Justin Webb elected to Capital Football board as clubs return to training

Some sports are considering cancelling their official seasons because clubs are fear player numbers will drop, volunteers will face health risks and sponsorship funding has disappeared.

But Capital Football teams are keen to push ahead with their season, with clubs submitting their plans to return to training this week.

Concerns have been raised about scheduling clashes as some teams need to book multiple sessions due to social distancing restrictions.

Teams can only train in groups of up to 10 people and coaches can't do back-to-back sessions, meaning there needs to be a different mentor per group on the same night.

Capital Football put months of boardroom turmoil behind them when they held their annual general meeting on Wednesday, voting Webb and Angelo Konstantinou as directors.

Konstantinou was re-elected having served the past year as deputy chair, with that position to be decided upon later this month.

Webb, who works in corporate finance for Whitehelm Capital, grew up playing football in Canberra with his six brothers and has now coaches his daughter's team.

He played in the National Premier League for seven years with both Weston Molonglo and Australian National University, as well as representing ACT teams.

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The 41-year-old was encouraged to apply for the position as he has no current affiliations with any club, plus his nearly 20 years of experience as a charted accountant.

"I don't come with any bias or agenda, just a love of the game," Webb said.

"With my work as well, it felt like a naturally good fit. I work with a lot of boards and sit on a variety of investment committees with my job.

"It brings together numbers and finance, then combining that with investment and the governance framework that comes with boards. Those are the skillsets they thought were valuable enough to put me on."

As a newly elected board member, Webb hopes to bring objectivity to decision making and help reconnect Canberra's football community.

He says communication between the board, stakeholders and clubs needs to improve, acting upon the concerns of participants from grassroots to the elite level.

"It's talking to the parents and teams about what their frustrations are with Capital Football and what could be done better, opening up those communication channels between clubs, stakeholders and the board," Webb said.

"I think the problem people have seen with the board is that there's too many agendas, that people are pushing something for their club or own focus.

"I get that but I'm trying to take the man on the street approach, does this make sense for the reasonable person what we're asked to do here?

"I think that's what every board needs to look at, you need to be objective on everything. So that's what I'm looking to bring, that objectivity to all decisions because I don't come with those backgrounds."

Capital Football is facing a potential loss of at least $400,000 due to the coronavirus-forced shutdown, dependent on the competition is able to resume.

They were forced to cancel this year's Kanga Cup, which usually nets between $120,000 and $140,000 in revenue.

Webb will draw on his financial experience to help bring Capital Football through the economic downturn.

"Capital Football has taken a big hit like everyone," Webb said.

"Their revenues are going to be significantly down, there's no Kanga Cup this year, they're going to reduce fees, and they've got high operating costs with staff - although, they've done a good job to reduce that with hours and government subsidies like Jobkeeper. The profit line is going to take a hit.

"My job as a living is investing on behalf of superannuation funds, so I'm hoping to bring the extra firepower by putting it to the board on the finances - how we can best get through this period."