A message from Football West CEO Jamie Harnwell

Dear all,

Welcome everybody to the 2023 season, whether your competition is already up and running or is one of those about to kick off.

I would like to take this opportunity to address some of the challenges that Football West and the football community have faced in preparation for the new season. 

In 2022 Football West made the decision to engage with a new competition management system, Squadi. 

This decision was not taken lightly but was in recognition that the previous system had reached its functional capacity with no further support planned before its expiry at the end of this year. This was reflected in the continuing issues both Football West and the community experienced with the system.

Squadi was tested through smaller Football West competitions and events, as well as being showcased to representatives across club football before finalising the decision.

It is also the competition management system selected by our fellow Member Federations with whom we liaise closely, including Northern NSW Football and Football QLD, as well as Macarthur FA.

As with any new system implementation, there have been challenges, and Football West acknowledges the frustrations that our clubs, parents and players have been facing.

The Football West team is working diligently to deliver a product which will meet the needs of the entire football community, and once fully embedded will reduce workload and improve efficiency for users.

We have previously presented a series of webinars, video demonstrations and help guides, which can be found on the Squadi home page here: https://www.footballwest.com.au/squadi

Squadi already offers benefits above what the previous system could deliver, including:

• Integrated referee rostering and complete in-app scoring module, allowing officials to enter scores in a timely manner;
• Integrated communications allowing specific and timely communications to key groups, via push notification and email;
• Centralised disciplinary management, reducing time taken to process and issue infringements, as well as the added ability to gain meaningful data insights;
• Ability for clubs to generate revenue using integrated eCommerce capabilities; and
• Live scoring capability across all leagues, allowing home team managers to enter scores dynamically via the app.

Football West and Squadi are committed to the system’s further development and updates are being regularly issued.

Enhancements will soon be introduced to line-up information available on match day and post-match day, and a new “match day centre” which will be available online and display details of every match.

There will also be new administration tools and features to allow fixture and venue reporting, the ability to forfeit matches within the app and instantly notify opposition and match officials, as well as improvements to the live-scoring interface. 

These enhancements are due to the valued feedback of the football community. Over the coming weeks Football West will be hosting forums to learn more details about the challenges being faced by clubs, the work being by Football West has done to address those challenges, and steps moving forward for the rest of this season and 2024.

For those of you joining the app and experiencing issues with conflicting family accounts, there is a dedicated Squadi email that you can use to seek support. Simply email the following address to have them resolved: 
tickets@squadi-support-email.p.tawk.email

Additionally, if you do experience any issues on match day, please manually record the match information and send it to Football West. This information has also been provided to all match officials to ensure games can go ahead without concern. However, we do encourage you to use the app wherever possible. Like anything new, it will take time to adapt to a new way of working.

The Football West team is currently working through all requests and prioritising fixture changes for this weekend and the system will be updated accordingly. 

I understand that change can be challenging but I want to reassure you that Football West is here to support the successful implementation of Squadi. 

Once again, thank you for your patience and understanding as we work to deliver a totally integrated matchday solution.

For more on Squadi, please click here:
https://www.footballwest.com.au/squadi

https://www.footballwest.com.au/squadi
Good luck for the season ahead.

Jamie Harnwell
CEO, Football West