AGM is:

• Received by 31 August:
  • Applications for Patron, Appointed Board Members and Elected Board Members
  • Proposed motions.
• Prior to 15 September:
  • The AGM Agenda will be sent out.
• By 15 September:
  • Decision of the Appointments Panel will be delivered to the GM.
• By the 20 September:
  • The GM will notify Member Associations of the decision of the Appointments Panel.

 
 
Please note that all Nominations, Notices of Motion etc must be received by 5pm, Friday, 31 August, 2018
 
If you have any questions regarding the process etc please contact me.
 
Regards
Russell McConnochie
GM NZAFF
09 973 4058