The OFC Executive Programme was launched in February and is crucial for ongoing commitment to foster professionalisation across all areas of football management.
Designed to reinforce Member Association leaders during a time of tremendous organisational growth, the programme is part of the OFC 2023-2026 strategy.
The General Secretaries (GS’s) from nine Member Association’s (MA’s) within the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) gathered in Auckland last weekend for the second installment of the OFC Executive Programme held alongside the OFC Futsal Nations Cup 2023.
The programme was attended by Tavita Taumua (American Samoa) Allen Parker (Cook Islands) Mohammed Yusuf (Fiji), Andrew Pragnell (New Zealand) Gordon Manub (Papua New Guinea) Leonard Paia (Solomon Islands) Moeama Mu-Greig (Tahiti) Lui Aho (Tonga), Albert Manaroto (Vanuatu) and FIFA Regional Lead David Firisua.
The programme was co-chaired by OFC Chief Operations Officer Frederic Guillemont and the Head of Member Association Services Flavia Lopes with Kim Encel, OFC’s MA Services Consultant as the facilitator.
James Wall-Manning from Core HR ran a session on organisational structures and competencies and Owain Prosser, OFC’s Head of Education and High Performance, presented on National teams’ preparation for OFC Competitions.
The objective of the sessions was to share knowledge of relevant key topics identified by the General Secretaries and continue to work in collaboration for excellence in performance.
Discussions on day one involved identifying the skills and competencies needed within the organisational structure of Member Associations, staff empowerment and effective delegation strategies.
Day two put a strong emphasis on problem solving and tackled the planning and preparation to participate in competitions.
The General Secretaries were buoyant reflecting on the progress they have made.
“A lot of MA’s in Oceania are doing things differently with different levels of human resources available. This workshop is creating an atmosphere where all MAs value human resources. We train and empower staff and delegate the work so we can develop the staff who can take up these roles in future.” Mohammed Yusuf said.
“We will continue to empower senior management and create an environment where staff feel important and part of the organisation.” Yusuf added.
Solomon Islands Football Federation (SIFF) General Secretary Leonard Paia felt the programme enabled him to gain a real understanding as to the challenges some of his colleagues’ face and reflect on his situation.
“We are able to bring forward the real challenges we face and get clarity and we also learn from our other MA colleagues in the region as to what they are doing in their Federations.”
“One of the major work in progress for us in the Solomon Islands is undertaking not only a restructure but realignment of responsibilities. What we realise is the organisational structure we had was not working. It created a lot of confusion and there was no clarity on responsibilities for each department. By revisiting the organisational structure and realigning of the responsibilities we can see more clarity of the responsibilities for the heads of departments and divisions.”
Paia felt there were two key messages from the programme he would be striving to implement at SIFF.
“One being empowering your staff, and what I have learned from this workshop is there are a lot of benefits from delegating your responsibility to your head of departments. Jobs get done quickly, you build confidence in the relationship between you and the HOD and there’s a feeling of teamwork, working to the same goal and overall vision of the organisation.” Paia said.
