President's Message

We have many challenges at our Club as we move forward into the future.

Football has shown that we have taken a step forward this season even though it has not translated into wins at our Men’s Senior team. Many of our games have been losses by less than 12 points which shows our competitiveness, therefore I know we are on the correct path with Adam Hartlett as the Senior Coach. We have been competitive in most games and display a good attacking brand of football with a very young group.

Our philosophy is changing and heading in a new direction as we start building from below and focus on our young local talent while recruiting players to fill certain positions.

The other challenge we face is identifying a business model that works, -we cannot continue to use the same business as usual approach each year and expect a different result. It is not sustainable. To that end, the Board is developing a plan to reshape the way we do business by identifying a methodology that will enable us to be profitable, invest in football and our community.

Changes can be confronting, especially transformational changes. When this occurs there is sometimes pain that we will need to endure as we reset the clubs commercial direction. It will be an exciting and transformative time and well worth the investment.

We look forward to sharing this plan with you in the near future.

John Kantilaftas, President


Well, confronting and painful is nothing new to West Adelaide supporters.

This message is essentially an admission that the business board structure that we've had for the last 5 years has led us nowhere, except to the foot of the ladder and with a business model that doesn't work. Those of us who have been critical of the club's structural change have been dismissed as a sort of ratbag element, but our criticism now appears to have been validated.

You can't take the club away from the members and expect them to feel like they still have a stake in it. A new board structure (and culture) needs to be much more inclusive of members.

Well said, aldo, that is exactly the situation. Frustrating though that it seems nothing can be done about it. People are just walking away from the club and it is slowly dying. And any form of criticism, constructive criticism, is used by the powers that be to attack those with ideas and concerns. I don't have any solution.

Well a good start would be giving the club back to the members and electing a board with passion for the club along with the skill set and time to get things going again.
The current "board by invitation" or put another way jobs for mates did not work or was it ever going to as some of us have said since day one.
I hope and trust John can achieve it because time is running out.

The way I read his message was the club is struggling financially and things to need to change.

Maybe the building is going to be sold.

Lachlan, that sounds like a fire sale. I do hope things aren't that bad. I suspect, and trust, that Kanta is thinking more aloing these lines - and I quote below from a Harvard Business Review article on what a Business Model might be - " Author Michael Lewis, for example, offers up the simplest of definitions — a Business Model - “All it really meant was how you planned to make money”
Firmly in the “a business model is really a set of assumptions or hypotheses” camp is one Alex Osterwalder, who has developed what is arguably the most comprehensive template on which to construct those hypotheses. His nine-part “business model canvas” is essentially an organized way to lay out your assumptions about not only the key resources and key activities of your value chain, but also your value proposition, customer relationships, channels, customer segments, cost structures, and revenue streams — to see if you’ve missed anything important and to compare your model to others." Bit of work ahead!

Inthruk, I most certainly hope not.
The last 5 lines of your post I can’t even understand. It can’t be that hard surely?

Inthruck.

I’m not suggesting it’s a fire sale, I think it’s fairly well known it’s been on the market for sometime.

If we sell the building and the govt and council fund the new grandstand and function area that would be a good thing

Fair enough.if the building is for sale and that is the only plan, as I assumed, then a fire sale is a reasonable interpretation. On the other hand, if the sale of the building is part of a plan to review operations with a view to increasing profit by reorganising what and how we operate, then fine. I think it was the 1990’s when some of the banks decided that their funds were better invested in banking rather than being property owners. Might be the same here. Hard work which ever way but a step in the right direction maybe.

Appreciate the post inthruck, my business plan might include involving the members and supporters of a once proud and traditional Club, (colloquially, the 'punters') in the future of the Club. We've been sold a pup, a bridge even. What have you got if you haven't got people thru. the turnstiles?! I left that takeover meeting 5 years ago in despair, it has turned out worse than I could have imagined even then.

Absolutely correct RODH2, the plan needs and should encourage and involve all interested parties. Not just because the management does't actually know everything that needs reviewing, but the end plan will fail to be implemented (in part or even in whole) if all parties were not involved and had meaningful input. If "Continuous Improvement" is the aim, and I hope it is, then even more imperative that all parties have input and are considered with respect - and given feedback along the way. Here's hoping.