Planning in football

THE manual of the FUTURO III administration and management training by Fifa defines planning as “a tentative formulation of a programme of action worked out in detail rendering systematically the steps and procedures necessary to achieve the objective”.

In other words, this should be a proposed course of action aimed at achieving a specific goal, within a defined time frame. This means that if a team is going to play football for a specific season, then they must have a plan of how that needs to be achieved and with what resources.The same applies to any football organisation, whether an association or a league.Planning needs to be regarded as a priority, unless the intention is to fail at the end of the day, then planning should not be considered.It is important to recognise that if a league is to be successful in all its endeavours, a shared vision by all the stakeholders is important – in a previous article I mentioned the need for regular communication between the various structures of football if we are to share the same vision for the game.A shared vision offers an opportunity for people to interact and interpret the set objective collectively, which at the end of the day leads to a sense of ownership.In today’s football world, you do not want to have people who, when they do not agree on specifics, go out and lambaste the others instead of voicing their concerns within the structures and forums created by football.It is important that all stakeholders are in agreement about all future opportunities and threats that might face the plan.Collective action is required for the game of football to move forward.Planning provides the framework for making decisions and ensuring benchmarks for performance measurement.In the current football set-up, there is a strategic master plan that was developed through a consultative process by Fifa, together with all football stakeholders, this document needs to be utilised and used as a benchmark as the game moves forward.A strategic document, while it not cast in stone, provides all stakeholders with a road map for the development of the game.The Fifa document was geared towards looking at the overall development of the game in the country, but it is up to individual structures to pick up the components that relate to them and define clearly the objective and the expected output.The development plan has achieved some remarkable results, such as the development of women’s football in this country.The Namibia Football Association (NFA) Women’s Desk under the guidance of executive member Jackey Gertze has done tremendous work to ensure that the Fifa Roadmap and its relation to women’s football is implemented.The achievements of the NFA Women’s’ Desk shows that there is a detailed plan with definite operational plan, financial implications and set timelines.The development of this operational and financial framework should be the work of the employed staff of either the member or the clubs to work out the basics and for the policy makers to approve them.Since the game of football is played on an established calendar, it is important that all administrative matters pertaining to planning are taken care of before the end and commencement of the league, to ensure the smooth flow of the game on the field of play.And always remember that continuous communication with all stakeholders is the key to a positive image of the game of football.* Mathew T. Haikali is a FUTURO III Regional instructor in Administration and Management in Football, a former chairperson of the Khomas Second Division League and currently the Club Secretary of Arcadia Football Club in the Khomas Second Division.This means that if a team is going to play football for a specific season, then they must have a plan of how that needs to be achieved and with what resources.The same applies to any football organisation, whether an association or a league.Planning needs to be regarded as a priority, unless the intention is to fail at the end of the day, then planning should not be considered.It is important to recognise that if a league is to be successful in all its endeavours, a shared vision by all the stakeholders is important – in a previous article I mentioned the need for regular communication between the various structures of football if we are to share the same vision for the game.A shared vision offers an opportunity for people to interact and interpret the set objective collectively, which at the end of the day leads to a sense of ownership.In today’s football world, you do not want to have people who, when they do not agree on specifics, go out and lambaste the others instead of voicing their concerns within the structures and forums created by football.It is important that all stakeholders are in agreement about all future opportunities and threats that might face the plan.Collective action is required for the game of football to move forward.Planning provides the framework for making decisions and ensuring benchmarks for performance measurement.In the current football set-up, there is a strategic master plan that was developed through a consultative process by Fifa, together with all football stakeholders, this document needs to be utilised and used as a benchmark as the game moves forward.A strategic document, while it not cast in stone, provides all stakeholders with a road map for the development of the game.The Fifa document was geared towards looking at the overall development of the game in the country, but it is up to individual structures to pick up the components that relate to them and define clearly the objective and the expected output.The development plan has achieved some remarkable results, such as the development of women’s football in this country.The Namibia Football Association (NFA) Women’s Desk under the guidance of executive member Jackey Gertze has done tremendous work to ensure that the Fifa Roadmap and its relation to women’s football is implemented.The achievements of the NFA Women’s’ Desk shows that there is a detailed plan with definite operational plan, financial implications and set timelines.The development of this operational and financial framework should be the work of the employed staff of either the member or the clubs to work out the basics and for the policy makers to approve them.Since the game of football is played on an established calendar, it is important that all administrative matters pertaining to planning are taken care of before the end and commencement of the league, to ensure the smooth flow of the game on the field of play.And always remember that continuous communication with all stakeholders is the key to a positive image of the game of football.* Mathew T. Haikali is a FUTURO III Regional instructor in Administration and Management in Football, a former chairperson of the Khomas Second Division League and currently the Club Secretary of Arcadia Football Club in the Khomas Second Division.