BAFA
background

BAFA Welcomes New Appointments to Strategic Review

The Director of Business Operations at the Football Foundation, Pete Fitzboydon, is one of three new additions to the Steering Group for the BAFA Strategic Review, announced by BAFA Vice Chair Charles Macnamara today.

The Director of Business Operations at the Football Foundation, Pete Fitzboydon, is one of three new additions to the Steering Group for the BAFA Strategic Review, announced by BAFA Vice Chair Charles Macnamara today.

Fitzboydon will be joined by Pat Smith MBE, a Vice President of the Sport and Recreation Alliance; Life Member of the National Council for School Sport, Honorary Treasurer of Sports Officials UK, and contributor to numerous sports strategies, both governmental and sport specific; and by Spencer Harris, formerly Head of Performance at Sport England and now a senior academic who works with national and international Governing Bodies on strategy development.

Mr Macnamara said: "I'm pleased to announce these three new members to the Steering Group. I'm sure their knowledge and experience in a variety of fields will be prove to be of great value to BAFA as we shape our priorities, our delivery frameworks and a new governance structure.

BAFA Director Andy Fuller, said: ‘This is a hugely exciting and challenging time for our sport and I'm delighted to welcome our three new Steering Group members. In the months since the Review project was announced progress has been made. We have received some valuable input from the Sub Groups which have helped us shape our thinking and which have contributed to one or two recent developments, most notably the launch of Kick-Start, the partnership with runningsports and the re-launch of the BAFA website.’

‘However, we also recognise that we have faced challenges and in line with the initial Review programme outline we have sought to call upon advice and support from high calibre people who can bring with them a mix of skills, experiences and expertise in sport development and sports governance and who can provide high level challenge, scrutiny and support to the Steering Group.’

Fuller added ‘Combining their expertise with that which already sits on the Steering Group provides us with a strong blend of skills and knowledge to further build our sport.

Biographies

Spencer Harris

Spencer is an experienced researcher and sports development professional with over 16 years experience in sports development. He holds considerable experience in project evaluation, research and more recently, providing evidence to help make the case for sport.

Publications

Harris, S. (2011). Sport and Political Intervention: Critical issues in the use of Sport in Government Policy. In Hassan, D., Hamil, S. & Lusted, J. (Eds.), Managing Sport: Social and Cultural Perspectives. Oxon, England: Routledge.

Harris, S., Mackintosh, C, Adams, A, & Bell, B. (2011). European Sports Development: Practical and theoretical insights. Leisure Studies Association. (Anticipated publication: July 2011).

May, T. and Harris, S. (2011). Implementing Community Sports Policy-Size is everything. International Journal of Sports Policy. (Anticipated publication: Late 2011).

Harris, S. (2010). Growing Participation: A comparative analysis of differences in and relationships between participation, volunteering and club membership. London, England: Sport England.

Harris, S., Mori, K., & Collins, M. (2009). Great Expectations: The role of voluntary sports clubs as policy implementers. Voluntas International Journal of Volunteer and Non Profit Organisations. 20(4). 405-423.

Conferences
-Growing participation: A model of segmenting club types.? Sport England, London, April 2011.

-Respecting diversity in clubs.? Political Studies Association. University of Birmingham, Birmingham, March 2011.

-Managing growth in sports participation.? Sport England, London, November 2010.

-Managing sports development: a focus on local level delivery.? CCPR, London, April 2010.

-The importance of respecting diversity in club types.? Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, September 2009.

-What about the mutual enthusiasts?? London University (Birbeck), London, March 2009.

-The role of clubs as policy implementers.? University of Bocconi, Milan, Italy, November 2008.

Pete Fitzboydon

 

Pete Fitzboyden is the Director of Business Operations at the Football Foundation. The Football Foundation is the UK’s largest sports’ charity. Funded by the Premier League, The Football Association and the Government, the Foundation directs £30m every year into grass roots sport.

 

Pete is a performance measurement and management specialist, who runs the the operational side of the Football Foundation to enable it to run as effectively and efficiently as possible. This is underpinned by a system of performance management and continuous improvement, which analyses how well the Foundation is performing, enabling potential areas for improvement to be identified and acted upon.