Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Think Globally, Act Locally For Football Development in the ACT

Craig Foster did a short interview on the World Cup today on the Radio National Breakfast program.

I have extracted a particularly relevant section of the interview for our local football scene. Craig makes observations that make plain sense around the development of our junior players. We have a National Football Curriculum, we have a model for development provided by the Dutch, which is excellent. But it can be improved upon and its no secret that Spain (and Barcelona) are the most prominent exemplars of the style of play we would hope our "technical revolution" will produce going forward.

The interesting feature of this section of the interview is Craig's refernce to the number of high level qualified coaches in several prominent football nations. We are a long, long way off that mark. Coach education and training is vital to all levels of development in the game. The national curriculum will fail if the coaches are not there in the numbers needed, at the appropriate level of qualification and all on the same page!

This is well worth a listen - won't take long.

Download Podcast here:

The lesson from England's demise - a local perspective!

Sourced from SBS World Game - Graig Foster's Blog - http://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/craig-foster/blog/1011355/The-lesson-from-England's-demise 30 June 2010.

This is a very interesting piece of observation / analysis. It has implications for what we are doing at the local level in the context of the National Football Curriculum. Take the time to read it.

There is a valuable lesson(s) for Australia from England’s World Cup failure, and it is in the different ways we handle our tournament exit.

The lesson from England's demise

by Craig Foster
Most of England’s press and former players will blame Fabio Capello, and call for a more ‘English’ approach, and we can be assured that their next coach will be another home-grown product.

This is why they will likely struggle for quite sometime now, because Capello is not the issue, their football style is, and this predictable reaction will entrench their cultural deficiencies, rather than seeking to overcome them.

England remains the only World Cup winning nation to hire a foreign coach and for the country that invented the organized game, this is an admission of failure that their football doesn’t work internationally.

Capello could not change their style to a more modern version and when under the most pressure, it is natural that they regressed to a fairly predictable style where players rush forward and look for crosses, while Germany’s youngsters immediately come together to play in small groups to break a team down with combination play.

England were robbed by a shocking decision on Lampard’s disallowed goal, but the problem for English football is that if they focus only on this officiating error, they will miss an opportunity to progress, because the difference in football played by Germany, a far more successful football nation, was clear for all to see.

Even the most passionate English fan would have to admit this.

The reality is that we have moved away from the outdated football of England, which we used to play under British coaches. Thankfully, today we no longer import from England, because their methodology has again proven to be a long way behind.

How to Coach Young Soccer Players on Positions

This is a really practical tip for preparing young players for positional play. And it works!

Guide your players, don't kick every ball yourself

Courtesy of www.footy4kids.com

Guide your players, don't kick every ball yourself

"The discovery method is a teaching technique that encourages students to take a more active role in their learning process by answering a series of questions or solving problems designed to introduce a general concept." (Mayer 2003)

Many coaches have an 'instructor' style, constantly telling players what to do and when to do it. This is not the best way to teach children how to play soccer (or anything else for that matter). It's much better to act as a 'facilitator' and help your players find their own answers to soccer problems.

Take this easy passing game as an example.

Never Really Know When You WIll Cop A Red Card!!



Just couldn't resist this one that's doing the rounds on the internet at the moment.
It's been a misreable time in Federal Politics for some this last week and not the happiest of times for our Socceroos.
Harry K is in good company. Difference is that none of his team mates were smiling when it happened.

I'm staying with Football, there's enough tiresome politics in the game in the ACT.

Politics imitating Sport??

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Australian Under 13 Coach Talks the 1-4-3-3 and Medical University of South Carolina Provides An Introduction To The ACL Injury / Treatment

This program is broadcast on Tuesday, 29 June 2010 at 7:00PM on 2xxfm (98.3mhz) through the Australian Community Radio Network.

We continue our very informative discussion with Nicola Williams, Coach of the Australian U13 Girls team. Nicola speaks directly to the roles / responsibilities of the players in the 1-4-3-3 system of play, that is now mandated by the FFA for use by all representative coaches. This is the system all teams at the National Junior Championships and the NTC Challenge (eg ACTAS) must be coached to play and play it.
Then we have a very informative interview from the Medical University of South Carolina on the subject of ACL injuries. A Dr Geier, an orthopaedic surgeon, gives an excellent introduction to all aspects of the matter. Essential information, particularly for parents of female players, who, as Dr Geier points out, research indicates that female players are more prone to this season ending injury than male players.

Download Podcast here:

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Mens Premier League Results 2010 - Round 10

Round 10

Woden Valley 2 (Kole Aitken 37’, Kehnan Walsh 87’) Goulburn Strikers 1 (Sam Taylor 70’)
Monaro Panthers 2 (David Baillie 3’, Nathan Walker 75’) Tuggeranong United 1 (Mark Shields 10’)
Belconnen United 1 (Dustin Wells) Canberra Olympic 1 (Trent Flanigan)
ANU FC 1 (Tim Womack 74’) Cooma Tigers 3 (Goran Josifovski 46’, Ian Elliott 58’, Scott Barsley 77’)
Canberra City 0 v Canberra FC 3 (Marcin Zygmunt 29’, Michael Spaleta 83’ (pen), 90’)

Womens Premier League Results 2010 - Round 12

Round 12

ANU FC 4 (Emily Nicola (2), Cassie Schilg, Anna Bennett) Brindabella Blues 1 (Ellen Hearder)
Tuggeranong United 1 (Julie Ibarra) Woden Valley 3 (Ashleigh Palombi (2), Grace Field)
Belwest Foxes 4 (Hope Wilkins (2), Sam Price, Tahlia Stanley) Belconnen United 2 (Katie Woodman, Sabrina Spinapolice (pen))
Weston Creek 2 (Kylie Harris 10’, Aleisha Tupper 21’ (pen)) Canberra FC 1 (Nicole Somi 81’)

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Which Comes First - Player or the Team??

I listened to this subject being discussed on the sidelines last weekend. Opinions were divided! So I went to the Georgia Soccer Association in the USA for this extract form there "Club Player Development Manual".  http://www.gasoccer.org/secondary.aspx?id=758&coll_id=21
I reckon they have got it right.

"It is important to note that, regardless of their specific philosophy, youth clubs have a universally expected duty to do what is in the best interest of the individual player and to do its best to allow all the players to enjoy their experience with soccer. Too often, club officers and coaches adopt team building concepts’ that are borrowed from the professional game even though they are not appropriate for youth. The main difference between youth play and professional play is the concept of “who comes first – the player or the team?”.
At the professional level, the team obviously comes first. The professional team has a clear hierarchy of starters and ‘bench warmers’ and squad players, etc. The subs are paid handsomely to sit on the bench and be called upon if and when needed. Everyone on the professional team is expected to put the team first and to sacrifice himself for the sake of the team. The result is all that matters at the pro level.

But at the youth level, the player must come first!! Every decision made by the club and the coach should be in the best interest of the individual players. Examples:
1) A youth player should not be kept in goal against her wishes just because she is the best keeper and ‘the team needs her’ to win the game.
2) Coaches should not hold on to good players at a lower playing level just to help the team to win games. The better player should be allowed to move up to the next level in order to help him reach his potential, even if it means that the team he leaves behind will be weakened.
3) Every player must play in every game, not left to sit on the bench for the entire game because the team must win.
4) When players are invited to play for the Regional or National Team, their club coaches should allow them to go even if there is a conflict with a club activity. It’s not fair to the players to ask them to give up such opportunities in the name of team loyalty. The team is there to serve the player’s ambition, not the other way around.

Some adults will argue that soccer is a team game and, therefore, team building concepts such as sacrifice and ‘do what’s best for the team’ should be taught to our kids. Indeed, some team building concepts are appropriate to youth play. The concepts of cooperation between teammates, helping teammates, learning to trust others, and being respectful of teammates are certainly team building concepts that should be  introduced to young players. But the concept of ‘sacrifice for the team’ is not appropriate for youth sport.

We cannot in all good conscience ask young players to sacrifice their future potential just to bolster the team’s ‘win’ column. We cannot deny young players the enjoyment of playing, since soccer is their leisure activity, and every player deserves to play."

Womens Premier League Fixtures 2010 - Round 12

Round 12

Sunday 27 Jun 10

2:00PM Tuggeranong Utd WFC v Woden Valley Kambah 2-1
2:00PM Belwest Foxes v Belconnen Utd Kaleen Enclosed 1
2:00PM Brindabella Blues v ANU WFC Calwell 2.3
0 2:00PM Weston Creek v Canberra FC Kaleen Enclosed 2

Mens Premier League Fixtures 2010 - Round 10

Round 10

Saturday 26 Jun 10
6:00PM Canberra City v Canberra FC Hawker Football Centre


Sunday 27 Jun 10
3:00PM ANU FC v Cooma Tigers ANU North Oval 1
3:00PM Monaro Panthers v Tuggeranong Utd Riverside Stadium
3:00PM Woden Valley v Goulburn Strikers Woden Park Enclosed
4:00PM Belconnen Utd v Canberra Olympic McKellar Park

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Maximise space to teach team shapes

Courtesy of www.footy4kids.co.uk

Maximise space to teach team shapes


Demonstrate the need for space (with thanks to Bob Christensen)

First, you need to show your players that it is easier to play soccer surrounded by space rather than other players. You can do this by setting up a very small pitch (about 20 yards by 10 yards), splitting your squad into two teams and getting them to play soccer in it.

After they have played for a few minutes, stop and ask your players if it is easy playing soccer in this space? If not, why? Someone will say it is too crowded.

Similarly, create a circle about eight yards across, spread your players around it and ask one of them to stand in the middle. Tell the players around the circle to pass to each other across the circle, keeping the ball away from the player in the middle (the 'defender').

Ask them if it is easy or hard? Then make the circle bigger and try again. Is it easier now there is more space between the players?

Make the circle really big (about 30 yards across) and repeat the exercise. Discuss why it is now easy for the 'defender' to intercept the passes. The answer is because the outside players are too far apart.

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Interview With Australian Coach of Under 13 Girls Team 2010 - Nicola Williams

This program was broadcast on 2xxfm (98.3mhz), Tuesday 22 June 2010 through the Australian Comunity Radio Network.

Nicola Williams is a very contemporary Football Coach and an experienced educator / teacher. Just what you need at the Under 13 age group.

Nicola talks about the recent Under 13 Girls National Junior Championships, technical assessment at the Nationals and the implementation of the 1-4-3-3 system of play. And what about the Football initiative in some high schools in WA?

This is a really good interview!

Download Podcast here:

Monday, June 21, 2010

Womens Premier League Table - at end of Round 11

Table at end of Round 11 - Goal Difference and Points

Belwest Foxes             +50   33
Woden Valley             +30   21
Belconnen United        +27   18
Canberra FC                -9    16
Weston Creek             +1    15
Tuggeranong United     -4    12
ANU WFC                -19      5
Brindabella Blues       -77      0

Mens Premier League Table 2010 - at end of Round 9

The Mens PL Table at the end of Round 9 - Goal Difference and Points

Canberra FC             +27  21
Belconnen United      +11  19
Cooma Tigers             +6  15
Canberra City             +3  13
Monaro Panthers         -3  13
Canberra Olympic       -3  11
Goulburn Strikers        +4   9
ANU FC                    -10   9
Tuggeranong United   -18   8
Woden Valley            -17   6

Womens Premier League Results 2010 - Round 11

Woden Valley 1 (Catherine Brown) Belwest Foxes 3 (Hope Wilkins (3))
Tuggeranong United 1 (Julie Ibarra) Weston Creek 1 (Kelly Donnelly)
ANU WFC 1 (Cassie Schilg 5’) Canberra FC 1 (Aurelia Bullot 33’)
Belconnen United 14 (Caitlin Munoz 5’, 36’, 43’, 57’, 75’, 82’, Amy Spence 21’, 80’, 88’, Katie Woodman 34’, Maja Blasch 60’, Bronwyn Studman 70’, 77’, Ilahna Aitchison 86’) Brindabella Blues 0

Mens Premier League Results 2010 - Round 9

Belconnen United 6 (Danny Macor 7’, 55’, 60’, 71’, Dustin Wells 19’, Tai Smith 37’) Monaro Panthers 1 (Geoff Howarth 69’)
Goulburn Strikers 1 (Nicky Rogers 20’) Canberra FC 1 (Alex Castro 69’)
ANU FC 0 v Tuggeranong United 2 (Alex Weber 8’, Mark Shields 46’ (pen))
Cooma Tigers 2 (Goran Josifovski 46’, Serdan Bircan 84’) Canberra City 1 (Misko Naumoski 53’ (pen))
Canberra Olympic 0 v Woden Valley 2 (Daryll Hall 24’, Kehnan Walsh 63’)

Friday, June 18, 2010

Coach for Australian Girls Under 13 Team Talks About Selection, What They Are Looking For and How The Technical Assessment Process Worked and the 1-4-3-3 Playing System At The Under 13 Girls National Junior Championships

On Tuesday the NPL will broadcast the first part of an extended interview conducted with Nicola Williams, Coach of the Australian Under 13 Girls team. It's a terrific interview.

They are doing some outstanding things in WA and Football West for Football and Futsal. Recall the interview the NPL did with the Coach of the Football West Under 13 Boys in 2009 (Warren Grieve) - they had it all and a lot of them ended up being selected in the Australian Under 13 Team.

They play it out from the back in WA - they don't hoof it long!

You will quickly understand why Nicola is the Coach of this Australian team. She is very impressive. I'm hard pressed to recall many rep coaches who can speak so confidently and with such clarity about Football. Too many talk in cliches! She gives the best general introduction to the 1-4-3-3 playing system I've heard and I have listened to a few try to talk it through, but none as clear as Nicola Williams.

Nicola has lot to say about the Nationals, standard of play, technical assessment, the value of the All Stars match and what she is looking for when selecting players. Some good advice too for us community  coaches. Nicola followed up the the players final selection process at AIS with detialed instructions to each player by way of preparation before they tour Vietnam. Very organised. Very smart!

Oh yes, Nicola is a teacher in WA at a high school that specialises in delivering Football as the primary co-curricular sports option (one of six!!). I told you they were going ahead in WA. Must be all that distance away from the FFA headquarters!

Next Tuesday the NPL will broadcast Part 1 of the interview, with Part 2 (the 1-4-3-3 playing system) to follow. By popular request, Part 2 will be put up on the blog next Tuesday as well as Part 1. Can't say fairer than that!

Mens Premier League Fixtures 2010 - Round 9

Round 9

Saturday  19 Jun 10

6:00PM Belconnen Utd v Monaro Panthers McKellar Park


Sunday 20 Jun 10

3:00PM ANU FC v Tuggeranong Utd ANU North Oval 1 
3:00PM Goulburn Strikers v Canberra FC Cookbundoon
3:00PM Cooma Tigers v Canberra City Nijong Oval
5:00PM Canberra Olympic v Woden Valley Hawker Football Centre

Womens Premier League Fixtures 2010 - Round 11

Round 11

Sunday 20 Jun 10

2:00PM Belconnen Utd v Brindabella Blues Kaleen Enclosed 1
2:00PM Woden Valley v Belwest Foxes Woden Park Enclosed 
2:00PM Canberra FC v ANU WFC Deakin Stadium
2:00PM Tuggeranong Utd WFC v Weston Creek Kambah 2-1

Soccer boots: function not fashion

Sourced from http://www.sportsinjurybulletin.com/

Soccer boots: function not fashion

Soccer boots appear to change with a predictable frequency that has more to do with looks than a player’s functional needs or preventing injury. Your average pub or Sunday league player is more likely to buy a pair of boots that are worn by the latest premiership sensation than a pair that is right for their feet. If they stop to consider some of the following basic facts, function might start to take priority over fashion:

* A player will typically travel up to 12km during a match, making more than 500 ground/foot contacts per kilometre
* The average player spends 50% of the match running and has up to 300 contacts with the ball.

So what should budding Beckhams look for in a football boot? Mike Healy writing in Medicine Matters (‘Considerations in football boot selection’, Medicine Matters2005; 11:10-13, pub UEFA), points us in the right direction.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Farpost Interview With The Coach of Mens Premier League Goulburn Strikers

The Farpost conducted this interview with the Head Coach of the Goulburn Strikers, Carlo Alifi. Carlo discusses his teams progress in its first season in the Captial Football Premier League. Smart Coach and a clever Club doing well in its first year in the Premier League and only likley to get better.

Download the Podcast here:

Farpost Report On Western Creek v Woden Valley Premier League Games, World Cup Predictions and the 1-4-3-3 in the Premier League

The Farpost is brodcast every Sunday afternoon on 2xxfm on the Australian Community Radio Network. Terrific show and all about Football! Doesn't get any better!

The Nearpost Local made a report from Woden Enclosed at the conclusion of the Western Creek v Woden Valley Premier League games on Sunday. We get to cover some interesting topics in Football that affect our local football development. Worth a listen, if I do say so myself.

Download Podcast here:

Monday, June 14, 2010

Football United, English FA Development Model, Director Co-Curricular Radford College Gives Some Good Advice When Your Junior Team Is Losing

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

Do you know anything about Football United? We speak to the CEo, Anne Bunde-Birouste from the UNSW about this terrific community football orgainsation that uses the power of football to help improve social cohesion and harmony in communities with high proportions of refugee, immigrant and indigenous people. They are coming to Canberra to play the politicians, on their way they play in Goulburn, hosted by the wonderful football community in the Goulburn region, then its off to the FIFA Festival of Hope tournament being run at the same time as the World Cup in South Africa.

The English FA is undergoing its own football development revolution called "Changing Focus". They have a simple and effective model for development for all the "Four Corners Model". This is definately worth a listen. does your Club, school team, Capital Football HPP or ACTAS compare well by comparison??

Then we hear from the Director of CO-Curricualr at Radford, George Huitker, from an interview we did about two years ago on the subject of parents at Football and what can done for team that lose a lot. This extract from this highly expereinced coach and teacher is aimed at the sort of parents that form a part of the group of parents of the Under 13 Boys School team I am watching this season. They lost this weekend, but reduced the loss by half from previous games - now that is definately a winning approach. Well done the coach the lads!! Pity some of the parents shot through for the weekend (including a couple who made lots of noise about losing), leaving the team down to a bare 11 players, no subs. They played 1-4-3-3 and played in good style most of the game. I'll bet those other boys really wanted to be there and play. Some parents just seem to take longer than others to work it out. Some never do!

Download the Podcast here:

Friday, June 11, 2010

Training with an Eye on Detail

This is sourced from NSCAA National Standards Project

This observation caught my eye:
"The emphasis is now on the smallest of details within the individual player’s techniques. The players work on a certain technique for long periods of time. Lots of coordination training takes place, first without the ball. All the players received large doses of balance activities, beginning with the proper running styles in a very relaxed manner....
The training we observed was highly organized, realistic and dependent on the coach’s knowledge and ability to instantly see and correct the smallest detail or fault. Each player was involved in each part of the session and was constantly moving."




Training with an Eye on Detail

At Sporting Club of Portugal, coaches pay close attention to precise movements
By Roby Stahl


The emphasis in the Sporting Club of Portugal (SCP) youth program is on the identification and recruiting of players and development both athletically and academically once they are in the SCP program.

Capital Football - Football Fun School Holiday Clinics

This is sourced from the Capital Football website.

"Football FUN"
Number 1 for Fun - Number 1 for Football



Capital Football is proud to present the "Football Fun" School Holiday Clinics program. THE CF Football Fun holiday clinics program has been launched to give all kids in the ACT a fun and exciting school holiday learning experience in a high paced, energetic and football centred atmosphere.

Capital Football will be running "Football Fun" clinics throughout Canberra and its surrounds each school holidays utilizing a curriculum that has been built from the ground up by our professional staff using the purpose built CF Football Fun Curriculum as its foundation, and Fun as its ultimate mission.

July
Monday July 12- Thursday July 15 Hawker Football Centre Half Day/Full Day - Open
Monday July 12-Thursday July 15 Kambah 3 Football Centre Half Day - Open
Monday July 12-Thursday July 15 David Madew Oval, Jerrabomberra Half Day - Open

Read on for all the details.

My Son's Team Is Getting Hammered!!!

This one should resonate with many. The elements of this story present every week in junior football. I like the options the author provides to the parent - The easy option, or, the noble option.

This is sourced from http://www.footy4kids.co.uk/ (Steve Watson)


My son's team is getting hammered


"Hi. The problem I have is that myself and a friend started one team of U8s, but over time we ended up with a squad of 18 players as more and more kids joined from school.
"We decided that we would split the players into two teams and manage one each. As my friend had started the original team, it was agreed that I would take newcomers, along with my son (who ultimately is the reason why I do it), to the new team.
"I feel terrible saying this, but we have ended up with one very weak team and one very strong team (mine is the weak team). While I still enjoy training the players and being involved with my son's soccer life, we are getting hammered every week.

Getting frustrated

"I can see him losing his enthusiasm because he is more advanced than the others and wants to play at a higher level. He is getting frustrated with losing, particularly when the other team is doing so well.
"If I move him, I will be unable to commit myself to managing my team and feel I would be deserting the players. To some extent, I will also feel like a failure. But I don't want to hold my son back.
"Help!
"On a soccer note, my team can score goals, but defensively we are terrible. Any help you can give with regard to getting the defense sorted would be great. I was a striker as a boy, and I suspect my lack of knowledge on how to defend may be an issue."

My answer:

As you already know, there's no easy answer to your dilemma.
I can understand your son wanting to play at a higher level (even though the term is a bit silly when applied to eight-year-olds) and if you do move him you won't be able to coach your current team any more. This is presumably because you'll be watching your son play at the same time as your current team play their matches.
As I see it, you've got two options. One is noble, the second may be easier.

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Mens Premier League Fixtures 2010 - Round 9

There is no scheduled Mens Premier League Round for the weekend 12/13 June 2010. Check your Club for date / times on any postponed games from previous rounds.

Round 9

Saturday 19 Jun 10

6:00PM Belconnen Utd v Monaro Panthers McKellar Park 


Sunday 20 Jun 10

3:00PM ANU FC v Tuggeranong Utd ANU North Oval 1
3:00PM Goulburn Strikers v Canberra FC Cookbundoon
3:00PM Cooma Tigers v Canberra City Nijong Oval
5:00PM Canberra Olympic v Woden Valley Hawker Football Centre

Womens Premier League Fixtures 2010 - Round 10

Round 10

Sunday 13 Jun 10

2:00PM Woden Valley v Weston Creek Woden Park Enclosed 
2:00PM Brindabella Blues v Belwest Foxes Calwell 2.3 
2:00PM Canberra FC v Belconnen Utd Deakin Stadium
2:00PM Tuggeranong Utd WFC v ANU WFC Kambah 2-1

Womens Premier League Results - Round 9

Round 9

Belconnen United 3 (Sabrina Spinapolice (3)) Tuggeranong United 1 (Julie Ibarra)
Belwest Foxes 4 (Hope Wilkins (2), Elizabeth Pearson, Cian Maciejewski) Canberra FC 2 (Aurelia Bullot, Nicole Somi)
ANU WFC 0 v Weston Creek 3 (Aleisha Tupper 23', Rachel Crittenden 26' (pen), 62')
Woden Valley 11 (Ashleigh Palombi (8), Jaline Hoek, Isabella Boag-Taylor, Emma Thornton) v Brindabella Blues 0

Mens Premier League Results 2010 - Round 8

Round 8

Canberra FC 4 (Alex Castro 34’, 43’, 50’, John Glass 58’) Belconnen United 1 (Danny Macor 52’, Tai Smith 64’)
Woden Valley 0 v Cooma Tigers 5 (Daniel Gecic 17’, 62’, Marcial Munoz 43’, Scott Barsley 59’, Goran Josifovski 75’)
Monaro Panthers 3 (James Barac 11’, Goran Veljanovski 77’, 89’) Canberra Olympic 1 (Yianni Karabalis 2’)
ANU FC 3 (Tim Womack 18’, 50’, Izach Clements 37’) Goulburn Strikers 2 (Josh Phelps 52’, Brody Willis 55’)
Canberra City 5 (Misko Naumoski 6’, 59’. 84’, Obi Shadmann 21’, Tim Mathas 56’) Tuggeranong United 0

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Players FC Do Football For the Kids In After School Care - Its a Smash Hit!

This program is broadcast on 2xxfm, 98.3mhz on Tuesday at 7:00PM. through the Australian Community Radion Network

In this program we speak to Anthony Hatton, of the club called Players FC. We’ve spoken to Anthony last year about his Club and football philosophy. Anthony Hatton is, to coin a phrase – “An Ideas Man”! He does a lot for Junior Football development, runs a football club that focuses on junior players, is the coach of the Girls Grammar U18 Div 1 team and is pioneering terrific junior football initiative – Players FC are delivering Football development and lots of fun to after school care in the ACT Primary Schools. Told you he was an ideas man – he is also an action man. Want it done, give a smart busy man the job – that’s Anthing Hatton and Players FC. Your primary school should pick up on this program – the kids love it.


An extra-ordinary thing happened in the Womens Pl match between Woden Valley and Brindabella Blues. A young player from Woden scored 8 goals – yes 8. And her younger sister scored 7 in the PL18s game. We’ll speak to Woden Valley Women’s PL coach , Ed Hollis – he must still be in state of amazement. Can you recall when something like this last happened in the PL?

Download the Podcast here:


Hope your weekend of football went well. Mine was a mixed bag! Good coaches winning, good coaches doing it tough, a poor junior coach, winning teams and teams doing it tough. Whinging players, players enjoying football, parents happy their children are playing and unhappy parents. Makes me dizzy! Please read on!!

Friday, June 4, 2010

Recalibrate Your Junior Football Compass - Value What You Have Now!

Sourced from http://www.footy4kids.co.uk/

This item from Steve Watson of footyforkids puts things in perspective. makes the rattle and whinging around an Under 13 Boys school team (see earlier post) in the ACT look as silly as it is. We are lucky. Value what you have. Not perfect, can be made better, but so much more than many on this planet!

I didn't know how lucky I was. Until I took a trip that put soccer into perspective
Steve Watson

I recently visited Kenya for a short holiday with my family. We did the usual tourist things - went on safari, sunbathed on the beach and went snorkeling. But I also took along a dozen balls and a number of coaching handbooks to give to a school for orphaned children on Kenya's south coast.


Getting to know the orphan boys in Kenya by talking about soccer.

A warm welcome

I was greeted by the whole school - about 200 boys and girls aged from four to fourteen. They sang some songs and read poetry to me before the head teacher took me on a tour of the facilities.

Facilities is, perhaps, the wrong word. The classrooms were open huts with earth floors, upon which were a few scruffy desks. The small room that the younger children retired to for one hour every day was unbelievably hot and stuffy. The toilets were open holes in the ground.

The children slept in mud huts and none of the beds had mosquito nets. I was told the children rarely caught malaria, which was fortunate as treatment costs the equivalent of $150 - a vast sum in a country where unskilled laborers earn just $10 a month. It's not hard to imagine what happens to most of the orphans who are unlucky to catch this killer disease.

But despite this apparent hardship, the children appeared happy and were very keen to show off their soccer skills.

The pitch was like a bomb site

Junior Football Parents And Coaching - A Very Local Experience In Junior Community Football _ Part 1

The Gathering Storm

Over the last two weeks, I had the misfortune to witness an Under 13 Boys school team implode! And we are only at round 5!

This disaster has its origin in junior football problems that are well know to many, and seem to evidence themselves in some form or combination every season at  Clubs or Schools.

But they are two different Football beasts - Clubs and Schools. They can produce remarkably different solutions to the same problems.

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Boomerangs Futsal Is Getting Ready For The 2010 /11 Season In The NSW Super League

Boomerangs FS is an ACT Futsal Club that competes in the NSW Super League competition. It is the only ACT Futsal club that offers players the opportunity to play at a level of competition greater than anything generally available in season in the ACT. Playing for the Boomerangs works in well with your local Futsal team and competition.




The Boomerangs first season was last year and the results were outstanding. The team in the picture above won the Championship - an outstanding result. Look for previous posts on this blog for interviews. Very interesting.

If you want to play good Futsal - there is no better place to be than the Boomerangs FS.

The NSW Futsal competition is strong. NSW dominates the Futsal Nationals. The players of all ages that joined the Boomerangs got a priceless opportunity to  play against many of the best in NSW. Many of the Boomerangs players were selected in the ACT boys and girls teams to contest the Australian Futsal Nationals held in Canberra in early January each year. The reason for their selection is simple - they became match hardened, a good deal more astute in the way they played the game and of course developed their individual skills. Many of the players replicated their success in Futsal with selection in the ACT age football teams to contest the National Junior Championships in 2010.

Futsal and Football are different. But Futsal brings great benefits to Football. Its not hard to pick good Futsal players in a football game - they are usually so comfortable on the ball, able to make quick decisions, know the value of fast transition in play.

Boomerangs Futsal provides a unique opportunity for ACT players to play good futsal. This is a step up from the local competition. No one else in ACT Futsal provides this opportunity for our players. Football Clubs crave this opportunity for Football but do not have it. Only Futsal has it - with the Boomerangs!

Try out for Boomernags FS, you will not be disappointed. Read on for the information from Boomerangs FS.

Womens Premier League Fixtures 2010 - Round 9

Round 9

Sunday 6 June 2010

2:00PM Belconnen Utd v Tuggeranong Utd WFC McKellar Park
2:00PM Belwest Foxes v Canberra FC Kaleen Enclosed 1
2:00PM ANU WFC v Weston Creek ANU Willows 1
2:00PM Woden Valley v Brindabella Blues Hawker Football Centre

Mens Premier League Fixtures 2010 - Round 8

Round 8

Saturday 5 June 2010
6:00PM Canberra City v Tuggeranong Utd Hawker Football Centre

Sunday 6 June 2010
3:00PM ANU FC v Goulburn Strikers O'Connor Enclosed 1
3:00PM Monaro Panthers v Canberra Olympic Riverside Stadium
3:00PM Canberra FC v Belconnen Utd Deakin Stadium
3:00PM Woden Valley v Cooma Tigers Woden Park Enclosed

Friday 11 June 2010
8:00PM ANU FC v Monaro Panthers Hawker Football Centre

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Don't be afraid to let your players take risks

Sourced from www.footy4kids.co.uk

Don't be afraid to let your players take risks

I was watching an U7s match at my local school last week. There was a lot of aimless running around going on, and most of the players were trying to get within touching distance of the ball.

They were tackling each other, falling over and some were standing around watching the birds fly past. A fairly typical U7s match, in fact.

Suddenly, one girl burst out of the melee and started to run with the ball towards goal. The only problem was, it was the wrong one.

When she got about ten yards from the goal she stopped, looked up and realised she was staring at her own goalkeeper. After a quick about turn, she started running the other way.

She ran past three of four of the other team, evaded several attempted tackles from her own team mates and finally got within striking distance of the other goal - about two feet from the line - where she promptly took a swing at the ball, missed it and fell over. She got up with a huge smile on her face.

Sadly, her coach was not impressed.

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

A Kanga Cup Special

This program is broadcast on 2xxfm (98.3mhz), on Tuesday 1 June 2010 at 7:00PM through the Australian Community Radio Network.

In this program we speak to the Co-ordinator of the Kanga Cup 2010, Adam Castle. Registrations by teams to play this year now number 220. Teams from every State and overseas. The amazing South Korean primary school team is back this year - they are a must see team. The Kanga Cup will be run in the period 4-9 July 2010. Lets hope the weather is good.

If your team isn't int he Kanga Cup it should be. Ring Adam Castle at Capital Football, go tot he Kanga Cup website - just do what you need to do to have the children play in the Kanga Cup. Its terrific!

Download the Podcast here: