The Flag Coach Development Program (FCDP) is now available.
 
Information regarding the program can be accessed through the Coach Development Link on the NZAFF web site (here).
​
The program currently consists of:

• Level 0. 

       Consists of on-line courses.
       Level 0 is available to members and non-members.

• Level 1. 

       Consists of an assessment by the NZAFF Coaching Director. 
       The prerequisites for Level 1 will be Level 0.
      Non-members will need to become a member of NZAFF either through a club or directly with NZAFF.
​
If you are keen to register then follow the link here.

​What a great story for Women’s sport and the sport of American Football in New Zealand.
 
Two years ago there were no women’s teams playing in Auckland. The last time there was a women’s competition in Auckland was in 2003 when the Pride Vixens were the Champions.
 
Two years ago there were players who wanted to get into the sport but there was no opportunity until American Football Auckland (AFA) decided to organize a competition last year.
 
The 2017 year began with two teams and this year the competition has doubled in size to four teams. 
 
The teams are:

• Metro Lions.
• Papatoetoe Wildcats
• South Auckland Raiders
• Western Wolves

 
The competition is full contact and they are looking for more players.  Some players are new to contact sport and others are using this as off season training for League or Rugby Union.
 
If you want to get involved then contact one of the clubs listed above through the “Find a Team” page on the NZAFF web site.

Over the weekend of the 6th/7th of October (2018) Miles Newman of Australian Gridiron Officials Association (AGOA) ran an information intensive two day course delving into the details of officiating American Football. The mass of information was eye-opening, as club representatives were treated to in-depth analysis and discussion on many of the finer aspects of officiating and how much preparation and knowledge it takes to be an effective official. The course itself is a starting point for New Zealanders interested in officiating American Football, (as well as coaches and club representatives to learn more about the process and what is required) and the first step in becoming a qualified official. Miles is a walking rulebook, and with 30 years’ experience officiating in Australia and around the world he was able to convey a huge amount of information in a short time.

​The course was a fantastic opportunity for club representatives to learn from the best and build a greater knowledge of the game which can be shared with their clubs around the country. It was an especially beneficial introduction into the complexity and dedication of being an effective and confident official for those keen to be become qualified and start (or continue) officiating games in New Zealand. This is just another positive and important step in growing and developing American Football in New Zealand.

To our member Regions and Clubs,
 
This will be a less detailed update this month given we have the AGM this Saturday, but I thought I would fire out a reminder to drive the best attendance possible and update you on a couple of related items.

It would be great to get as many NZAFF members along to the AGM as we get together to both review the previous year and plan ahead, and we also are going to follow up the formal AGM with a working session around Pathways for the Sport.

Whilst there are some "formalities" we need to adhere to around the AGM I am excited about the opportunity of getting key people from within our Sport around the Country in the same room so want to make the most of it. 

2018 NZAFF Annual General Meeting Details

• Saturday 29th September @ 4pm
• The Heartland Hotel
• 14 Airpark Drive, Auckland 

If you can make it and haven't already please confirm attendance with Russell (gm@nzaff.co.nz) and if you cant make it along but want to table anything you feel is important to be covered please don't hesitate to email myself or Russell prior and we will ensure it is tabled. 

Even if you are attending, if you have any major points you feel need to be discussed please give us a heads up so we can prepare and be in a better position to answer any questions on the day.

2018 ANNUAL REPORT

As part of our ongoing commitment to transparency, this year we have created a comprehensive Annual Report which Russell has already circulated to all Member Regions and Clubs. If you havn't seen this already, you can access HERE.

A lot of effort has gone into this, so I hope you find it valuable, and it is designed to give a detailed review of how we delivered against our Objectives for the year prior, give more detail around Financial Performance, and indicate where we think our focus will be for the coming year. We would like all AGM attendees to have ideally read this prior to the AGM, and welcome any feedback on format etc and whether you feel this is valuable for us to produce each year.

It has been a somewhat challenging first year for the Board, and whilst I am proud of what we have achieved I am also conscious there is still a huge amount of work to do. There are things I think we could have done better, and not everything went as smoothly as we would have liked, but ultimately from where we started I think we have laid some strong foundations to build on over the coming years.

NZAFF BOARD APPOINTMENTS

Building an experienced, trusted and respected Board is critical to growing any Sport and this year for the first time ever for the Sport (I think) we decided to advertise our "appointed" Board role externally. The thinking behind this move was: 

• A lot of people within our Sport are already tapped out in regard to the time they can volunteer and simply don't have any extra time.
• We have had minimal interest from within the Sport historically to take up Board positions
• A great Board has a mix of experience and skillsets, and we believe there is real value in "fresh eyes" and bringing in skills people within the Sport may not have.
• We know a lot of great people exist out there who are looking to volunteer their time up for Board positions so we just needed to find them!

The response we had to this was overwhelming, with over 13 applications which included many people with fantastic experience and skills to add to our game. The biggest challenge in the end came down to choosing only 1 candidate to offer the role too as the quality was so high (a good problem to have).

In the end we have offered the appointed Board role to Andrew Fraser, who will be a fantastic asset for the Sport. Andrew is currently running his own company, and has previous senior strategic experience with businesses such as Vector and Mckinsey & Co so has a huge amount to bring to NZAFF. Andrew also studied at UCLA and is a huge fan of the Carolina Panthers and UCLA Bruins, and even played briefly for the Waipuna Sharks in the early 2000's, so is as passionate about American Football as the rest of us.

And on the "elected" Board member front, Adam has decided to step down so I would firstly like to thank him for his passion and efforts over the past year. I am excited about Brendan McGurk coming on Board to replace Adam, as he as achieved a great deal with American Football Canterbury in recent years and will bring a huge amount to the NZAFF Board. I feel we now have a great mix of skills on the Board to work alongside and support Russell, so should be able to keep building momentum and achieve positive things for the Sport over the coming year.

Anyway, that's me for today but please get in touch if you have any questions or want to discuss anything covered and I hope to see as many of you as possible this Saturday.
Cheers,
 
Todd Wackrow
NZAFF Chairperson