FFA Futsal Nationals Draw Is Available

The all important draw for the FFA's 2011 Futsal Nationals is now available.

Click HERE to go to the draws page on the www.futsalnationals.com.au website, set the Season to 2011, then choose your Grade (Age Group) and click GO.

The first day of competition is Monday ,10 January 2011 - evening games. To help you get organised, here's how it looks on the first day:

Under 11G
Victoria v Bye
6:10PM NSW Lightning v Western Australia Mpowerdome - 1
6:10PM ACT Cobras v NSW Thunder Mpowerdome - 2


Under 12G
Western Australia v Bye
5:20PM NSW Lightning v Queensland Mpowerdome - 4
6:10PM Victoria v Southern NSW Mpowerdome - 3
7:00PM NSW Thunder v ACT Cobras Mpowerdome - 4

Under 13G
8:40PM NSW Thunder v Queensland Mpowerdome - 2
8:40PM ACT Cobras v NSW Lightning Mpowerdome - 3
8:40PM Victoria v South Australia Mpowerdome - 4



Under 14G 6:10PM Victoria v ACT Cobras Sth Cross Basketball
6:10PM Western Australia v NSW Lightning Sth Cross Basketball
6:10PM Western NSW v Queensland Sth Cross Basketball
6:10PM Auckland v NSW Thunder Sth Cross Basketball



Under 15G NSW Thunder v Bye
7:50PM NSW Lightning v Queensland Sth Cross Basketball
7:50PM South Australia v Victoria Sth Cross Basketball

Under16G7:00PM Queensland v NSW Lightning Sth Cross Basketball
7:00PM NSW Thunder v ACT Cobras Sth Cross Basketball
7:00PM Western NSW v Victoria Sth Cross Basketball

Under 11B
Western NSW v Bye
6:10PM Queensland v ACT Cobras Mpowerdome - 4
7:50PM Northern NSW v NSW Lightning Mpowerdome - 3
7:50PM Victoria Magic v Auckland RIO Mpowerdome - 4

Under 12B
7:00PM NSW Thunder v ACT Cobras Mpowerdome - 1
7:00PM Northern NSW Far Nth Coast v Queensland Mpowerdome - 2
7:00PM Western Australia v Victoria Rangers Mpowerdome - 3



Under 13B Bye v ACT Colts
11:30AM Southern NSW v Auckland RIO Sth Cross Basketball
11:30AM NSW Thunder v Northern NSW Sth Cross Basketball
11:30AM Western NSW v Solomon Islands Sth Cross Basketball

Under 14B
Victoria v Bye
7:50PM NSW Thunder v Southern NSW Sth Cross Basketball
8:40PM ACT Cobras v NSW Lightning Sth Cross Basketball
8:40PM South Australia v Queensland Sth Cross Basketball
8:40PM Western Australia v Northern NSW Hawks Sth Cross Basketball

Under 15B

7:00PM Northern NSW Hawks v NSW Lightning Sth Cross Basketball
7:50PM ACT Cobras v NSW Thunder Sth Cross Basketball
8:40PM South Australia v Queensland Sth Cross Basketball
8:10AM Victoria v Western NSW Sth Cross Basketball

Under 16B
5:20PM Southern NSW v Queensland ANU Court 1 (INT)
6:10PM NSW Thunder v NSW Lightning ANU Court 1 (INT)
7:00PM South Australia v Northern NSW ANU Court 1 (INT)
7:50PM Victoria v ACT Cobras ANU Court 1 (INT)

Youth Women
5:20PM Southern NSW v South Australia ANU Court 2 (INT)
6:10PM ACT Cobras v Victoria ANU Court 2 (INT)
8:40PM NSW Thunder v NSW Lightning ANU Court 2 (INT)

Open Women
NSW Thunder v Bye
5:30PM Queensland v ACT Cobras AIS Main Arena - INT
6:20PM NSW Lightning v Western NSW AIS Main Arena - INT
7:10PM Victoria v Southern NSW AIS Main Arena - INT

Youth Men
Bye v Western NSW
7:00PM Southern NSW v Queensland ANU Court 2 (INT)
7:50PM NSW Thunder v ACT Colts ANU Court 2 (INT)

Open Men
Tasmania v Bye
3:50PM ACT Cobras v NSW Lightning AIS Main Arena - INT
4:40PM Northern NSW v Southern NSW Flame AIS Main Arena - INT

Athletes With Disabilities
Competition starts Tuesday 11 January 2011 at the Mpowerdome

Ron Smiths Talks About the Capital Football High Performance Program Review - Part 3

In this interview, Part 3 of a three part series, Ron Smith talks about the key areas of his review into the Capital Football High Performance Program. They are very intersting and informative interviews - it's always that way with Ron Smith.

Our best performed ACT Rep team in 2010 - the Under 13 Girls. And they were very good! Some of these young players have already moved forward to the Womens' ACTAS program. Others will follow for sure.

Out of this team - our first Australian Under 13 Girls representative - Siena Senatore.  And if memory serves correctly, that's a top flight young NSW player (also an Australian U13 rep) she has to deal with and did so. It can be done! In the case of Ms Senatore, it was the product of years of work in Football, summer and winter, CF HPP, Coerver Academy (several years of it) for the high quality technical development that is second to none in the ACT region, and various other football activities that her parents got her too over the years, too numerous to list and of course, Futsal. Ron Smith's word "repetition" comes to mind. There are no shortcuts. In the end though, its the player that does the work and the harder you work if you have some ability, the more likely you are to succeed. And so it was for this young player. I can only imagine how proud her parents and brother must have been when her selection was announced. It can be done!

 Here we have the 2006 Socceross, a remarkable group of players, with a first rate coach and top class support staff - among which Ron Smith was a key person - the football analyst. One picture that defeinately belongs in the "pool room"! This is where all that "development" , all that "repetition" and an uncompromising ambition / committment to succeed, may take a talented young player. Without all this and before any other factor imposes itself, nothing is possible. It all starts in our backyard - our Clubs and ourCapital Football player development regime. That's why this review of our HPP is so important.

As I have mentioned previously, we do not attempt to tick off every paragraph of the report or recommendations. You do the reading for yourself when the report is released on the CF website.

Instead, we have a long fireside chat with Ron around the major themes or key points in his report and recommendations. The report stands as it is and how it willbe dealt with is for others. At this point, I think its far more important to listen to the author’s thoughts, underpinning philosophy and views on these matters, as it will assist us in understanding what he has recommended and why.

There are no hidden corners, what you hear is how it is. Ron’s research is thorough and he has a depth of football experience at the highest levels of the game, which enables him to bring a certainty of observation not available to most of the rest of us.

I must also again remind the NPL listener, that Ron’s not responsible for implementation of the recommendations. He has tabled his report and now its for others to decide what to do with it. In this case, it is for the CF Board to decide and the new Technical Director to undertake over the next couple of years.

As ever, now the report is done, the devil is in the detailed implementation.

So sit back, cup of tea to hand, close the door, hang the "do not disturb" sign on the door knob, put on the headphones, listen and think.

Download the Podcast here:

Ron Smiths Talks About the Capital Football High Performance Program Review - Part 2

In this interview, Part 2 of a three part series, Ron Smith talks about the key areas of his review into the Capital Football High Performance Program. They are very intersting and informative interviews - it's always that way with Ron Smith.

As I have mentioned previously, we do not attempt to tick off every paragraph of the report or recommendations. You do the reading for yourself when the report is released on the CF website.

Instead, we have a long fireside chat with Ron around the major themes or key points in his report and recommendations. The report stands as it is and how it willbe dealt with is for others. At this point, I think its far more important to listen to the author’s thoughts, underpinning philosophy and views on these matters, as it will assist us in understanding what he has recommended and why.

There are no hidden corners, what you hear is how it is. Ron’s research is thorough and he has a depth of football experience at the highest levels of the game, which enables him to bring a certainty of observation not available to most of the rest of us.

I must also again remind the NPL listener, that Ron’s not responsible for implementation of the recommendations. He has tabled his report and now its for others to decide what to do with it. In this case, it is for the CF Board to decide and the new Technical Director to undertake over the next couple of years.

As ever, now the report is done, the devil is in the detailed implementation.

So sit back, cup of tea to hand, close the door, hang the "do not disturb" sign on the door knob, put on the headphones, listen and think.

Download the Podcast here:

Ron Smiths Talks About the Capital Football High Performance Program Review - Part 1

This program is broadcast on 2xxfm (98.3mhz) across the Australian Community Radio Network on Tuesday 28 December 2010 at 7:00PM.

In this interview, Part 1 of a three part series, Ron Smith talks about the key areas of his review into the Capital Football High Performance Program. They are very intersting and informative interviews - it's always that way with Ron Smith.

As I have mentioned previously, we do not attempt to tick off every paragraph of the report or recommendations. You do the reading for yourself when the report is released on the CF website.

Instead, we have a long fireside chat with Ron around the major themes or key points in his report and recommendations. The report stands as it is and how it willbe dealt with is for others. At this point, I think its far more important to listen to the author’s thoughts, underpinning philosophy and views on these matters, as it will assist us in understanding what he has recommended and why.

There are no hidden corners, what you hear is how it is. Ron’s research is thorough and he has a depth of football experience at the highest levels of the game, which enables him to bring a certainty of observation not available to most of the rest of us.

I must also again remind the NPL listener, that Ron’s not responsible for implementation of the recommendations. He has tabled his report and now its for others to decide what to do with it. In this case, it is for the CF Board to decide and the new Technical Director to undertake over the next couple of years.

As ever, now the report is done, the devil is in the detailed implementation.

So sit back, cup of tea to hand, close the door, hang the "do not disturb" sign on the door knob, put on the headphones, listen and think.

Download Podcast here:

Ron Smith Talks About His Review of the Capital Football High Performance Program

As you are aware, the Capital Football Board commissioned Ron Smith to undertake a review of our current High Performance Program.

The NPL has interviewed Ron in recent times about the development of talented players and related football matters. Ron is a fascinating subject to interview, so much knowledge to impart on Football and so willing to do it. A national football treasure!

Well, Ron has completed his report and presented it to the Capital Football Board, who are presently considering it's content and recomendations. We are at an important cross roads with the development of our young talented players, and the decisions made following the "Smith Report", are likely ot have far reaching effects in our region.

The President of the Capital Football Board and CEO, with Ron SMith's agreement, kindly allowed the Nearpost Local to interview Ron about his report. The interview is broken into three Parts, the first of which will be broadcast on 2xxfm (98.3mhz) on Tuesday, 28 December 2010.

Let me say right from the off – The introduction of the new HPP arrangements was not an easy process and that did not help anyone in football. Here at the NPL we lent our support to the FFA intentions and CF’s efforts to put them into effect. The new arrangements for the HPP involved some change and some experimentation, and some disagreement across the football community. What some critics fail to appreciate is that the implementation of the National curriculum and development was not negotiable with the FFA. This put a lot of pressure on CF staff and those they rely upon to staff the programs (coaches). CF simply had to get on with it.

As a consequence, some parts of the HPP solution worked well, other parts remain as under-resourced as they ever were, some did not get off the ground, some could not accept the necessity for change, new problems arose, mistakes were made and some good decisions will survive into the future, which is probably about what you would expect. But it can't stay like this and in all fairness, clearly the Capital Football Board, by way of Ron Smith's report on the HPP, seeks to do better. We should support that intention.

Curiously, a few I have listened to declare, in my view quite foolishly, that we should not look back. These people usually never learn from their mistakes and are most likely to repeat them. They are best avoided at all costs.
A healthy Football organisation looks back, looks at others doing the same work and looks carefully at its specific environment before making decisions, gets the resources together to ensure it works, then changes step in an orderly way if new and unforeseen problems arise – but importantly, you keep looking and improving, the focus always on what is best for our young players – all of them. We are being outpaced by some of the other State Federations in the HPP sphere and that gap must be closed in order to give our young players the best opportunities to develop and achieve to the higher levels of the game, if that is their wish. Importantly, we must ensure all our young players are developed, for both their enjoyment of the game and the standard of Football in the ACT region. Why would we do otherwise?

To be frank, the one thing that every person I have spoken to on the subject agrees with is that we should do all that is reasonable and possible to develop of our young players. The difference is the crucial "What" and "How" of it all. And doesn't that generate some heat!

In these interviews with Ron Smith, we do not attempt to tick off every paragraph of the report or recommendations. You do the reading for yourself when the report is released on the CF website.

Instead, we have a long fireside chat with Ron around the major themes or key points in his report and recommendations. Far more important to listen to the author’s thoughts, underpinning philosophy and views on these matters, as it will assist in understanding what he has recommended. There are no hidden corners, what you hear is how it is. Ron’s research is thorough and he has a depth of football experience at the highest levels of the game, which enables him to bring a certainty of observation not available to most of the rest of us.
I must remind the NPL listener, that Ron’s not responsible for implementation of the recommendations. He has tabled his report and now its for others to decide what to do with it. In this case, it is for the CF Board to decide and the new Technical Director to undertake over the next couple of years. As ever, now the report is done, the devil is in the detailed implementation.

And as ever, we at the NPL will keep a weather eye on the "development program" and report it as we see it. Can't say fairer than that!

Don't miss this series of interviews. Hope you enjoy it.

Five places soccer fans go online

Sourced from http://www.ryanjknapp.com/blog/five-places-soccer-fans-go-online/

The title of this article says it all and I found it summed up my thoughts and observations. Hope you find this informative. Can't stop, involved in an interesrting discussion online with a few people about our A league - a couple of these people should be on the FFA Board or A League Club Boards!

Five places soccer fans go online
by Ryan Knapp on November 10, 2010

storytime: Two years ago I was (briefly) a part of a project for a website called Football Fans United, which was billed as a ‘place to unite all football (soccer) fans in the world under one roof.’ I was completely on board with this project in my naievity and soon after the project took off, the project failed. I was blown away by how a well designed website with a clear vision of soccer world domination went down so quickly.

What I´ve learned is trying to corral the world’s soccer fans into one specific website is like herding 30 kids in a U-6 soccer team. Good luck.

So, the oft asked question is ‘Where do soccer fans hang out online?’ I’ll give you my Top 5 places where they interact (and where I go) and let you fill in your favorites.

1) Message Boards - The old standby, message boards are still an absolutely huge source of interaction for soccer fans across the world. In the United States in particular, BigSoccer is by far the biggest (while many argue the quality of people on there.) It’s where Peter Wilt made his name as being one of the first CEO’s to ‘do social media’ when the term didn’t even exist. In Europe, message boards are all too commonplace, with each team having a myriad of fan driven message boards. BigSoccer.com is seen as one of the biggest active soccer message boards in the world.

2) Blogs (and not your official one) - In 2007 I started this career in soccer by writing a blog called Center Holds It along with Jeff Bull and Breton Bonnette. There wern’t many of us at the time, but there are absolutely loads of soccer bloggers now. Inherent in the American soccer landcape is the blog mentality. For years, mainstream journalism did not care less for the sport, so we as fans simply took their place. While leagues and teams are catching on, some of the most popluar blogs such as The Offside, still reign in over 1.5 million page views a month. Teams are starting to come around and use blogs for their own websites, but for me independent blogs still maintain a feel that has yet to be matched by official team blogs.

3) Facebook - I’m truly amazed at the openness of soccer players to connect with their fans on Facebook. The diference is many American soccer fans interact with you via their personal Facebook page and not a larger fan page. The soccer community is extremely small, but 90% of professonal MLS players have no qualms about friending you on Facebook and make it a point to connect as if you were a long lost friend.
While this may seem like a great opportunity for fans to break down the walls and players to grown their own personal fan base, teams no longer have the control over producing content about a specific player, but rather the fans simply can go, interact and ask the player themselves. While this is a large part in MLS, I can say this doesn’t happen in every country, where players fan pages number into the millions.

4) Twitter - Where would the soccer community be without Twitter in 2010. Soccer fans/bloggers/staff have jumped on the twitter bandwagon at an alarming rate. As mentioned with the blogs, this is due to the overwhemling nature of most soccer fans searching out more fans to talk shop. Twitter has exploded with fans of the beautiful game, talking about USMNT, USWNT, MLS and loads more. With the adoption of twitter as a mainstream form of communication, the soccer community will grow and flourish even more as new fans convert to the game and old fans connect across the United States.

5) Illegal streams (untapped) - let’s face it, the soccer world is full of fans watching games in unknown languages where you hope you don’t get a virus. This is a completely untapped market in my opinion. However, the shear fact the thousands of illegal streams out there are..well..illegal, means the opportunity to truly monatize and utilize those streams to connect with fans is extremely difficult. During the World Cup, fans flocked to these streams and were interacting with one another, even if the language barrier was evident.

What you do not see on here are stand alone soccer platforms. I’ve seen stand alone platforms come and go. I receive at least one or two invitations to try out different platforms and websites with the goal of uniting the entire world under one website which has poor functionality and no real uniting factor.

Success on the field and a strong digital push off the field is a winning combination for clubs

Sourced from http://www.ryanjknapp.com/blog/fc-barcelona-case-study-wins-prestigious-award/

We can learn from the big players in Football. I thought this little piece might interest you. It certainly made me sit up and take notice.

Just about every Football Club in the ACT region has a website. Many are not well designed or maintained - after all, its all done by volunteers. Nevertheless, a general audit of lots of Club sites will reveal a range of attempts to exploit a "website".But this is changing and changing quickly as our communities are becoming ever more involved and relaint on web based / digital commincations, not to mention that not so sleeping giant - social media platforms (facebook, twitter, increasong interaction with live Television, radio broadcasts and online commerical shopping etc). There are Web based products out there now that enable teams to be managed using email and SMS, together with "chat room" type functionality, the set up costs are free, no onging costs but you pay the SMS charges you generate, and your site supports advertising imposed on you by the organisation that runs it. If you can live with the latter, its a good way to start at team level. The FFA has pursued the introduction of MyFootball Club and S2S for Club Football operational matters (though the take up on the latter seems a bit slow). Now there is talk of "Sporting Pulse" beng a provider to Football Clubs. The convergence of technologies makes everything possible and some Clubs out there are getting their act together to leverage off this technology. But it requires some careful planning and good advice.

This is a big subject, so just for now, read this short story and consider how you might move your Club forward.

FC Barcelona case study wins prestigious award

by Ryan Knapp on November 12, 2010
We all know FC Barcelona have experienced incredible success during recent years. Not only have they been a dominate force on the field led by Leo Messi and company, but they have seen their value as a brand rise tremendously because of their success and also a strongly focused marketing effort, especially in the United States and in Asia.

At the end of October, the North American Case Research Association (NACRA) awarded the Gold Award to a research study produced at ESADE Law and Business School case entitled “FC Barcelona, more than a club” The ESADE is part of the Institut Ramon Llull located in Catalunya in Spain.


The study was written by professors Josep Franch y Jordi Montaña and a student in Marketing Management, Andreu Turró, according to Managing Sport.


The article (note, I’ve written to see if I can get a hold of a copy to read) goes back in time when Barcelona were the 13th largest club in the world in terms of revenue. With a strong focus on building the brand and also building the club and it’s players into a powerhouse, Barcelona was able to skyrocket up the charts and position itself as one of the most popular clubs in the world.
They have done a great job, especially in working with new media. Their newsletters are extremely informative and well designed, not to mention they come in an array of different languages. They also have at the moment over 6,000,000 fans on facebook and each simple post from their facebook page garners between 2,000 – 15,000 comments. Absolutely mindblowing.

Success on the field and a strong digital push off the field is a winning combination for clubs. While you can have a strong digital center to carry your team through those bad seasons, when they both combine, you can have a great case study like FC Barcelona.

FFA Futsal Nationals Not Far Away - And In Canberra!

The FFA Futsal Nationals will be conducted in Canberra in the period 10 - 14 January 2011.

This is a tremendous opportunity to see the nation's best Futsal players at age play this game. For those children that play the game in our local competitions, it is a terrific opportunity to watch, learn and enjoy. Better than Playstation!
It is also an excellent opportunity for any Futsal Coach in the ACT to watch how the coaches at the Nationals from all State and Territories campaign their teams.

Lots to learn, lots to enjoy, right on our doorstep and free!

All details can be obtained from the FFA Futsal Nationals website at http://www.futsalnationals.com.au/index.html

The important planning details are as follows, while the specific draws will be published closer to the start of the competition, so keep checking the website.

VENUES


•Australian Institute of Sport Main Arena, Leverrier Crescent Bruce
•Australian Institute of Sport Basketball Training Hall, Leverrier Crescent Bruce
•Australian National University - North Road Acton
•Mpowerdome, Coyne St Chisholm
•Southern Cross Stadium, 7 Pitman St Tuggeranong

CHAMPIONSHIP DATES

DATE        ACTIVITY            TIME       VENUE

10 January Opening Ceremony 3:00pm   AIS Main Arena

10 January Opening Games      5:00pm    All Centres

11 January Competition Day 2 9:00am - 8:00pm All Centres

12 January Competition Day 3 9:00am - 8:00pm All Centres

13 January Competition Day 4 9:00am - 8:00pm All Centres

14 January Finals Gala Day      8:00am - 8:00pm AIS Main Arena

VENUE ALLOCATIONS


DIVISION MAIN COMPETITION VENUE/S

11                  Boys                                  Mpowerdome

11                 Girls                                   Mpowerdome

12                 Boys                                  Mpowerdome

12                Girls                                    Mpowerdome

13                Boys                                    Southern Cross Stadium

13                Girls                                    Mpowerdome

14                Boys                                    Southern Cross Stadium

14                Girls                                     Southern Cross Stadium

15                Boys                                    Southern Cross Stadium

15               Girls                                      Southern Cross Stadium

16               Boys                                     Australian National University (international court)

16              Girls                                      Southern Cross Stadium

Youth Men Australian                             National University (international court)

Youth Women Australian                        National University (international court)

Open Women                                         AIS Main Arena (international court)

Open Men                                              AIS Main Arena (international court)

Want to Influence the Game? Then Influence the Coaches!

This program is broadcast on 2xxfm (98.3mhz) through the Australian Community Radio Network on Tuesday, 22 December 2010 at 7:00PM.

In tonight's program we focus on Coach education and coaching. Coach education is the greatest single influence (for good and sometimes not so good) in our game. Good coaching, good coaches and mentoring those that want to coach is absolutely essential to the development and growth of the game

We look in two places – here in the ACT , with a candid peak at one PL club that took the whole FFA development thing into serious competition. By contrast, we listen to a fascinating discussion between several US Women’s Professional Soccer League Coaches, courtesy of Amanda Vandervort of Soccer Science, as they talk about the women’s game in the USA and how they got into coaching. We need a lot more women football coaches in our game.

Here in the ACT, Capital Football has by comparison to past years, maybe decades, massively increased the number our of people in our football community undertaking courses of instruction in the current coaching methods required to support the FFA’s national football curriculum and national football development plan. If you want to influence the game, influence the coaches. We must continue to do all we can do to educate, support and mentor our Football coaches, from the local Under 9, the Under 15 Div 3, all the way through to our Premier League teams.

Coaches need access to training resources at every level of the game and in this respect the FFA must do more – the FFA’s S2S coaching support system, or perhaps the Football NSW’s Global Football System, are just two resources that can be made available down to club level coaches at remarkable little cost to the game, but for enormous return to the game. The FFA should bankroll this support to every coach in the nation. A small cost for a big return and the most direct way to influence coaches outside of coaching courses. But it looks like clubs will have to take the initiative.

Pat McCann has been at the forefront of Coach Education in the ACT region and his work has made a real difference. High performance programs come and go and sometimes it sticks and sometimes not, and not always the best use of a Technical Directors scarce time and effort. Influencing coaches, that;s the thing if we want sustained and continuing change and development in the game.

Interestingly, Pat is the current Head Coach of Woden Valley FC Men's Premier League teams. In this capacity, Pat has brought all the new thinking into this club which was desperately in need of change. The messages he gives the young players mirrors the FFA new directions and it works. Similarly, Ed Hollis the Head Coach of the Woden Valley Women's Premier League does exactly the same thing for the female players. One Premier League club, one consistent and coherent approach directly in line with the direction the FFA is taking player development. Makes sense. Given the young age of many players in the club (male and female), the focus is on development almost as much as it is “winning”. How can it be otherwise. The players benefit, not by a big pay day, as this club like most others in the Premier League don't have a lot of money, but through development of their football talent in a Club setting. Doesn't get any better.

The Women’s Professional Football (soccer) game in the USA is incredible, but probably just as fragile as it is here in Australia. Our system of development for women players is different to the USA, where it is underpinned by the fantastic Women's College Soccer programs. Some of our young female players are currently on College Sports scholarships to play in the US College Soccer Leagues. We have nothing like that in Australia. In this interview, we listen to the following WPS coaches talk about their game in way that makes perfect sense to anyone following the game in Australia. The coaches participating are:

• Emma Hayes, Chicago Red Stars Head Coach
• Pauliina Miettinen, Sky Blue FC Head Coach
• Lisa Cole, Boston Breakers Assistant Coach
• Denise Reddy, Chicago Red Stars Assistant Coach
• Nicci Wright, Washington Freedom Goalkeeper Coach
• Anne Parnila, Sky Blue FC Assistant Coach

Alas, something put the electronic zap on my interview with Pat McCann at Capital football’s offices and the sound quality is not as it should be, so you may need to persevere, but I assure you the content is worth it. I'll see what I can do do improve the recording. This interview will not be broadcast till the sound quality is improved.

The Soccer Science interview was done on Skype. But its all good to go.

So kick back, glass of Christmas cheer to hand, headphones on and listen.

Download the Pat McCann interview here:

The Amanda Vandervort interview with the US WPS coaches is here:

A Very Interesting Discussion About Women's Football

Sourced from http://www.amandavandervort.com/blog/

Amanda Vandervort is well placed to speak about the game and some of her work is unique and thought provoking (and that really is saying something in Football!) - some of bio details read as follows: 

"I was a four-year scholarship goalkeeper for the University of Wyoming Cowgirls soccer team, from 1997-2000. I was selected team captain as a junior and senior, was voted the teams Most Inspirational Player in 1998, and earned the 2001 Pokes Strength Award. ....I studied Communications with a focus in Technology Education.....
In 2001, I moved east to work as the Grad Assistant Soccer Coach at The College of New Jersey, where I assisted with recruiting, scheduling, traveling, fund raising, and practice/game planning and coaching. We made it to the NCAA Elite Eight as Mid-Atlantic Regional Champions and NJAC Champions. Off the pitch, I earned my Master’s Degree in Educational Technology
.... From 2003-2007, I was the Head Women’s Soccer Coach at New York University, where I was responsible for planning, organizing, conducting and evaluating all aspects of NCAA Division III varsity women’s soccer program including recruiting, scheduling, coaching, ordering equipment and hiring/supervising assistant coaches.
I’m currently on the NSCAA Board of Directors and work as the Chair of the NSCAA Women’s Committee. I hold my USSF B Coaching License and NSCAA Advanced National Diploma. .."

I found this interview on Women's Football (soccer) that I though you might find interesting listening.
The recording has been done over the internet on Skype, which explains a slight echo in the audio.

The Podcast provides the following information about the program:

"The leaders of the soccer conversation on WomenTalkSports.com got together on April 18, 2010 to discuss the state of womenâs soccer. We discussed the Womenâs Professional Soccer as a business, the upcoming 2010 season, the international and cultural influences on women's soccer, as well as differences in media coverage.

On the call were:
- Megan Hueter, WomenTalkSports cofounder
- Amanda Vandervort, web coordinator for Womenâs Pro Soccer and author of Soccer Science
- Jennifer Doyle, author of From a Left Wing
- Jenna Pel, author of All White Kit
- Jane Schonberger, WomenTalkSports cofounder/editorial lead, editor of PrettyTough.com"


Download the Podcast here:

Prepare Junior Football Teams for the 2011 Season - The Woden Valley SC Lightning Tournament

Its time to start planning the pre-season activities for your Junior Club or team.

Soon after the Junior Clubs have finished their gradings there is one local pre-season tournament that has been making a name for itself and providing an excellent opportunity for coaches and players to start their preparations before the season begins - it's the Woden Valley SC Lightning Tournament. This tournament is for U11 to U16 Girls teams and U11 to U15 Boys teams.

There is likely to a couple of others running similiar tournaments around the ACT. IF you know of them, let the NPL know and we'll give it some publicity.

The WVSC Lightning Tournament is a day of Football. It's good fun and good football.

Boomerangs FS Lead the Way in the NSW Futsal Super League

The ACT based Boomerangs FS is the only Futsal or Football team from the ACT competing in higher level competition within Football NSW - in this case the Football NSW's Futsal Super League.

Go to this link http://www.boomerangsfs.com.au/

Boomerangs FS has established a solid pathway beyond the ACT into a higher level of week to week competition for our serious Futsal players, than is possible is the ACT competitions. In doing so, the Boomerangs FS make a tremdous contribution to the technical and competitive development of our young players. The follow on effect is enable many of our players to become more competitive at the FFA Futsal Nationals.

Boomerangs FS is a first rate piece of work by local Futsal and Football people - Eddie Senatore and Kristian Collins. They don't just talk about doing something - they have done it! More power to both of them and to the parents and players that comprise Bommerangs FS. The Boomerangs FS are further supported by a solid group of Futsal coaches, a number of whom coach ACT age teams at the FFA Futsal Nationals.

When they play in Canberra its a gala day of Futsal and well worth the time to go and watch. They play on the international size courts, which is just fantastic.

If we put our minds to it, we can bridge this dreadful Football and Futsal development gap in the ACT. No sense in just "admiring the problem"!

This is the current standing for the Boomerangs FS in the NSW Super League. Very impressive and only their second year at this level of competition. If they secure first place in the Club Championship, Boomerangs FS will be elevated to the prestigious NSW Premier League. Now what keen young Futsal player wouldn't want to be part of that experience? Wow!

Canberra United V Brisbane Roar Game Postponed

Capital Football have advised that the Canberra United , W League fixture against Brisbane Roar this weekend has been postponed.
No problem, gives us extra time to prepare to beat them! Pity though - given our recent success in the rain at Deakin, I reckon we were red hot specials to win.

The details given to Capital Football by the FFA Manager, W League Operations is as follows:

Please be advised that due to recent bad weather affecting the surface at Perry Park, Football Federation Australia has rescheduled your Week 7 Westfield W-League fixture as follows:
Original Fixture Brisbane Roar v Canberra United Saturday 18 December 2010 4:00 pm Perry Park
Fixture Brisbane Roar v Canberra United Tuesday 21 December 2010 3:00 pm Perry Park

The Nearpost Local Goes Global - No Wiki Leaks - But A Trumpet Worth Blowing!

The Internet is a wonderful thing. It's very important these days for Football Clubs and Capital Football to be aware and attentive of their Internet presence. Websites that have old content, are not maintained or refreshed on a regular basis, or information not provided in a timely manner, really works against Football these days. A few smart Clubs in the ACT region have started to attend to this as a matter of urgency for season 2011. Good thing too!

Good information and debate is essential to keeping people in touch with the game. Lack of timely information too often means an unwillingness to tell people what they need to know and let them form a view. We don't need that in Football at any level.


The Australian Community Radio Network, and 2xxfm do so much good work for Football - and like real Football at the community level - they do it for free - all volunteers. I thought I might say something about it.

Sometimes, people in positions of authority in Football need to be reminded that this game belongs to all of us and we all have a right and an obligation to question decisions, ask for explanations and expect candid, open, truthful responses. Mostly, that's what we get. However, its easy for people in positions of authority in Football to come to the completely dumb arsed conclusion that only they are "in the know", or that "others couldn't possibly know more than we know", as though others can't think it through or have the collective expertise to work it out and proffer other workable and coherent solutions to Football problems. Behaviour you see organisations anywhere I guess. This is a big mistake and does nothing for Football.

Sometimes, not often, but every now and then, it can be incredibly hard to get a minor local Football official or apparatchik with egos only matched by their stupidity, to give you the time of day. Its as embarrassing as it is offensive. Most are without ego and concerned only for the game and those that play it and they are the bedrock of the game.

Curiously, I have often found that a national coach, Football expert or administrator or elite player (past and present) will simply go out of there way to have a yarn, talk Football, ready to share their knowledge with the rest of us. These people advance the game and our understanding of it.

But back to the Internet, websites, Podcasts and Community radio in support of Football.

Radio Station 2xxfm (98.3mhz) provides an extra-ordinary coverage of Football both at the National / International and Local levels. The Nearpost program is a two part endeavour - Nearpost National (Eamonn Flanagan and co) followed by Nearpost Local (self and guests). Then their is the Farpost, which provides live broadcasts for major games played it the ACT. That's is a remarkable effort and I can tell you this - a lot of people in our community listen and follow the Blogs we set up to support the programs. There's a message there for Football administrators - some get it and value it, a very few play silly buggers (and get nothing in return - everyone's loss).

Capital Football is damn lucky that the volunteers that make 2xxfm a reality are prepared to keep advancing Football and keep our Football community in touch with the game. I know the CEO Capital Football values the support given by 2xxfm to Football every week of the year, she makes herself available for interview, speaks candidly and that's just the way it should be - good leadership. The Club coaches and office bearers we deal with are overwhelmingly fantastic, which is as good as it gets for Football.

What is happening here in Football the ACT region  is of interest to people all over the planet. Australians and in particular, citizens from the ACT or those that have lived and followed / played Football in the ACT region, like to stay in touch. Not for nothing do they call our game the World Game!

At 9:00AM this morning, the stats collected on the Nearpost Local Blog for the last 24 hours indicated that a lot of people have read the articles and / or downloaded / listened to the Podcasts.

This is where they were located:

Australia
United States
Germany
Portugal
United Kingdom
France
Russia
Spain
Netherlands
Slovenia
Brazil
Canada
Italy
Latvia
Indonesia
Israel

Interview With CEO Capital Football - Part 2

This program is broadcast on 2xxfm (98.3mhz), through the Australian Community Radio Network on Tuesday, 14 December 2010 at 7:00PM.

In this program we have Part 2 of our lenghty end of year interview with CEO Capital Football,Heather Reid. We cover the FFA's review of Football compition across the States and Territories, new NAtional Youth Championship schedule, The NTC Challenge (which has now been held - in the interview we were speaking of it just before it was to be held), The HPP Review, Summer 20's, The new Technical Directors position, the things the CEO saw as significant this season and the CEO asks this humble NPL Football trgic what I thought was important - locally.

We will speak to Ron Smith in the very near future about his review into the Capital Football High Performance Program regime. Should make very interesting listening. Go back to our earlier interviews with Ron, just before he began the review and get ready for something a bit special.

Canberra United continue to press their claims for a Premiership. The win aginst Newcastle was very important. The way forward is as clear as clear could be - beat Sydney FC and Brisbane Roar. We are ready to do it this year.

Download Podcast here:

South Korea ‘B’ team to Play Canberra United "Young Guns" At Deakin Tonight!

If you can get your daughter to this game, please do so. It could be your daughter in the future and a chance to have a look at some of the younger players being prepared by Coach Junna at ACTAS. There should be more of this!

Capital Football advise the following:

Korea challenge chance for United’s young guns
Monday, 13 December 2010 by Russ Gibbs, CanberraUnited.com.au The visit of South Korea ‘B’ to Deakin Stadium on Tuesday 14th December will give Canberra United Head Coach Ray Junna the chance to assess the next generation of talent waiting in the wings as well giving squad members a chance to fight for a starting jersey.
“We could see the likes of Georgia Yeoman-Dale, Catherine Brown, Ashleigh Palombi, Ellie Raymond, Sophie Kochinos and Meg McLaughlin, players of that calibre taking to the field,” Junna revealed.
“They are the up and coming group that will be pushing for Westfield W-league spots in the next couple of years, so this is a chance for them to see where they are at. It’s also a good opportunity for our recently injured players to get a full game under their belt and put their hand up for selection. I think there will be a few players chomping at the bit to put in a good performance as we are getting to that stage now where it’s the business end of the season and I’m sure they all want to be involved at that time of year.”
The match comes in the middle of a trio of testing challenges for United, who come into the fixture of the back of a long road trip to play Newcastle Jets, before setting their sights on the Westfield W-League summit meeting with the ever-dangerous Brisbane Roar.
“We have to be mindful that on Saturday we have to go to Brisbane so we will be giving some of our younger players, and some of the ACTAS players, a chance to show their ability on the field,” Junna said.
“At this stage I don’t think that the squad could back up for three games in a week so we’ll bring in some of the ACTAS players to see how they fare against what will be very decent opposition and they can see where they are at in terms of their progress and development.”
Canberra United plays South Korea B in an International Challenge match on Tuesday 14th December at Deakin Stadium, Grose Street, Deakin with kick off at 5.30pm. Gates will open at 5pm and admission is FREE.

Pre-Game Psychological Preparation

Sourced from http://www.scysa.net/sportspsychology.htm

I came across a Football Club in the USA called the Schuylkill County Youth Soccer Association


The preparation time near to the start of the game is very important to a coach and players. It's always important to get the players focussed on the game. Players should develop routines to get them in the best state of mind for the game and some certainly have their particular routine before match start.


I found this this Club's website contained a very useful summary of the techniques I have observed used by players over the years. It doesn't include a couple of serious young players I dealt with as Manager of a PL Pathways team, who immediately come to mind:
 - the Premier League player who discovered to his horror that he had left his lucky jocks at home. To be precise, this turned out to be Speedo swimming costumes. He had stopped changing into his playing strip. He looked around the dressing room. This was serious stuff. I could see the question coming and said "just ask yourself, who in our club is likely to have a pair of jocks that you would classify as "lucky". That deeped his despair and the coach said to me _ 'well that's stuffed it mate". I thought so too, but then, we had no idea whether he had arrived with his best game in mind or not and nor did he, lucky jocks or no lucky bloody jocks. He played in something under the shorts and yes he had a rubbish game! The player blamed everyone else, the coach blamed me (which was not entirely unreasonable, as my comments to the player were calculated to bring the impending disaster to a head earlier than kickoff), and I blamed Speedo!
- Or the player that had to wear three sets of football strip in order to play. He used to ask for three club jersies. I made him wear two of the alternate strip tops underneath, which he wasn't entirely happy about, but I explained the match card I had to fill out only had space for one number. That seemed to satisy him. He complained that it was too hot! Took him three years and careful management to get down to just the playing strip. He still wears two sets of socks. Same lad got a sprained ankle and arrived at training, saying that he had got on the interenet and found a picture of how to tape his ankle. I looked at him and thought it was marvel he hadn't hung himself. He went on complaining that he had to use an entire roll of strapping tape  and now he couldn't fit his foot into his boot. Same player  had trouble telling you whether he was left or right footed., because he was as good with one as the other. It gave him no comfort. All that said, a terrific young fellow and he can really play, when mood takes him or Jupiter passed Venus or whatever?. Ah well!

PSYCHING UP - Pre-Game Psychological Preparation

All great athletes prepare psychologically for competition. They Psych-Up.

Why?

Psyching up clearly marks the change from daily routine to the game situation. It fosters the important process of focusing on playing and heightens concentration for doing so. Psyching does not always mean getting pumped; it can also mean getting relaxed to get in a flow or zone.

Athletes Psych-Up in many different ways.

PHYSICAL WARM-UPS certainly can begin to focus your mind and especially if you pay attention to mental focus as well during them..

MUSIC is another common way to psych. If you need to calm down and relax before playing, then you need mellow music. If you need to get pumped, then listen to rap, heavy metal or other hard-driving music. It is best to make a pre-game tape so that the music you listen to is stuff you like and that moves you; either pumping or relaxing.

CUE WORDS are single words you say to yourself that suggest readiness, confidence and skill: Words like power, speed, touch, smooth, fly, strong, focused, teamwork.

CUE IMAGES are mental pictures that suggest readiness, confidence and skill. Imaging yourself executing your skills, scoring a goal, making a block, executing a cross or assist.Images may also be anatomical; like seeing your muscles bulge with strength or power, or feeling the wind as you speed down the sideline.

LIKE-PSYCHS means hanging out with teammates who have the level of energy you need to play your best. If you need to relax, hang out with the quiet guys, the thinkers or contemplators. If you need pump, hang out with the back-slappers and jokers.

CONFIDENCE STATEMENTS are sentences you tell yourself which convey readiness, confidence, skills. Such as I’m ready. I’m feeling good. I’ve worked hard and I’m prepared. I can nail this.

Does psyching work? A study compared weightlifters on a strength task where one group psyched and the other didn’t. The non-psyching group averaged 49.12 kg in strength and the psyching group averaged 54.98 kg.

Doesn’t matter how you Psych - Just Do It!

Teaching The 1-4-3-3

Sourced from http://www.soccerinteractive.com/common/articles.aspx?id=34&tag=84

I found this article interesting, hope you do.

Teaching the 4-3-3

by Christian Lavers

The best teams are able to adjust their system of play to meet the demands of a game, opponent or weather condition. However, before adjusting between systems becomes a possibility, players must become experts in the basics of each system and their roles within it.

The 4:3:3 is an ideal system to learn because of its tactical flexibility. Minor adjustments in positioning and mentality easily allow the system to become a more defensive 4:5:1, or a more attacking 4:2:4. These adjustments are easier to make in the 4:3:3, especially for younger players, than in most other systems. The next several pages detail some of the specifics of the 4:3:3 system in both attack and defense.

Showing players the patterns of movement in a 4:3:3 on paper enhances their understanding of the system, and allows for quicker learning on the training field in functional training. It also provides a guide and reference for players to return to after the training for continued learning. Players that are familiar with the basic concepts of every line in the system, both in attack and defense, will be smarter and better prepared to make quick decisions on game day.
General Defensive Concepts:

The general defensive concepts of the game are the same in any system, but they deserve to be repeated whenever teaching a new system.

Pressure must be applied to the ball before defense can begin. Until there is pressure on the ball the team must drop towards their own goal. When pressure is applied the team then can step and compress space.

• Pressure must be immediate.
• Pressure must force that attacker’s vision down.
• Pressure must make play predictable.
• Pressure must prevent passing penetration.
• Pressure must be accompanied by immediate cover. Covering players are responsible for filling space behind the pressure to eliminate the threat of dribble penetration. Quality defending requires a team to get numbers up around the ball everywhere on the field.

The team defends together. When pressure is applied, the entire team must step together to stay compact.

Space can not exist between lines on the field, or between pressuring players and the rest of the team. The 
team must also shift across the field together as the ball moves. In general, the team must move as one unified block whenever the ball moves. This puts high demands on work rate and coordination.

The team must step and compress space every time the ball moves backwards. On both their own clearances and on any backpasses played by the opposition the team must step to recover space and to eliminate time the opposition has to make decisions.
Defense Play of the Back Four: Combination Man/Zone

ARSENE WENGER INTERVIEW: Part II

Sourced from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1206363/ARSENE-WENGER-INTERVIEW-The-transcript-Martin-Samuels-fascinating-meeting-Arsenal-manager--II.html

This is the second part of the full transcript of the interview with Arsene Wenger conducted by Sportmail's Chief Sports Writer Martin Samuel at Great Ormond Street hospital on August 6, 2009. He spoke at length to two journalists, the other being Matthew Syed of The Times.


MS: You cannot be by nature an insecure person. One of the things you have done this summer, selling two of your players, Emmanuel Adebayor and Kolo Toure, to Manchester City, who are perceived as serious challengers to your place in the top four, strikes me as the action of a very confident man. Perhaps too much so.

AW: True, but in the end you come to the conclusion, can you stop Manchester City creating a big team? I don’t believe so, because if we do not sell Adebayor they will buy Samuel Eto’o or somebody else because they have the resources, they have so much money. My only question was whether we could afford to sell Adebayor; where he went was less important. To be scared of that would be the problem.

MS: You described yourself as an emotional person when responding to stress. Beyond football, are you emotional, do you watch films and find them moving?

AW: I am not extrovert. I do not like to show my emotions. In my job I learned very early on to dominate my emotions. You can cause a lot of damage if you express your feelings with the team. After a game you can do fantastic damage by going overboard and saying negative things you cannot repair. I learnt the final part of mastering your emotions in Japan. You have people there, a man loses his wife in the morning, he comes to work and does not speak about it. They do not wish to disturb others with their problems.

MS: Not always healthy though, is it?

AW: It is criminal for that person. Whenever there is trauma in the world, psychologists encourage people to talk about it, because it is important it comes out of you. I am sure I pay a price sometimes for holding it in.

MS: How is that manifested?

AW: I don’t know what it does to my health. I know it pays a price on my head, that is for sure.

MS: Are you including the times when you play down an incident or say you haven’t seen something bad involving one of your players, when we all know you have?

AW: Yes, because you are thinking, ‘Why has he done that?’ and you know you cannot explain it. But once you have this reputation for saying you did not see what happened, even when you genuinely did not see it, nobody believes you. But at other times, I saw it, and I said I didn’t see it to protect the player, because I could not find any rational explanation to defend him.

MS: You take on a lot for those players. You are very disciplined, you work very hard, you keep your emotions in check. How would you describe your relationship with the players: is it paternalistic or purely professional?

AW: Comprehensive. Professional. It is also a job where you have to have an optimistic view of human nature or you become paranoid. You always have to think that a guy wants to do well. I have known some very gifted coaches but they could not stand not being in control of what other people said and did. And it is a job where you cannot be suspicious. In every company, you have a boss who when he gets the job suddenly becomes suspicious of everybody. They finish mad. A coach is there to help, so he must be optimistic about human nature, he must think that if he helps in the correct way the players will respond.

Why are two holding midfielders so crucial in the modern game?

Sourced from http://arsenalcolumn.wordpress.com/2010/08/04/why-are-two-holding-midfielders-so-crucial-in-the-modern-game/

The efficiency that two holding midfielders provide makes them very important to have in the modern game.


International competitions are always fascinating tactically if anything for the inflexibility they confront managers with. Arrigo Sacchi, in charge of the Italy side who reached the final of World Cup ’94, stated it was “impossible” for a national manager to drill the same understanding that club level coaches are afforded due to the lack of day-to-day availability of personnel. The sporadic amount of time they have with players means it can be difficult for coaches to develop plans so they usually are forced to stick with philosophies they think are correct – and that in turn highlights the common trends in the thinking of modern coaches. And certainly, what has become oblivious from the recent World Cup in South Africa and indeed club football for the past few years is that the use of two holding midfielders in front of the back four is become crucial in the modern game.

Importance of being compact

All four semi-finalists in the 2010 World Cup used some sort of double screen in front of the back four with Holland, Spain and Germany deploying a variant of the 4-2-3-1 (18 of the 32 teams played some form of 4‑2‑3‑1). Uruguay showed the rigid 4-4-2 isn’t exactly dead but the difference between theirs and England’s interpretation was that the Uruguayan central pair played deeper to counter the threat of players in “between-the-lines.” England’s central midfielders in the system are both required to attack and defend (as classical box-to-box midfielders) and as a result Germany, in their 4-1 win, were able to profit in the large gaps afforded to them. “We knew that Gerrard and Lampard always support the forwards and that the midfield would be open, there would be spaces,” explained Joachim Löw after the nation’s ruthless victory.

England’s failure to get compact quickly also seemingly went against the Fabio Capello doctrine that in modern football, all teams must employ some variation of a 9:1 defensive split in relative to the ball when they lose possession. The use of two defensive midfielders allow for such an easy transition into a defensive block while even the deployment two wingers on the “opposite side” are a means to push opponents inside. “The trend,” says Gerard Houllier, “is to bring the opponents into a defensive block and then aggressively press the ball.” With England playing with two orthodox forwards and one attacking midfielder in Frank Lampard, they were essentially a broken team and that placed too much pressure on Gareth Barry to hold the defensive fort. Arsene Wenger succinctly sums up the conservative trend in South Africa in which most teams were all to willing to get nine men behind the ball. “Tactically, the World Cup was very, very one-sided,” said the Arsenal manager in the club’s magazine. “All teams played five men in the midfield and that was their priority.”

Tactics at club level are expectedly more varied although the desire to stay narrow and compact in the defensive phase still rings true. Most intriguingly, the UEFA Cup was one of 4-4-2 with the quartet in the last four all deploying two deep box-to-box midfielders and placing much reliance on the firepower of the two forwards – perhaps as a means to compensate for the lack of creativity. In fact, in playing the formation nowadays, it is essential to remain compact and that means the central midfielders are forced to play deeper.

Arsène Wenger et le 4-3-3 d'Arsenal - 2

More interesting stuff from Wenger. Same problem as before, need a bit French. Sounds great!

Arsène Wenger et le 4-3-3 d'Arsenal - 1

Another interesting piece on this system of play at Arsenal. Ah yes, need a bit of French for this one.

The 1-4-3-3.... Part 2

Some more Video of Arsenal playing this system. Very interesting.

The 1-4-3-3 ....Part 1

Some useful examples of playing this system. Video of Arsenal using the  1-4-3-3.

What is the New Capital Football Technical Director Expected To Do?

A number of people have asked what the new Capital Football Technical Director will be required to do for Football in the ACT.  As I read the job specifications, I wonder when the Technical Director will get the time to sleep and I certainly hope Capital Football intends to offer a salary commensurate with the scope of the job. This is a pivotal position in Capital Football and in Football in the ACT Region.
I have been referring NPL followers to the Capital Football website at http://www.capitalfootball.com.au/userfiles/MF%20Technical%20Director%202011.pdf

Perhaps some extracts from the CF Documentation will help remind us what this position is and is not::

The Technical Director is responsible for the advanced/high performance pathway for players and coaches in line with the high performance pillar of the CF Going for Goals strategic plan as well as the FFA national technical plan and skill acquisition program.

Knowledge, skills and behaviour required (Competencies)

• AFC A license or equivalent
• Tertiary qualifications in sports management, sports science, human movement or related field would be advantageous
• Knowledge, understanding and experience working in the area of talented player/coach development Experience in the establishment and ongoing management of coach/athlete development programs
• High level communication skills, particularly presentation skills
• Ability to work with technical staff/coaches
• Ability to provide leadership and direction

Number of direct reports - Capital Football CEO, FFA National Technical Director
Number of indirect reports - Capital Football Game Development Manager, FFA Head of Game Development

Purpose of Role - To provide leadership in a technical and policy sense to players and coaches in the Talented Player Pathway within Capital Football’s region. This direction should follow the philosophy and curriculum of the National Technical Director whilst be sufficiently flexible to cater for any unique needs and circumstances which may exist from region to region.

Key Areas of Responsibility

• To ensure that the FFA technical direction is embraced and followed by coaches and players within Capital Football’s talented pathway.
• To play a key role in the appointment and management of the activities of the National Training Centre, W-League and State team coaches. In conjunction with these coaches, oversee the selection of these respective teams
• To assist the National Technical Director in establishing a talent identification network within the particular region To establish and monitor talented player programs for players aged 9-13 as underpinning programs to the NTCs
• To lead and manage the human, financial and physical resources of the Talented Player Pathway in accordance with the policies, principles and practices of Capital Football and FFA
• Establish and maintain strong professional relationships and communication with all stakeholders, including but not limited to FFA, State Institute of Sport, State Government and associations and clubs
• Establish a communication strategy with zones/associations and clubs, developing coaching pathways and performances measures in conjunction with these bodies and provide advice and support on coaching matters
• Oversee Capital Football’s coach education structure, delivering the national curriculum and courses whilst ensuring it meets the needs of local coaches.
• Establish a communication strategy, standards and updating structure, and facilitate the promotion of coaching and coach education Regularly monitor current trends in football and other sports, including IT systems and multimedia performance analysis

Key Outcomes To produce a larger pool of talent for state institute programs, W-League, National Youth League, the AIS program, the Hyundai A-League and National Youth Teams To ensure a nationally consistent approach is taken to the development of talented players and coaches within Capital Football.