On behalf of the 2009 Executive, I want to first of all thank you for visiting our website here at www.cdmfa.com, and secondly to welcome you all to another year of Minor Football in the Edmonton and surrounding Capital District area.

I would like to state from the outset that as your new President I am looking very much forward to the challenge of continuing the work of the previous administration, of which I was privileged to be a part as the Registrar. There is much work to do, but I am sure that we are up to the task. As before, the Executive is humbled and honoured that the Membership has entrusted us with the task of ensuring that the CDMFA continues to be the best youth football league in Canada.

One of the most significant challenges facing us is financial. Over the past seasons, we have seen significant cost increases to the League as we strive to improve our facilities, our coaching, our refereeing, and in fact all aspects of our game. As we grow, travel costs increase. And to be quite frank, the workload has increased enormously, to the point where we are having serious discussions regarding the feasibility of continuing to depend upon our dedicated volunteers alone to shoulder the burden.

And for the first time in many seasons, we are seeing a drop in our registrations and our teams. This is, undoubtedly, a by-product of our economic times and we will weather the storm. We are not exempt by any means as families become more and more careful with their discretionary dollars.

About a year ago the idea of a major league fundraiser was put forth, and was formally adopted by the Board of Directors earlier this year. You are all by now aware of the Minor Football – Major Payoff lottery initiative. Our clubs were each assigned a number of lottery tickets that roughly corresponded to the number of players participating in their programs, and were tasked with selling those tickets. I want to take a moment to pass on to all how important this initiative is, and how it will benefit us all.

First of all, it needs to be pointed out that the CDMFA facilitates participation of our Member Associations. The CDMFA is responsible for facilities, scheduling, and all the other day-to-day functions of running a league. Our league fees are very low; in fact, they are a mere fraction of the league fees paid by teams in other minor football leagues. We are faced with a choice; we can either drastically increase fees (which will of course be passed on to the parents in the form of increased registration fees), or we can be creative and forward-thinking and all pull together to come up with alternatives. We have chosen the latter course.

Through lottery proceeds, we will be able to ensure that we can play on first-class fields instead of hard surfaces that invite injury; we can make sure that game filming is available to all teams at the Bantam and Midget levels, not just a select few who have the wherewithal and infrastructure to provide their own; we can help our member clubs with travel costs; we can continue to provide coaching training for our coaches; we can continue to streamline our website to make registration and other similar functions work better; and we can do it all while keeping our fees low. At the end of the day, this is all about growing our game and making sure that clubs are able to offer the great experience of football to as many families as possible. When I think of what this league looked like when I first became involved in football over a dozen years ago, I am amazed at what we have accomplished. It is my goal to ensure that the growth continues for many years to come.

We have many hundreds of coaches, trainers and other assorted team volunteers that are all giving selflessly of their time and efforts to make football a truly wonderful experience for our youth. We all need to thank these people profusely. Without the efforts of our volunteers, our kids would not have this opportunity to play what I believe is the greatest of all team sports.

And you know, it doesn’t stop there. Each and every football parent will do his or her own part, however small, in ensuring that the team or organization that he or she is affiliated with will thrive. You all need to give yourselves a great big pat on the back; for without you, we could not do what we do.

But I also want to throw out a challenge. It is only through the efforts of us all can we ensure that the health of our game continues. I know that our Executive is up to answering the challenge. Are you?

After all, what is the CDMFA? It’s not some monolith that exists in a building somewhere, with busy people buzzing around making sure that everything gets done instantly and on time. At the end of the day, if you really want to know who the CDMFA is, just look into the closest mirror. Every one of us – Executive or Board member, coach, player, manager, parent – WE are the CDMFA. When we all contribute, we succeed.

I wish all of the teams the very best of luck in the 2009 season. It is going to be the best year yet, I am sure. I look forward to meeting as many of you as possible on the football field, renewing old friendships and making new ones.

Yours in football,

Craig Hall, President