Neil Ward is Chief Executive of the Welsh Football Trust (WFT), the FAW’s registered charity set up in 1996 to develop more participation opportunities for all young people, to train more and better coaches and to identify and develop talented players to support the future success of national teams.
Involved in the development of the new Welsh sport Governance and Leadership Framework, here he gives his views on its importance to sporting organisations.
The sports sector has changed enormously over the past twenty years.
Once almost exclusively voluntary organisations, a high percentage of national governing bodies (NGBs) now have professional staff and have progressed through a process of modernisation to meet the requirements of the 21st Century.
However, as we have grown, and with ever increasing responsibility and scrutiny, an enhanced focus on governance and leadership is important to ensure NGBs remain contemporary and of course fit for purpose to receive public funding.
Good governance will play an important role in us all achieving our future aspirations for Welsh Sport and it should be seen as a key strand to the development of our sports.
The Governance and Leadership Framework can be easily embraced because it provides a straight forward template for NGBs to follow, one that has been developed by the sport sector in Wales for the sport sector in Wales. In consulting widely on the adaption of the Sport and Recreation Alliance’s Voluntary Code of Good Governance, we have sought to engage all partners in the debate about what good governance and strong leadership should look like in Welsh sport
In my own sport we have taken some significant steps in the area of governance in the past few years.
The Football Association of Wales has recently completed a comprehensive governance review, which led to many significant structural changes and an enhancement of standing orders, rules and regulations. Nevertheless, governance improvement is an on-going process and there remains further work to be done to ensure football continues to thrive and governance arrangements are truly representative of the broader football family.
As the FAW’s sister organisation, the Welsh Football Trust has also placed an important focus on governance, highlighted by us signing up to the Voluntary Code of Good Governance and now committing to work towards further improvements under the new Leadership and Governance Framework. This followed an excellent workshop facilitated by the Sport and Recreation Alliance at which our Trustee Directors received pelatihan on their individual roles and responsibilities as well as the importance of the broader role of the Board. Trustees have since agreed to the formation of a Governance Working Group, which has been set the task of reviewing existing governance arrangements and driving a governance improvement plan. This will include a benchmarking assessment of our present position against the minimum expectations and behaviours that are set out in the Governance and Leadership Framework.
These are small and important steps that could be easily achieved across the sport sector. There is of course a great deal of good practice in the sector already and there is much we can learn from each other to help us achieve a culture of continuous improvement. The launch of the new Framework marks the start of this work.
The people of Wales, particularly young people, have high expectations as a result of an increased choice and range of opportunities that sport is competing against. We will need to ensure that the range and quality of sporting experiences we provide meet such expectations and this can only be achieved by ensuring we demonstrate strong leadership and governance. The framework provides a helpful tool for all sporting organisations to achieve this.
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