MBS651 Exam Case Study – Footy for All
Footy for All is a nonprofit organisation established to help children from lower socio-economic
ackgrounds participate in team sport. The organisation was founded in Perth in 1991 by Ron Glen, a
well-known local football player. Footy for All soon became widely known and by the end of the
1990’s had five different
anches around Perth. Footy for All was a pioneering organisation and
established a model for many similar nonprofit organisations founded in the following years,
including some whose focus was on education rather than sport. Over the next ten years Footy for
All expanded its operations to regional cities including Geraldton and Bunbury and increased its
services to include support for immigrants in all locations.
In its early years, Footy for All was supported primarily by private funds raised by a group of
volunteers including Ron Glen. Ron Glen used his sporting profile to promote fundraising events and
support applications for funding. As the organisation grew, they became more reliant on
government grants and by XXXXXXXXXX% of the organisation’s funding was government grants.
Expansion of the organisation had led to paid employment in a variety of roles, including a Chief
Executive Officer (CEO) and senior managers, as well as staff employed in Human Resources,
Marketing, and Finance. By 2017 Footy for All employed 75 paid staff and 150 volunteers. Expanded
programs in some locations included
eakfast club as part of their operations. (Breakfast clubs
operate on school grounds before school to provide a healthy
eakfast for any child who comes to
school not having eaten). As part of the expansion, Ron Glen stepped back from the organisation and
a new skills based board took over. A review of the programs led to decisions about expansion of the
eakfast club programs; to increased involvement of more sporting “heroes” in order to raise the
profile of the organisation; and increased fundraising to ensure that there was not an over-reliance
on government grants.
In 2017, the decision was made to
ing a similar existing program Ball for fun into Footy for All as
part of its operations. The program is in an area which would be considered to be part of the target
group identified in the mission statement for Footy for All. Ball for fun involved Australian cricketer
Steve Marsh as its “hero” and in keeping with the Footy for All involvement of sporting heroes, Steve
Marsh had been invited to stay on as one of the “heroes” in the program.
Steve Marsh and his staff and volunteers have become part of the main organisation, Footy for All,
and some of the elements of Steve Marsh’s program, such as homework club, have been set up in
other Footy for All locations – although it was determined that these were to run for two years and
then be reviewed. This program is also known to struggle for money. Homework clubs offer a
supervised location for students to complete homework, and some staff have expressed concern
that this is outside the mission of Footy for All.
In July 2020, Steve Marsh was charged by an international doping tribunal for use of performance
enhancing drugs. Steve Marsh has been suspended from the Australian cricket team as he awaits the
findings of the tribunal, which could take up to 12 months. This issue has been covered extensively
in the press and on social media, both domestically and internationally. The commentary has not
een positive about Steve Marsh.