Michael Hazell resigns as President of VAFA

The VAFA wishes to announce that VAFA President, Michael Hazell, will be stepping down from his role as President, effective at the upcoming VAFA Board Meeting on 1 June, 2015. Michael will continue VAFA tradition by remaining on the board whilst the new President finds his or her feet.

Michael has been on the board since 2008 and President since 2012.

Speaking to Andrew Leonard, Michael stated: “Coming towards the end of my third year as President, I am conscious of delivering an effective transition to a new President and I felt that the best time to do that was in the final months of the end September 2014/15 VAFA financial year. I am looking forward to remaining on the board to ensure business as usual”.

Michael’s Presidency has been highlighted by a forward thinking and progressive executive, and a staff who have been prepared to embrace this, that has continually sought ways to enhance the VAFA for the better.  

During his time as President, Michael oversaw the continued development of the VAFA as an organisation which relies more on commercial revenue and less on affiliation fees. Some of the initiatives adopted during the three year period of Michael’s Presidency have been: umpiring initiatives, underpinned by the introduction of an extra staff member (VAFA Head of Umpiring Brian Woodhead) as the Board attempts to bolster the recruitment and retention of umpires, greater flexibility in relation to Under 19 eligibility, the Board’s decision to introduce the successful VAFA Grand Final Lunch with over 300 attendees first year, and a concerted effort behind the scenes working with the executive and clubs to ensure the continued financial viability of our clubs on and off-field, particularly our lower grade clubs.

Michael outlined his admiration for the many volunteers at VAFA clubs and the VAFA in his early years as President and this theme continued as Michael has spent significant time investing his time and energy into volunteer engagement and retention projects.

Michael has also used his time as President to consolidate on some of the key initiatives he introduced prior to his term as President, including the appointment of the VAFA’s first integrity officer and associated re-structure of the rules to facilitate this, and his continued focus on ensuring that there is a proper structure in place at a policy and board level to facilitate success at representative football. Michael’s creation of the role of Director of Representative football (just one initiative created after Michael’s review of the entire VAFA representative football structure back in 2009), has helped see the VAFA win seven consecutive senior representative football games and win back to back Metropolitan Championships. 

“Being President of the VAFA has been a rare privilege. I feel very lucky to have been provided with the opportunity to make a contribution to our competition. I would like to thank all the staff, board and clubs of the VAFA for their outstanding support during my time as President,” he said.

Under the VAFA’s Articles of Association, Presidents are appointed by the Board. A new President will be appointed at the June meeting.