leanne

Return to Play – COVID update

As you all are now aware, the NSW Premier recently announced a further extension of existing lockdown restrictions until Friday 27^th August 2021 and has imposed strict lockdowns for the Canterbury Bankstown LGA.  This is a difficult time for all in our community and we wish to send our sincere thoughts to everyone within our community during these difficult times.

Following this announcement, the BDAFA Board has met to discuss numerous options around the feasibility of a potential return to play when lockdowns are eventually reduced.

Football holds a very special meaning in our community and BDAFA are mindful of making sure we do not make any decisions without taking into account the whole football community.

The BDAFA Board will be meeting with our clubs on Monday 2^nd August to discuss potential scenarios with our Club Executives.

Following this meeting, a Return to Play – COVID Survey will be sent to all participants to gauge what direction you would like us to take.  We would appreciate it if all members could take the time to complete this survey to enable to Board to make the most informed decision on behalf of the membership.

Ultimately our final decision will be governed by the following factors:

1) Feedback from our Clubs and their ability to Return to Play in 2021.

2) Feedback from our Participants and their interest to Return to Play in 2021.

3) The timing of a Return to Play subject to lockdown restrictions.

4) Support from Canterbury-Bankstown Council to provide us with an extension of field usage outside our conventional hire period.

5) The logistics of how we complete a season, if there is an interest and possibility to do so.

As always, we will continue to share relevant information to our clubs as it comes to hand.

These are difficulties times for us all, however football has brought our diverse community together for over 70 years in Bankstown and  will continue to do so for many years in the future. We will all get through this together, and we are sure that everybody looks forward to that next opportunity to get back on the pitch and play football, in a safe manner.

Thank you for sharing NSW Health’s messages to your participants. Keeping inside and being tested is our quickest way out of the current situation.

Kind regards,

Dimitri Hursalas – BDAFA Chairman

on behalf of the BDAFA Board

Bankstown Football Referees will be holding a Mid-year Referee’s course.

If you have been considering becoming a Referee OR maybe you are always at your club as the Unofficial Referee, Come and participate in this free Course.

Course held Via zoom over two nights, Mon 19^th and Tue 20^th July – 7-9PM, with an outdoor session on 22^nd Jul at Middleton in conjunction with BUFC.

To complete the course students must first register for it here: http://education-ffa.sportingpulse.com/Entry/?EID=23982

Registration is open NOW, and will close 16 Jul at 10PM.

Registrations are opened to anyone over 13 years old

Before you attend the zoom meeting all students must complete the online LOTG found here: https://learning.ffa.com.au/p/#/app/dashboard?refresh=false

Finally, online LOTG, sessions 1, 2 and 3 are required to gain a qualification, there are no possibilities of running alternate nights.

If you choose to “sign up” as a Referee, there will be registration fees applicable.

28/06/2021

BDAFA Update – Lockdown Restrictions June 2021

Dear Clubs,

As you would be aware, as per advice on Saturday by the NSW Premier strict new restrictions to manage the spread of COVID-19 have now been put in place.

We want to assure our clubs, members and participants that we will manage this situation just like we did in 2020 with the clear goal of being able to complete our season in a safe and enjoyable way once restrictions are lift. In the meantime we please note the following:

Suspension of Football Activities
Football NSW have announce a suspension of all football activities within Greater Sydney including the Blue Mountains, Central Coast and Wollongong immediately until 11.59pm on Friday, 9 July 2021.

What does this mean for Football in those areas?

• Effective immediately, all games, training and other football activities must cease;

• All Football NSW and Association competitions and leagues will be suspended until 11.59pm on Friday, 9 July 2021;

• Any football activity which takes place during this period is not sanctioned by Football NSW and, therefore, the Personal Accident insurance cover that is provided as part of a player’s registration may not apply.

City of Canterbury-Bankstown Council

Following on from the restriction announcement, City of Canterbury-Bankstown Council all of Canterbury Bankstown Council’s sporting facilities and fields will be closed for all organised sporting activities.

Council is taking this situation very seriously and the health and safety of our community is our number one priority. Please be advised that failure to comply these new restrictions will be taken very seriously and may jeopardise your future bookings and/or be reported to the relevant Health and Government authorities.

We will continue to communicate with both Football NSW & Council on behalf our clubs and members as changes and restrictions evolve, we will also continue to keep all Clubs updated on any changes and as we subsequently working our way back in to a return to play state.

In the interim, BDAFA will be working through the different considerations for the season to be completed once restrictions are lifted. We will once available share this information with clubs, as you could imagine there may be further changes based on any changes to restrictions moving forward.

The BDAFA office will be CLOSED

We look forward to being back to football shortly and seeing you all around the grounds.

For more information on the coronavirus, including updates, alerts and resources, please visit the https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/Infectious/covid-19/Pages/latest-updates.aspx

Kind Regards,

On behalf of the board

 Dimitri Hursalas

Dhursalas

Chairman – BDAFA & BUFC

Calling all Over 35 & 45’s !!!

BDAFA are excited to support Keith Closet and Revesby Workers Football Club.

Grab your mates, register and have a great day playing football and supporting a great Initiative. For more information about Keith’s Closet go to https://www.facebook.com/KeithsCloset2019/

Game Info

14th June 2021 from 10am to 4pm – Marco Reserve 

$20 per player

Register below

Annual_Gala_Day_2021_flyer_teamlist

Referees are often the least thanked volunteers that makes our sport as great as it is. As we can all appreciate, one of the biggest challenges we have faced in recent years has been referee coverage in competitive fixtures. It is well documented that a lack of referee coverage leads to a poor level of retention for players. This combined with a higher than expected referee drop-out has meant that the number of games each weekend covered by a referee is not at a level we would all desire.

In order to improve and address this issue, BDAFA has worked collaboratively with the BFR on multiple initiatives to help improve the number of referees in Bankstown as well the number of games covered by referees.

The two main initiatives which are pleased to announce to our clubs are as follows:

1) Altered Scheduling –
BDAFA will look to amend the historical 1pm & 3pm afternoon slots to now accommodate and third fixture in the afternoon. Based on need, venue and feedback from clubs and their members this will allow for afternoon timeslots of 12pm, 2pm & 4pm or 1pm, 3pm & 5pm as required. This will not only allow for greater referee coverage of fixtures, but also allow for more games to be held at the home venue and reduce the need for neutral venues.

2) Referee Registration Subsidy –

BDAFA & BFR have discussed the need to remove all barriers relating to cost for someone to referee in Bankstown. In doing so, BDAFA will look to subsidise referee’s registration expenses and associated costs to allow and encourage a greater amount of referee participation. Below are some of the key highlights of the subsidy:

• Free referee courses will now be offered to encourage as many people as possible to complete the course.
• Referee registration will be capped at $100.00 for the 2021 Winter Season, with referees also receive this registration amount back in full once they reach 30 fixtures in the 2021 Winter Season.
• New referees will no longer need to purchase uniform and equipment to start the season, with all referees receiving a new referees kit, with new referees also receiving a set of flags, whistle and cards.

BDAFA and BFR hope that these initiatives will create growth within the Bankstown football community and enable a substantial increase in the number of games covered by referees in our competition moving forward.

BDAFA and BFR will work together in the coming days, to share marketing material that we hope our football community can help spread the word and encourage recruitment of new referees.

Players wanted for the following clubs & teams: 

For more information and contacts for our clubs please visit https://bdafa.com.au/clubs/

Bass Hill Rangers FC

• Grade 16 Boys

Please contact Chris on 0421 524 669 or info@basshillrangersfc.com.au

North Bankstown SC

• Grade 18

All enquiries should be directed to Mark Kearns on 0407505377

Birrong Sports FC

Players required for

• Grade 9
• Grade 17/18 Ladies
• MPL – Reserve Grade Goal Keeper

Georges River Thistle

• Grade 6/7 Mixed
• All Age Men’s

St Christopher’s FC

• Requires Female players Grade 10/11’s & Grade 12/13’s

Email ladiesvp@saintsfc.org.au for more details or via our FB page

Milperra Lions FC

• Requires players for Grade 9

Revesby Workers FC

• Requires players for Grade 13 players both Division 1 or 2.

Excitement could not be higher for Ladies Football in Bankstown!

BDAFA are please to share that Girls/Ladies registrations have had an exceptional start with registration numbers nearly double where they were this time last year!

With ladies specific competitions ranging from:

• All Girls SSF competitions in 6/7s,8/9s on Saturdays.
• All Girls SSF competitions in 10/11’s on Sundays.
• Girls Competitive Ages groups including 13s, 15s & 17/18s on Sundays.
• All Age Ladies Competitions on a Sundays.

There is no better time to play Ladies Football than in Bankstown in 2021.

To join a club, visit the link below to find your local team:
https://bdafa.com.au/clubs/ 

BDAFA are also please to announce the re-naming of our All Age Ladies Division 1 (AAL1), AAL1 has been aligned with the Men’s Premier League as our top ladies’ competition for a number of years although its name did not reflect the same level of prestige.

To bring these competitions into line, we have renamed AAL1 – Women’s Premier League. (WPL)

We look forward to seeing the best Ladies season yet!

BDAFA is excited to announce that in 2021 we will be running an Under 21s Competition.

The introduction of the new competition will allow for players to bridge the gap between Under 18s and All Age Men’s Football.

With 6 teams already confirmed to participate in the competition we are excited to see a large and highly competitive season ahead. BDAFA are also working with the referees to ensure there is a high level of referees appointment to all Under 21s games in the upcoming season.

Don’t miss out joining the competition, contact your local club and register today.
https://bdafa.com.au/clubs/

With Premier League Nominations closed on 1^st February 2021 at 5pm, the Board met to determine the 2021 BDAFA Premier League Competition Structure.

A total of 15 submissions were submitted for the 2021 Premier League Competition of which 13 were unique clubs. On that basis this meant that the Premier League 2 Competition would not have sufficient teams to fulfill the competition requirements as outlined below:

A9.1 PL Competitions – The BDAFA competition will include two squad based all age competitions namely, Premier League 1st Division – PL1, Premier League 2nd Division – PL2 (assuming 6 or more Clubs nominate for PL2).
A11.6 BDAFA may alter the number of teams in PL1 and PL2 in order that a viable competition be conducted.

The board then considered what would be in the best interest of Football in Bankstown and subsequently resolved to establish a 12-team competition for Premier League in 2021. The teams were considered based on their 2020 Premier League Club Championship rankings. This meant that 12 of the 13 unique club submissions would be able to participate in the BDAFA Premier League in 2021.

The composition of the competition for 2021 is as per below:

 For clarity please note the following in respect to the competition:

With regards to Promotion/Relegation the Board will meet to determine the criteria and regulations surrounding Promotion/Relegation in 2021. These regulations will be released prior to the commencement of the Premier League Competition.

Final Series will be amended to a 5-team, 4-week Finals of which will be based on the below:

Round 1 – Preliminary Final (PF)

• 1 – Through to SF1
• 2v3 – (PF1)
• 4v5 – (PF2)

Round 2 – Semi- Final (SF)

• Minor Prems v Winner of PF1 – (SF1)
• Winner of PF2 verses loser of PF1 – (SF2)

Round 3 – Major Final (MF)

• Loser of SF1 vs Winner of SF2 (MF)

Round 4 – Grand Final (GF)

• Winner of SF1 v Winner of MF

Round 1 of the Competition will kick-off on Saturday 20^th March, and the Draw is now available on for the 2021 Premier League Season, please note that fixtures are subject to change as we build the rest of the 2021 Winter Season Draw.

On behalf of BDAFA, good luck to all participating clubs.

The BDAFA Office will be close from the 18th December 2020 and re-open on the 11th January 2021.

BDAFA take this opportunity to thank our member clubs, volunteers and participants for producing a successful 2020 season despite COVID.

We look forward to seeing you all in season 2021

The BDAFA Board, Veronica, Glen & Leanne wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a restful New Year.