With the season completed, Pascoe Vale already has its eyes on the 2015 campaign with trials being organised across the various age groups. Having made the successful transition from the 2013 Victorian Premier League into the new NPL structure, Goal! Weekly recently spent time with Lou Tona, Head of NPL and Council Liaison to understand what 2014 was like for the club.

The backdrop for our time with Tona was Pascoe Vale's home ground of Hosken Reserve and it was easy to see the community and inclusive feel around the club. On the pitch the team was battling Dandenong Thunder whilst on the sideline kids are playing, there is the normal long queue at the wood-fired pizza oven and Tona has been working the crowd catching-up with members and welcoming visitors.

Our interview with Tona focused on what the NPL meant for the club off the pitch including the transition, finances, membership, facilities and of course the relationship with the Football Federation Victoria and the City of Moreland Council.

What changes have happened this year?
The NPL has been great for us in the sense of a junior perspective rather than a senior perspective. I think with the Seniors the exposure has been great to benefit the league. For us it’s been more from the Juniors perspective. The quality of our players has gone up and the coaching standards. Some of the standards that have been put on the club are positive.

How much has the NPL grown the club?
We have probably gone down on members as we had more members previously. We have probably grown more from a technical point of view as a club. Before it was a bit more about participation and we were happy with that but we decided to go down the NPL pathway and it’s been good for us.

Are you comfortable with this direction the NPL has taken you?
You have to work within the rules of the competition. It was hard for us as we had to turn away a lot of kids that we had known for a very long time. Hopefully they understand why its happened that way. We are comfortable with where we are going and there is no reason why we can’t compete as a club with anyone when it comes to Junior player development.

Do you maintain links other State League or Community clubs?
As part of our NPL application we have a couple of clubs we have an affiliation with. There were about four or five clubs that signed up with us on that. We tried to send our kids their way. I think in this first year that link hasn’t been as good as we haven’t had time to build it.

How challenging was the start-up process for the NPL?
The NPL was on, it was off, it was on again and the decision was finally made in December and we had to have our applications submitted in January. It's been a lot of work getting all of that up and running and for us it was about trying to grow our facilities.

What are some of the key challenges you have faced with the NPL structure?
I think the first challenge for us was the change-over. Losing a lot of members we have known for a very long time and kids who have been real Pascoe Vale people. That culture shock was probably the biggest challenge. Everything else in terms of Junior development personally I’ve loved and really enjoyed it. From a Senior perspective we’re a club that works with limited resources and I think this NPL is suiting us a little bit as the points system will even out the competition.

What has the NPL structure meant financially for clubs?
From a cost perspective it has definitely gone up. The fees are one thing but if you want better coaching you’ve got to pay more money. You need a technical director so you’ve got to pay some money. So all of a sudden the costs have gone up so we’ve had to put our playing fees up from what they were in 2013. We are comfortable our fees are one of the most competitive at $1,150 plus GST.

Financially has it hurt us, I think this will be the first year in a long time where break-even is looking really good. Have we increased our team expenses for the Seniors, no. Have we decreased it, no it’s been pretty much the same. Our Juniors fees have gone up and I think the sports getting a bit expensive so we are looking at ways combat that and keep it down. Hopefully the sponsorship comes in and that will take a bit of time.

What kind of feedback are you getting from the parents and the Juniors themselves if they are seeing the technical and playing improvements?
I think they are. We have some real challenges. We have three clubs in the City of Moreland. Us, Zebras and Brunswick City. We are all fighting for the same pie and that makes life a bit tough. From a technical point of view I think the parents have definitely seen it because we have seen it.

One of the big discussion topics around the NPL this year has been facilities and specifically pitches and the varying degrees of quality. How do you see the state of Hosken Reserve?
From a facility perspective we know we have our backs against the wall in a couple of areas. One is the grandstand. So we know a lot of those challenges at Hosken Reserve.

However we do have a class-A facility being built down the road. This is a shared facility within the City of Moreland. We have been accepted to play there and it’s a magnificent facility in CB Smith Reserve. It’s a municipal facility with class-A pitch, new grandstands, change rooms, scoreboards the whole lot. So if facilities were a problem for us, we believe it’s been fixed.

Is Friday night football for Pascoe Vale going to remain a feature in the future?
Friday nights, especially in the warmer months of the year, creates a really great atmosphere here at Hosken Reserve. We have a lot more kids here than at most games. They love to have a kick here, it’s a real family atmosphere and we don’t want to lose that. So whatever happens whether it’s here or there we want to maintain that.

Do you still see the heart of the club being based at Hosken Reserve?
Of course. Our grand plan is to have this as our premier facility for training and junior football. CB Smith will be our match-day venue for the Seniors and Under 20s. As a club we need to sit down and decide on how exactly we are going to do that, but that is part of our application and our blueprint.

Some clubs face challenges with local council relationships and increasing the profile of football against other sporting priorities. How would you rate your relationship with the City of Moreland?
The City of Moreland for me is a fantastic supporter of football. They have just been amazing. They are very strategic and it’s obvious for us to say we want this and we want that but we understand their challenges too. They probably have the most number of clubs per capita to deal with. People don’t realise that but they have a lot of clubs to manage.

For me, the City of Moreland has been an absolutely massive supporter of the game, as long as you’re prepared to put in as a club. For whatever improvements we’ve had at this club, we’ve put a lot of it in, but the City of Moreland has been right behind us backing us. From our perspective we have no problems with our council. Now obviously would we like a better A-grade pitch, but we understand it needs $1.2 million to get it to that level. We understand that might not happen and there’s a shared facility down the road so we are open minded about it all.

How has the structure of the club itself being during the NPL transition?
With us it’s been stable. We’re just looking for more people to come in. We try to be as inclusive as we possibly can and we are looking for more people to come on board. It’s a challenge that every club has got. We have a fantastic committee with a great mix. It’s not twelve people with all the same kind of thinking. It’s been an outstanding area for us.

Obviously the amount of work that’s involved, resources it’s killing us. Like any club we need a bit of a break but that’s what we signed up for.

Does you think the size of the NPL and the number of clubs is set right?
I think that’s a tough question to answer. I think thirty two teams is too many clubs. I think that’s a lot of clubs, especially from a Juniors perspective. From a Seniors perspective yes its watered things down but if players want to play in the top league they know where to go. If we ever get relegated to NPL1 we expect to lose players to the top level, that’s just the way it is. It terms of Juniors like I said we have three clubs in the City of Moreland and they’re great clubs, but we are all fighting for the same pie in terms of numbers. It’s a bit tough. That is something in the future we have to look at.

How much impact does the number of clubs have in terms of attracting sponsorship?
That will definitely affect us and all the clubs. When I talk to fellow colleagues at other clubs they are telling me we all have the same challenges. Raising money, grounds, facilities it’s something we all face.

Lastly, how do you rate the FFV in their management of the NPL this year?
One thing I must say about the FFV is this year they are actually trying to engage with the clubs. That is something we haven’t seen in recent years and I can say quite confidently that’s a positive. It’s a relationship where if the two groups engage each other it will head in the right direction.