By ROY WARD
FOOTBALL administrator David Cannizzo is just 27, but when it comes to the Southern Football League he’s a veteran.
Cannizzo was the SFL operations manager for almost a decade before leaving to become general manager of the Southern Metro Junior Football League last year.
Last week, he was named new chief executive of the SFL.
Cannizzo takes on the diverse task of expanding and sustaining a league which spreads from inner city St Kilda right out to the south-eastern suburbs such as Skye, Hallam and Endeavour
Hills.
He will begin the role just as the SFL finals begin, yet Cannizzo will take the long view to the league.
He said the size and spread of the league was viable, with teams continuing to rise in the outer south-east as shown by Endeavour Hills and
Hallam’s recent arrival and the inclusion of Carrum Patterson Lakes in 2013.
“I think our reach is the beautiful part of this league,” he said.
“The reason I say that is with modern technology and with a good-sized board of 10 people, I think we can provide enough support to all our members.
“With the travel factor, clubs would only have to travel to the far out locations once a season.”
Cannizzo said he was personally involved in allowing Endeavour Hills entry, adding that with strategic plans, the level of clubs in the Greater Dandenong area was sustainable.
He said clubs and the league needed to plan for the future and keep watch on the ageing of their home suburbs.
“Every suburb changes. The Bayside-Kingston area is booming now but was seen as an ageing suburb years ago,” he said.
“We need to educate our clubs to look three to five years ahead to pre-empt when that cycle is changing.
Cannizzo wants to work with clubs to improve and increase the level of support they receive from the league as the number of teams each club fields continues to grow.
“One thing I want to work on in the short term is the maintenance and assistance we offer to existing member clubs,” he said.
“With thirds and colts footy, our clubs continue to grow but with more participants we need the right amount of administration support to make sure our clubs are still operating with good governance and structure.”
He also wants to arrest the slight decline in colts teams, which dropped from 12 to 10 this season.
“The clubs know the colts represent the future of their senior sides and we need to work to engage junior clubs in our areas to export players to us.”
Cannizzo also said he wanted to find more ways for the league to raise revenue and keep costs down for clubs.
