The Offsider - August 09

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Zelic eyes local talent

ffsider Capital Football’s Official Monthly Publication www.capitalfootball.com.au

August 2009

Stan the man at FFA Awards

Canberra’s ‘Superstar’

Au g u s t

Capital Football CEO

Heather Reid

General Manager Steven McIntyre

general@capitalfootball.com.au

Accounts

Martha Bennett accounts@capitalfootball.com.au

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Referees Beginners Course There are many great benefits to refereeing whether you still play the game or not. Limited spots remain in the final beginners course of the year. Contact the Referee Administrator for more information.

Technical Director

Boys National’s Trials

Ian Shaw

technical@capitalfootball.com.au

Assistant Technical Director Pat McCann

coaching@capitalfootball.com.au

Development Coordinator Daniel Murphy

development@capitalfootball.com.au

Men’s League Manager Alasdair Grocock

mensleague@capitalfootball.com.au

Women’s League Manager Andrew Fitzpatrick

Capital Football will be conducting trials for the 2009 Boys National Championships Under 14 & 15 starting today. Be sure to fill out the trial nomination form on the Capital Football website.

Last Round of Men’s Premier League

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Today marks the final round of the Men’s Premier League. With all four games taking place on the Sunday be sure to go cheer on your local side. Draw can be found on Capital Football website.

Club Development Seminar

womensleague@capitalfootball.com.au

Junior League Manager

Capital Football will be hosting it’s third seminar in the club development series. The final seminar for the year will focus on Strategic Planning for clubs ahead of next season.

Melanie Luksa

juniorleague@capitalfootball.com.au

Futsal League Manager David Lee

fulsalleague@capitalfootball.com.au

League Assistant Nicole Somi

futsaladmin@capitalfootball.com.au

Events Coordinator Sarah Body

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refadmin@capitalfootball.com.au

PR & Media Officer Chris Gottaas

media@capitalfootball.com.au

Men’s League football begins to hot up with the start of finals football across all divisions. Capital Football wishes everyone involved in finals good luck this year!

Joma Futsal PL Nominations Close

Referee Administrator

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Men’s League Finals Kick off

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events@capitalfootball.com.au

Adam Castle

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Nominations for the Joma Men’s and Women’s Futsal Premier League’s close today. Don’t miss out on this year’s top flight indoor competition to be played at the AIS. Visit the Capital Football website for more info.

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Capital Football®

Unit 2/3 Phipps Close Deakin, ACT, 2600 PO Box 50 Curtin, ACT, 2605

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Capital Football ’s Official Monthly Publication www.capitalfoo tball.com.au

Edition 2 May 2009

[P] (02) 6260 4000 [F] (02) 6260 4999 Edited & Produced: Chris Gottaas Contributions: ASC, Merryn Sherwood Pictures: Brian Crawford, Ned Zelic, Stan Mitchell, Paul Lau, Getty Images, Fox8

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The regions only dedicated local football magazine is now offering advertising packages to suit all budgets.

For more information regarding advertising with Capital Football see their website.

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From Majura to Dubai

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From the sideline...

We are now in the second half of our league competitions - the ‘business end’ of the season and it’s safe to say that 2009 is proving to be another eventful and rewarding year. Alongside running a record number of divisions across football and Futsal leagues, and hosting the FFA national Futsal championships in January, then the new FFA national Junior championships in April, the 19th Kanga Cup in July provided another highlight for Capital Football. With 223 teams, almost 4000 players and team officials, 559 games and 25 finals, 112 referees, 26 volunteers and 14 staff, the event was a great success. Whilst we can always improve in some areas of this event, for the majority of participants the tournament continues to provide enjoyable, friendly and competitive football opportunities that are not generally available to many teams. We welcomed four international teams and despite the withdrawal of four others, including the wonderful boys from Singok in Korea, due to concerns about the swine flu, the international flavor was very evident from the opening ceremony to the final day.

Once again, The Offsider has lots of news and articles about competitions, personalities, Hawker Football Centre and the up-coming Westfield W-League. On that note, the new head coach, Ray Junna has almost completed for Canberra United FC and it’s pleasing to see many of last year’s squad returning for a second season along with some inter-state and international signings.

We’ve also got a dream draw with six games in Canberra including a away game against Central Coast Mariners at Canberra Stadium on 31 October. Check out www.canberraunited.com.au for all the details.

Another major project that’s just been completed by Capital Football, in conjunction with the ACT Government and Tiger Turf, is the redevelopment of the Hawker Football Centre. Everyone will be impressed with the quality of the lighting, the synthetic pitch and other upgrades at our own leased venue. The redevelopment costs exceeded $2.1m with ACT Government contributions being around $1.9m. The funding shortfall means that we will need to introduce a ‘facility infrastructure levy’ (FIL) applicable to all participants starting with the summer leagues. The FIL will not only be used to cover the gap in expenditure but will also provide a building and maintenance fund for new Futsal and football facilities across Canberra.

Speaking of facilities, clubs are now able to apply for funding through Football Federation Australia for facility projects. The GFFF will provide grants from $5,000-$20,000 for a range of initiatives including portable goals for Optus Small-Sided Football and field of play improvements such as nets and corner flags. Applications can be made online, in the first instance, via www. myfootballclub.com.au.

The lack of facilities presents a key barrier to our further growth and development across the country. With this mind, FFA will be undertaking a national facilities audit (NFA) to identify, evaluate and analyse every football facility currently used in Australia.

The NFA objectives relate specifically to game development as well as Australia’s FIFA World Cup bid 2018-2022. The project will include completion of an online questionnaire by every affiliated club as well as other consultation in order to better understand the quality and usage patterns of grassroots football facilities and determine the degree to which current facilities are meeting current and future demand. I’m sure you’ll appreciate the importance and benefits of such an audit and therefore I anticipate your support as Capital Football will be engaged by FFA in a pilot program for the NFA. Clubs will be asked to test the design of the NFA program and system and participate in a small scale preliminary study before the roll out of the national program. Through your feedback, FFA can identify functional inefficiencies and design improvements as well as minimise the potential for errors before the national program is started with the final strategic tool contributing to football development at all levels. We expect to commence the pilot program in the ACT in mid August so stay tuned for more information from me or the league managers.

In the meantime, enjoy your football and good luck to all teams for the remainder of the season.

Heather Reid Capital Football CEO

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RESPECT the referees Following an ill disciplined season, match officials have been instructed to crack down on dissent with a zelo-tolerance policy in place to stamp out the very negative trend.

The number of send-off and incident reports that Capital Football deals with on a weekly basis that relate to dissent and a lack of respect towards referees, particularly by senior male players and coaches, has increased this season. This indicates a very negative trend and has resulted in more on-field and offfield sanctions than we have handed out in many years. From a governance, management and referee perspective, this is very worrying.

All players and coaches have a responsibility to accept the referee’s decision, regardless of whether they think the decision is correct. It’s not appropriate to criticise or abuse the performance of the referees but rather the focus needs to be on the conditions of the game, the performance of the players and the overall conduct of the team, its officials and spectators.

As examples, this year we have seen • Widespread dissent on the field by top-level players and coaches • Noisy and unruly technical areas where there is loud dissent with the team officials in CF yellow vests taking little interest or action to stop the dissent

• Other breaches of the universal FFA Code of Conduct for players and officials

corner kick, free kick or throw-in

• Coaches refusing access to the changerooms for gear inspection and pre-match communication

• deliberately leaving the field of play without the referee’s permission

• Coaches and teams leaving the field immediately before KO and delaying the start of the game.

Unfortunately, these kinds of behaviours have led to a decrease in morale amongst referees and an unpleasant competition environment. Retention of our referees is a key problem and this behaviour contributes negatively to our goal of maintaining and increasing referee numbers. At least two senior referees this season have called it a day because of the degree of disrespect and abuse they are subjected in the performance of their jobs – and we don’t want to lose any others for the same reasons.

As the FIFA Laws of the Game 2008-2009 state A player is cautioned and shown the yellow card if he [or she] commits any of the following seven offences: •

unsporting behaviour

• Abusive tirades at referees at the conclusion of fixtures by players and club officials

•

dissent by word or action

• Widespread use of swearing in ordinary communication between players and referees in contravention of the Zero Tolerance provisions

•

• persistent infringement of the Laws of the Game delaying the restart of play

• failure to respect the required distance when play is restarted with a

• entering or re-entering the field of play without the referee’s permission

Showing dissent by word or action A player who is guilty of dissent by protesting (verbally or non-verbally) against a referee’s decision must be cautioned.

The captain of a team has no special status or privileges under the Laws of the Game but he has a degree of responsibility for the behaviour of his team.

In an attempt to stem the flow of this kind of abuse, the Referee’s State Coach will be instructing the referees to apply the letter of the Law with respect to dissent and using offensive, abusive or insulting language (including swearing) and to deal with the consequences of doing this in the remainder of the game. Players, coaches and clubs need to be aware of this as referees and Capital Football will not condone this inappropriate behaviour or breaches of the code of the conduct and penalties will be applied.

Heather Reid CEO, Capital Football Clive Mackillop Referee’s State Coach, Capital Football

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Hawker Roars into 21st Century The Hawker Football Centre is back on line following a redevelopment which will benefit sport in the ACT for future generations.

Capital Football President John Logue and ACT Minister of Sport Mr Andrew Barr, officially opened the redeveloped Hawker Football Centre, which features a state of the art synthetic pitch, with the assistance of the local St. Matthews Primary School.

The six month redevelopment project saw the natural field replaced with an international football quality synthetic surface. It ensures sport at all levels can be enjoyed year-round, despite the drought, because the ground doesn’t need any water or down-time between games.

“We’re very pleased with the outcome of the Hawker Football Centre

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redevelopment,” Capital President John Logue said.

towers were also erected while the spectator and change room pavilions and the perimeter of the venue also recieved a touch-up.

Football

“The state of the art drought-proof facility can now be used year-round from small sided games to Men’s and Women’s Premier League during the winter and social competitions for all ages during the summer months.”

With only a handful of surfaces of this kind in Australia, the Hawker Football Centre features FIFA’s highest ‘2 Star’ quality ‘TigerTurf Soccer Real’ artificial grass which is suitable for international and domestic fixtures of the highest level.

Along with the installation of the synthetic surface, match quality light

“Such a wonderful multipurpose venue was designed in a way that it shouldn’t go unused so we extend an invitation to schools, community groups and other sports to contact us if they wish to use the facility,” Logue said.

There will be plenty of chances for football fans in Canberra to see action at the oval in the final weeks of the men’s premier league. A total of five men’s premier league games and one women’s will be played at the venue so check the draws on www.capitalfootball.com.au to see when you can catch your team.

This major drought proof initiative wouldn’t be possible without the generous support of the ACT Government, Capital Football and TigerTurf Australia.

Hawker with natural grass Same end as picture to left

Digger removing natural grass

Barr: “I can’t believe it ’s not real”

The perfect football pitch

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N A T S THE N A M

Tuggeranong United’s Stan Mitchell claimed the inaugural Male Coach of the Year gong at the first Australian Football Awards

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The spirit of Australian football legend, Johnny Warren, continues to live on in Canberra through Tuggeranong United’s Under 14’s Division 3 head coach Stan Mitchell.

Mitchell, a Canberra Arrows player in the former NSL in the 70’s and 80’s, had the opportunity to play under Warren who was at the helm of the Canberra league team in 1977-78.

“He was a living legend back then in the 80’s when he was coaching us,” Mitchell said during his interview on Channelvision.

“The thing that spoke to me the most was that he was human, very approachable, very down to earth and we enjoyed training.

“That’s what I’ve taken away, we can bang on about certain skills but if the kids don’t enjoy it then they won’t learn. “[Johnny Warren] loved the sport and he had a passion and it continues to live on.”

Having played under some of the best coaches in the country, Jimmy Hayes, Rale Rasic and Warren, Mitchell is well and truly on the path for legendary status of his own.

The born and bred Canberran was recently recognised at the inaugural Football Federation Australia Australian Football Awards , as the Male Coach of the Year.

“It was quite unexpected and really o v e r w h e l m i n g ,” Mitchell said of receiving the prestigious award.

“It

all

happened

ABOVE: Mitchell dressed to impress at the AFAs LEFT: Stan warns Socceroos head coach Pim Vereek that he’s after his job very quickly, it only took 14 days from the time I was told I was nominated for the inaugural AFA Awards and when I was announced as winner.

“I certainly didn’t expect to win, I expected someone to win from the big centres like NSW or Queensland to be honest.

“I hoped deep down but certainly didn’t expect it.”

Capital Football nominated Mitchell for the award after the process began back at his club and snow-balled from there.

“One of the parents nominated me for the Coach of the Year at Tuggeranong juniors, then went to the Capital Football Awards where I was fortunate enough to win the Junior Coach of the Year and then Capital Football subsequently nominated me to the Football Federation Australia,” Mitchell recalled.

“And then here I am [with the awards].”

The honour is only starting to sink in for Mitchell who remains blown away at receiving such as award, presented to him by none other than Socceroos Head Coach Pim Verbeek in front of a star studded crowd which included the likes of Mark Schwarzer, Harry Kewell

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and Tim Cahill.

out,” Mitchell said.

“Expecting someone else to be read out to be honest, all of a sudden out comes the nomination and the name.

“It goes all the way back to 1980 when I did a twelve month stint of coaching my younger brother as a 14 year-old but then I got out of it.

“I’m looking up to the big screen and thinking ‘uh oh, that’s me’.

“To be brutally honest, I wasn’t paying that much attention, not expecting it, and then there’s the short movie we did the week before up on the big screen.

“I had to swallow my heart three times and then get up.

“There was a certain degree of tears and excitement and now I’ve got to get up front of 500 people and accept the awards of the Socceroos Head Coach, Pim Verbeek.

“I did write a speech at the direction of my wife who kept telling me that I better write one just in case but I kept saying that I’m not going to because I didn’t think I was going to need it.

“I didn’t need the speech in the end because it was an interview.”

“To receive the award though was totally shocking in one way but really exhilarating.”

If the start of the evening was anything to go by, Mitchell could have been forgiven for thinking he was destined for missing out.

“We arrived at the back door of the awards ceremony [at Sydney’s Hilton Hotel], we didn’t realize the red carpet was out the front,” Mitchell laughed.

“I got the opportunity to thank Pim personally later on in the night when it had all sunk in.

“We did have a little conversation about how my Under-14’s had more tantrums than his superstars but it was very elegant night.”

Mitchell’s national success will surely inspire other parents who, like Stan, took up coaching at junior clubs to spend more time with their kids and ensure each team has a coach for the winter months.

“I don’t believe so, it’s a privilege to get this [award] but I’m only the same as any other parent who goes and helps

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“I really started coaching in earnest in about 1999 at Tuggeranong and it was a combination of my son needing a coach and me willingly put up my hand to help.

“Before that though I’ve always been involved in coaches, I played with the Canberra Arrows in the NSL back in the 80’s and I need to put back from that.”

ABOVE: Mitchell (L) with ACT nominees Kath St Laurent (Women’s Coach of the Year) and Richard Naumovski (Referee of the Year)

Mitchell has been coaching at Tuggeranong United ever since and credits the club environment for making it such a joy to coach.

themselves but if they can’t they won’t play so as a coach and parent it’s my responsibility for the kids to enjoy it.

“We’ve got a wonderful network [at Tuggeranong United].

“The Arrows showed me where you can get to with a big of effort and discipline and hopefully the kids get that as well.

“The parents are great and people at the club like John Herd, who in my view is a legend of the game, our coaches down there who we continually talk and interact with both at the junior level and senior men’s level.

“I’m not only there to coach but it’s a matter of building a support network.”

The FFA’s Male Coach of the Year and Capital Football’s Junior Coach of the Year doesn’t believe there’s any more pressure on him to produce results despite the accolades.

“I’m sure there might be some other offers within the clubs but at the end of the day my kids need a coach, I coach to teach kids but I’m sure there will be some expectation from others but we’ll manage that,” Mitchell believes.

One thing is for certain though, Mitchell is hoping he can pass on the ‘Johnny Warren spirit’ to his players as they pursue potential careers in football and believes that a Hyundai A-League team based in Canberra will significantly benefit the football community.

“The kids are here to play and enjoy

“Whether it be Premier League here in the ACT or Hyundai A-League in the future or all the way to the Socceroos.

“I think it’s essential and we can only benefit from having a national league team.

“We’re currently growing in number from a junior perspective because of the Socceroos, if we’ve got an identifiable path to the Hyundai A-League club from any junior club will be very beneficial and surge the game itself.”

Mitchell will go down in history as the first ever recipient of the Male Coach of the Year award to top a list that will surely one day include the future’s best and brightest coaches .

“That in a way makes it even more daunting, just the fact that I got nominated was a wonderful experience and to be there on the night with our other ACT contingent was fabulous,” Mitchell said.

“To be read out as the winner was unbelievable and history will show what names will follow.”

Nominations open soon for 2009 Capital Football Awards

Capital Football is pleased to invite all players to trial for the Futsal Nationals Representative squads to compete at the 2010 FFA National Futsal Championships in Canberra, January 11-15 Trials kick off in September

MALE AND FEMALE TEAMS: UNDER UNDER UNDER UNDER

11 12 13 14

UNDER 15 UNDER 16 UNDER 19 (YOUTH) OPENS

nline: Register o 09

Local Superstar Uncovered Merryn Sherwood

H

e may have just been crowned Canberra’s first reality TV winner, but Luke Pilkington knows the hard work starts from here.

Because after a few hours where he could just celebrate being this year’s Football Superstar, the 19-year-old former ANU premier league captain now has to start proving why Melbourne Victory coach Ernie Merrick decided he deserved a national youth league contract with the reigning A-League champions.

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Pilkington was unveiled in July as the winner of the FOX8 show, Football Superstar, which is like Australian Idol for soccer players. It took some of the

top young players around Australia, putting the top-15 in a house and going through a series of games, skill and fitness challenges and also tests to find out mental toughness – all to decide the winner.

Except the title doesn’t just give you 15-minutes of fame like most reality TV shows – the prize is a contract with current A-League champions Melbourne Victory and a scholarship to Monash University.

In the middle week of July, 70 of his friends and family members, including his parents Marc and Barbara and younger siblings, Briony, 17, Sophie, 15, Reid, 12, and Jack, 10, all packed into All Bar Nun after his club ANU organised two televisions to be switched from state of origin to Football Superstar.

Pilkington beat two Queenslanders, Jack Petrie, 20 and Chris Kozionas, 20, to secure the professional contract.

The 19-year-old is expecting plenty of pressure with the superstar title. After all, thousands of people have already watched him play, do fitness challenges and even salsa dance on the program, a lot more exposure than any other players on the same level contract at any A-League club.

“There is heaps I have to live up to now,” Pilkington said. “I now have to prove that I’m worth that contract that Ernie has given me. I have to play and prove myself, I can’t live off that title forever, I have to train hard and prove myself.”

Pilkington decided to enter the competition when a friend auditioned, but after making the final 15, decided to take it seriously. After a frustrating last 12 months, which have offered plenty of opportunities for the teenager without a contract from anywhere, this was a chance to win a contract off his own back.

It started last year when Pilkington trained with the Central Coast Mariners during their pre-season camp in Canberra. Then he, along with Belconnen’s Taylor Beaton, played for the club in friendly games.

Pilkington also played 15-minutes for the Mariners in a game against the Newcastle Jets at Canberra Stadium. In that game, which happened to be on his 18th birthday, he scored a goal as well but it was disallowed as another Mariners player was called off-side.

That week led to a month afterwards where Pilkington travelled to Sydney and the Central coast to trial for a place in the inaugural Mariners national youth league team.

It didn’t eventuate – and neither did a chance to take up a college career in America. After being offered a sporting scholarship, Pilkington then found out he didn’t have the credit he needed to be accepted.

So at the start of 2009, Pilkington started at the University of Canberra – partly as a way to help get over to America – but was also training on and off with the Mariners.

He had more experience by playing in the ACT Young Rockets program against some A-League NYL teams.

But basically - he was basically stuck in the same position as he was six-months beforehand.

One of the only things that did change was his Men’s Premier League club.

Pilkington moved from Woden Valley

LEFT: Melbourne Victory head coach Ernie Merick with Fox8’s Football Superstar contestants Jack Petrie, Luke Pilkington and Christopher Kozionas ABOVE: Pilkington was a serious contender for the second season of the reality series

“it’s so surreal, I just didn’t expect it to happen to me.”

to ANU FC. It was just another move in his ACT soccer career, Pilkington started playing for Blue Light, which then turned into Brindabella Blues. He then played for Weston Creek, Capital Football Academy and the ACT Academy of Sport before making his premier league debut for Woden in 2008. After switching to ANU, under John Mitchell’s program, Pilkington was named captain. Then in the last few months he also trained with new A-League team Gold Coast.

Then came along Football Superstar.

The former MacKillop college student spent five weeks living in the football superstar house. While he was there he had no access to a phone or the internet, basically shut off from the world.

Then the filming of the show actually finished four weeks before the final was showed, meaning that Pilkington had four weeks to spend back at home in Canberra, trying not to tell anyone the result and get back to playing for ANU. “It was a bit like living on delay,”

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Pilkington said. “But I just came back to Canberra and just tried to train hard and play well and just keep on top of my game, but it has delayed things a bit, I would have rather gone straight there while I was in the swing of things but I’m sure I’ll get it back.”

Victory coach Ernie Merrick praised Pilkington throughout the show and in the final, he particularly praised his maturity.

“Luke Pilkington is a very respectful, mature and enthusiastic footballer and person,” Melbourne Victory coach Ernie Merrick said after the football superstar final.

“He brings many strengths to his football, he is technically very good, physically he has speed but also endurance and he is tactically knowledgeable.

“Luke is a left footer, which is hard to find, and he can play in range of positions including left back and left midfield.

nice to have feedback off camera from the two-time A-League championship winning coach.

“During training and stuff, he’d give me comments like first-class on crosses and plays, he complemented me the whole way, which was pretty great to have that feedback,” Pilkington.

And while Pilkington didn’t go on the show, like some other reality TV ventures to find instant fame, it kind of came with the territory. Plus it wasn’t like the only thing they did on the show was play football.

In fact, one of the first challenges this season was a salsa dancing challenge. Which Pilkington won.

Was he annoyed that’s about the only challenge he managed to win throughout the eight-week series?

Particulary when all the others were based on things that count as a footballer, skill and fitness?

“He has a very bright future.”

“Well I knew I wasn’t going to win any fitness challenges with big red [Sydney boy David McMurray],” he laughed.

And Pilkington himself said it was

Back in Canberra, Pilkington has

become a soccer celebrity. He signed autographs after premier league games and during the Kanga Cup in July, when his brothers were playing in a team for the Brindabella Blues, had other teams asking if he was ‘that football superstar guy’.

Pilkington said he just tried to be himself in the house, and that you couldn’t quite judge everyone by their cover, particulary one of the other finalists Chris Kozinas, who came across as a real character.

“A few of the other boys played up to the camera but I just tried to be myself,” he said. “Kozi definitely played it up for the cameras, he’s a pretty quiet guy, but he played it up to the cameras.”

Now Pilkington has moved to Melbourne to start training with the Victory for their national youth league season. He’s living at Monash University, where he is starting a science degree, as part of his Football Superstar win. And hopefully it’s just the start of a superstar career.

“I have been recognised a bit, all the little Kanga Cup kids were like ‘are you that football superstar guy’, [the reality TV thing] it’s good, but it’s so surreal, I just didn’t expect it to happen to me.”

Children with disability get a kick out of school clinics Words by Australian Sports Commission Students with an intellectual disability at Canberra’s Black Mountain School have been treated to special soccer sessions and uniforms, delivered by Capital Football.

Capital Football, affiliate of Football Federation Australia, presented new football uniforms to students from Black Mountain School, who have moderate to severe intellectual disabilities.

Capital Football also recently held small sided football sessions at the school, which were a great success — the children’s engagement and involvement in the games well exceeding expectations.

‘Building an ongoing relationship with Capital Football will have a great impact on the student’s lives,’ Principal at Black Mountain School Frank Fogliati said.

‘With regular sessions in the weekly schedule the children will anticipate Capital Football’s visits and look forward to it.’

Following these sessions, Capital Football made a special presentation of 11 new uniforms to the school, including football tops, shorts and socks, donated by Football Federation Australia.

‘It was obvious to everyone that the children were excited about putting on the new gear and getting out there playing football,’ Daniel Murphy from Capital Football said.

‘We will certainly be able to make some regular opportunities for the students at Black Mountain School’.

The Football Federation Australia (FFA) uses its state development officers — in conjunction with member organisations like Capital Football — to deliver inclusive programs to schools and local clubs as part of its commitment to ensure people with a disability have the opportunity to become involved in and play football.

FFA has been part of the Australian Sports Commission’s (ASC) Sports CONNECT network since 2007. Sports CONNECT is a national framework that works to increase pathways for people with disabilities to participate in sport and physical activities.

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ACT Calls for Nationals Team of our own The ACT want their own team in the 2010 Big Issue Street Football Homeless National Championships after a hugely successful start to the program in Canberra Canberra’s Big Issue Street Football program is hoping to have a team of its own competing at next year’s National Championships following a very successful start to the program in the national capital.

Set in the shadows of the Australia War Memorial, the weekly program involves people who are homeless or marginalised, of all ages and varying ability and fitness levels getting together once a week to train and play at Reid Oval.

After kicking off in April, the program reaped its first reward with local players, Alex Benasic and Todd Pollock, selected to join the New South Wales squad for

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Pictures: ABOVE: Street Football in action at Reid Oval TOP RIGHT: Benasic competing at Nationals with NSW

the 2009 National Championships in Brisbane last month.

“We’ve got two guys selected to join the New South Wales squad for the National Championships and hopefully next year we will have our own ACT team and that’s as good as anything,” Canberra’s Big Issue Street Football coordinator Tim Skinner said.

“One of the New South Wales coaches from Sydney was down a few weeks ago and commented on the quality of our players down here.

“Sydney and Melbourne are very happy with the way Canberra has responded to the program because it’s been more successful than any other program when they’ve started up.

“We’ve had a really good turn out and it’s good to see the services in Canberra are getting behind the program.”

For Benasic, the opportunity to represent the ACT up in Brisbane is a “turning point” in his life and credits the newly established program for helping him on a positive path.

“I think this is a turning point in my life,” Benasic said following his selection to attend nationals and the Big Issue Street Football program.

“I’m very flattered to be representing the ACT, I’ve got such a passion for soccer and I’m hoping to be able to go all the way.

“I find when I’m doing exercise, it makes

my mind a lot clearer, I’m making a lot better decisions, setting goals and being able to achieve some of them like being selected.”

Football has always been a part of Benasic’s life since he took up the sport at eight years of age, playing for Deakin as a youngster.

“Soccer was my love and my passion and the only thing I thought about and dreamt about.

“When I was 14 I had an accident which kept me out of soccer.

“I was first on the street when I was about 17, ended up making some wrong decisions and find myself now with Big Issue Street Football that I’ve made a right decision.”

The national program is giving Benasic and others alike the opportunity to get away from their everyday lives so a social kick.

“The chance to play soccer and meet new people,” Benasic said.

something, I could, which is probably the most important thing.”

Attracting roughly a dozen players every week, the successful program is extremely important for those locals in need according to Skinner.

“This program is hugely important not just for people who are regarded as homeless, it also for people who are on the verge of homelessness and anyone else who is in a disadvantaged situation,” Skinner said.

“A lot of people think that Canberra doesn’t have these problems but it’s an issue here just like any other big city around the country.

“It gives people who have been on the street, who are in a hard situation, a place to go and escape.

“A program such as this provides a lot of stability and people coming along who wouldn’t normally have something to do at 2pm on a Wednesday afternoon.

“To be in a team environment where you feel secure and you’re looked after with food and the coach is tops.

The local street football program is already receiving plenty of community support.

“Not only do you have somewhere to go and play a bit of sport but I feel that if I had something on my mind and I wanted to talk to the coach about

“We’ve probably been more successful here in Canberra than a lot of other cities when we started up,” Skinner said.

“We’ve had a really good turn out and it’s

good to see the community services in Canberra get behind the program.

“We’ve had a lot of support from local shelters, we’ve got some great local volunteers and OzHarvest provide us with food each week so we’re receiving plenty of support.”

Like many of us, Skinner wasn’t aware of extent of homeless people in Canberra prior to taking up his role with Big Issue.

“It has somewhat, I probably had the same ideas that Canberra doesn’t have these problems but I knew that it did happen because I work in the community sector as well but you don’t realize quite how bad it is.”

Last year Melbourne hosted the 2008 Homeless World Cup with over 50 national teams convening in Victoria for the week long tournament in Federation Square with Afghanistan defeating Russia in the Men’s while Zambia triumphed over Liberia in the inaugural Women’s World Cup. Benasic and his New South Wales teammates finished the Big Issue Street Football National Championships in 2nd after being defeated by Victoria Metro in the final.

Asked if he would love to represent Australia with the Street Socceroos at the next World Cup, Benasic wasn’t keen to make any bold predictions.

“I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself but I’m certainly going to commit myself to the program.”

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CLUB DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM With the Socceroos qualifiying for another World Cup and the world game growing, there are now more registered players in the ACT than ever before. But don’t worry, Capital Football is here to help clubs to better deal with expansion.

Capital Football, in conjunction with the ACT Government, is offering free club development seminars to help all local affiliated clubs to cope with the influx of numbers and help ensure their future survival.

“We’ve grown to a stage now where we’re not just looking after the bread and butter, we can now sit back and take a look at how we operate and what happens around us so we can find out where we can improve and how we do things in not only the organisation but the different entities that form the grassroots of the sport itself,” Capital Football General Manager and Club Development Project Officer, Steven McIntyre said.

“The ACT Government came on board

with a grant for us to implement the club development program.

“Our aim is to have stronger clubs out in the community, not just being responsible citizens in our community but recognized as such, not just the club themselves but the volunteers that dedicate their time and effort to make things happen.”

“We want to get to the stage where the club is a life style, joining as a junior and end up one day as a coach or administrator after you’re finished playing.

“It’s about providing a life style that’s healthy and makes you feel that you’re a part of something a whole lot bigger.”

According to McIntyre, the process is vitally important as club’s learn to self evaluate themselves to determine where improvement’s can be made.

“The process allows clubs to look at how they operate, it’s a self evaluation which allows them to understand what they’re doing well and what they’re not and also the seminars allow

18

people to network and hear other ideas how other clubs are doing things,” McIntyre said.

“It’s about understanding not only the best practice but also each club has its own unique culture so they’ll come up with different solutions to a problem.

“But the more information they have the better they will be able to come up with a solution.”

Identified as an area in need of improvement during Capital Football’s strategic planning process last year, the club development process kicked off last year. First it was just to find out where clubs were seeking assistance.

“First, we went out to clubs with a survey and we had some good response rates in trying to understand the different structures, the way they do things and also find out exactly what they want from us as the governing body to help them with,” McIntyre said.

“The responses helped to formulate the topics for the club development seminars which we’re now hosting.

“Initially the seminars will be fairly broad and then in the future we can start breaking things down a bit further with the goal of having one on one with clubs to go through a strategic plan process and other processes so we can both learn.”

From the survey responses it was

ABOVE: Sponsorships help with costs of running of football club.

LEFT: Team work is needed both on and off the pitch RIGHT: Canberra FC ahead of the Project Coordination Federation Cup final.

determined that volunteer management was the priority for clubs with the recruitment and retention of help often difficult.

“The clubs are mainly interested in how to look after themselves such as volunteers and ensuring that the work load is shared because there are enough people coming through to want to be involved.

volunteers could come from Capital Football’s Victorian counterparts, who have already started their process.

issues for clubs.

“Also Football Federation Victoria also implemented a volunteer recognition program which looks like it’s been very successful with a volunteer day and prizes, so there’s certainly been some good ideas that have surfaced which have been implemented that I can see us following suit and implementing ourselves.

“It’s about providing information so the clubs can go away and start working with the volunteer strategies for the season itself.

“We can throw this club accreditation scheme at clubs and they can in a way just ignore it but there are going to be some benefits and part of it just going to be representing themselves to the community about ‘who they are’ and ‘what they’re about’.”

“A punter can come along and see that the club is accredited through the National Federation and easily recognize what services are on offer at the club and subsequently a better chance that the punter will want to be a part of that club.”

Capital Football has since began its second phase of the club development program with the staging of educational seminars to begin addressing the main

“The first seminar we decided to look at volunteer recognition, being the start of the season we thought people could self assess their own clubs.

“The next seminar we’re holding is focused on communications, also tips on where to go for grants from the government because there’s a lot out there but only a few clubs tend to tap into that resource and finally a few ideas about sponsorship.

“We can probably break that down further next year but for now we’ll start with some fairly general ideas just so that clubs can start implementing some of the ideas so that they can promote themselves with what they have to offer.

“I think a lot of clubs sell themselves short.

“Finally we’ll have a seminar at the end of the season which is about strategic planning because clubs will be just starting to think about the future because everyone disappears for the summer break.”

While the survey responses and first seminar was well attended, Capital Football admits there’s a lot of work ahead to ensure that all local affiliated clubs can access and learn from the club development process.

According to McIntyre, it’s especially

“People are concerned about how much work is required but the club development will see the roles defined so more people can do a little bit which will help more get done overall.

“We want to encourage that all clubs do have a volunteer coordinator who are there to not only recruit but also retaining and looking after the people they have and creating an atmosphere that they are part of the community themselves.”

Part of the program to help with

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important for those club’s hoping to gain promotion into the Premier League next season to attend the seminars and begin the self evaluation process.

“I think we’ve got a long way to go but it’s a matter of making it more accessible, they’re not necessarily ‘sexy’ topics that can help win championships but hopefully the information will be well received.

“We’re trying to encourage all clubs to be there, especially those aspirant clubs and present clubs in the top competition that this club development is a part of that process and to learn from them to become a better club.

“If our top clubs aren’t turning up then it will be a mark next to the club’s name come your Premier League Football and Futsal applications for 2010.

“We will be including the aforementioned Club Accreditation scheme to the Premier League requirements for next season.”

While the sport of football continues to experience a boom in participation courtesy of the Socceroos and Matildas success, along with the further establishment of the Hyundai A-League, it’s important that clubs continue to development for years to come.

“This process will never end,” McIntyre said.

“This club development initiative will have to keep going, fine tuning and

consultations to see where the gaps are.

ABOVE: A great team of volunteers are vital to a successful football club.

BELOW: There are more junior footballers than ever before in the ACT

“We’ll be utilizing our club development page on the website with the addition of job descriptions along with more information to create somewhat of a development toolkit.

“Every year we need to go through this process or at least choose a couple clubs who want to work through a strategic plan process or for us to invest in a consultant to work with them.

“We all need to be continually thinking about self improvement.

“It’s about trying to work and liaise with local clubs so that they’re sustainable and healthy so they’re here for the long term so that it’s good for the sport and good for the participants that are involved with the club.

“The result is that the clubs increase membership, increase the amount of volunteers, people involved with the game, there’s a lot of social benefits from it and it’s good for the community as a whole.

“It also raises the club’s profile so they can be seen as a leader.

“It’s about providing stronger foundations for club football to grow.”

20

The Offsider - You’re back in Canberra now, I hear you’ve been out scouting some junior football talent?

Ned Zelic - Primarily that’s the purpose of my visit. I’ve pretty much been in this business for a good year now and this is the first opportunity for me to actually come out and watch some junior games.

We’ll see what happens down the track but there’s definitely talent here, I’ve seen some really good kids where I’ve been thinking, if put into the right hands, they can definitely have a future in the game.

TO - Is this life after football now for you?

NZ - There’s a mixture of things I’m involved in but this is definitely a big part of it. For me personally I feel that with my experiences overseas and the contacts that I’ve built up, I would like to utilize them.

To be able to come back here and identify talent and to offer kids a pathway to build a career is really important to me.

TO - What is it you look for in a junior footballer?

NZ - Obviously everyone has their own philosophy on how they like the game played and what sort of players that excite them. There’s different styles in Europe that are being played in the different leagues so it’s not like I’m pin pointing players who need to be quick or have great technical ability, there’s other strengths that I see as well. I’m not ruling out anything.

NED ZELIC The Dream Maker Arguably Canberra’s greatest footballing exports, Ned Zelic, is now scouting local talent to follow in his footsteps.

Zelic caught up with The Offsider while he was in town to discuss life after football.

TO - You’re a defender at heart, do you have a biased towards defenders or are you looking for attackers as well?

NZ - I’m looking for pretty much anything that catches the eye. There’s kids that have obviously progressed a bit further than other kids but in saying that, I feel that some of the kids maybe lack something can be worked on.

Like I said before, if put in the right hands, those areas of the game can be improved drastically.

Once I’m out there, I can work out pretty quickly what players can do.

TO - That’s refreshing to hear that you’re looking for potential in those kids who may or may not be stand outs at the moment.

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NZ - I’m speaking from personal experience, I excelled early in my junior years but I also had a year where my progression slowed down a bit, some kids develop later than others ones so it’s just a case of identifying the talent and identifying the potential in kids.

TO - You spent the best part of your youth career playing in Australia with Sydney Olympic before heading off overseas, are you an advocate for young talent staying on our shores early in their careers like you did through National Youth League up into the A-League?

NZ - Sydney Olympic was my last club before heading overseas at the age of 21, my junior football development was done all in Canberra. I moved onto the AIS and spent a year there but really all the development for me was Canberra based as a junior. I just feel that there are situations where maybe a kid needs to spend a year or two here because everything ultimately has the dream of one day playing in the big leagues overseas.

There are kids where I feel maybe able to head straight to Europe so there’s different cases all over the place.

Obviously the FFA want the kids to stay here, go through all the junior development, play A-League and then maybe go overseas but that’s not always going to happen.

At the end of the day it should be the kids and parents to decide what’s best for their child to make a career out of the game.

TO - You’ve made a career out of playing professional football for club and country but when younger I hear you missed out on playing for the Joeys and were identified late.

NZ - Nobody had identified me at that stage. People are thinking that if you’re at the AIS or playing for the Joeys that that’s our best crop of talent, I don’t believe in that.

I know that there’s kids out there that may just not have been identified yet.

TO - Has life after football been enjoyable since you retired?

NZ - It was important for me to keep busy once I stopped playing, as a player, you’re training every day, every day is different, there’s some unpredictability which makes it exciting so for me the most important thing was to be prepared for life after football.

There’s plenty of stories where players go crazy quickly going from that status of everything being so unpredictable to maybe being a little more predictable and boring. It’s been alright for me so far.

TO - Will you be spending a lot more time in Australia or continually travelling back and forth?

NZ - I’m pretty much dividing my time between Australia and Germany.

Australia is home for me, I love Australia and I love being in Canberra, I feel so comfortable here.

I would like to take the opportunity to get around and see more junior games all over the country.

TO - What does the future hold for Ned Zelic?

NZ - As a footballer there’s a logical areas that you get into when you finish your career, coaching, management or something football related but as for me I would like to do some junior development.

With regards to senior coaching, it doesn’t interest me at this stage at all because you’re just getting yourself into that situation where it’s all training and results driven and I don’t want to get into that. I’m still involved in the media, I enjoy doing that as well. I really enjoyed the stuff I did for SBS during the World Cup. TO - The Socceroos have qualified for a second consecutive World Cup, being a former member of the team yourself, you must be so proud of the side?

NZ - I think the decision to bring Guss Hiddink to coach the Socceroos in 2005/06 really changed things drastically for us on the international stage and that set off a chain reaction.

Although in saying that, I knew that Australia wouldn’t have any problems qualifying for South Africa especially in the group we were put in.

It was clear there were only two teams going through being Australia and Japan, no disrespect to the others. I think that we’ve come that far to be confident enough in saying that ‘this is ours now and we’ll be qualifying’ and that was the case. It will be really interesting period now with the World Cup coming up and the draw at the end of the year which will be interesting to see who we’re grouped with.

TO - You weren’t pleased to see Guus take on the coaching position just to see Frank Farina sacked from the job after your public stoush with him?

NZ - Obviously a lot of people still have that in mind about what happened back then with me talking out of the national team and all the rest. Me and Frank played together, we never had any problems with each other, for me it was a case of I love my country and I love Australia, I always loved playing for the Socceroos but I more or less just refused to work with Frank on a playing coaching level.

do you have any tips for those kids who aspire to follow in your footsteps?

NZ - Persist, be disciplined as much as possible, respect the game and to work hard.

I know myself as a junior I was faced with a lot of challenges and was in a lot of situations where I thought ‘geez this is just not happening’ but that spurred me on to work harder.

I’m a big believer of what you put in will eventually come back.

TO - Finally, now that you’re retired from football, I heard a rumour that you were once a truck driver, no desire to return to that former career?

NZ - I’ve got no idea where that rumor came from because it’s not true.

That’s basically what it came down to unfortunately and that’s the decision I made and we’ve all moved on from there.

TO - No regrets?

NZ - No, not at all to be honest with you.

Obviously I would have liked to have had a few more caps and retiring at 28 from the national team was not an easy decision but that’s all it came down to, just the player coaching relationship.

I’m now just looking from the outside in and supporting Australia and happy to see that we’re progressing.

TO - Any jealously that this current crop of Socceroos are heading off to their second World Cup? NZ - Absolutely not. I retired in 1999, which was ten years ago so I’m really happy to see that we’re progressing.

The Socceroos qualifying does more for Australia that just competing at the World Cup every four years, automatically more people stand up and notice, Australian players and their abilities, that there’s plenty of talent there and that just multiplies.

TO - As mentioned before, you’ll be coming and going from Canberra, will we see you lining up for Canberra FC again for a game every now and then?

NZ - I haven’t played much football since I retired, when overseas I’ve been involved with Borussia Dortmund’s Over 35’s team with former players getting together to play a game which I’ve been doing.

When I’m here I don’t usually get the chance to lace the boots up but I would certainly like to make a few appearances for the Canberra FC masters team if I can get out there.

I remember when I left Canberra to go to Sydney I had a lot of jobs, working in a furniture store, worked in a department store and other little jobs like that but I’ve never worked as a truck driver.

But I’ve done all those jobs before, so I’ve got a lot of respect for those people working in them because I know how hard it is.

When I moved to Sydney, I was working these jobs plus going to training and trying to make a career out of the game as well. So I’ve never driven trucks, but I have a lot of respect for those people.

TO - No doubt the club would love to lure you back to the Premier League for at least one more match to finish your career where you started it?

TO - Does the last ten years feel like a long time since you retired from the national team?

NZ- Obviously at Deakin is where I played all my junior football and we’ve always had talk of maybe coming back and making an appearance, I’m all for it.

Wearing the shirt one last time to close that circle of where it all started. But for me the most important thing now is to realize all these goals I’ve got in my head to help as many kids as possible by offering a pathway, maybe getting out and taking a few training sessions, that’s more important for me at the moment.

NZ - It certainly does. Although I keep having to tell the story of what happened at the MCG that day but it really does seem like a long time ago.

Having only played three of four games in the last twelve months, even if I came off the bench they shouldn’t expect too much from me. [Laughs]

Everybody in life makes decisions and you’ve got to stick with them.

TO - It pretty clear that you want to help junior footballers realize their dream,

23

Kemp Believes Victorious Melbourne can do it again!

Canberra’s Matt Kemp is joined a host of locals in season five of the Hyundai A-League this kicks off this month.

He’s the only Canberra player to be part of an A-League championship and premiership winning team and Matthew Kemp sees no reason his team, Melbourne Victory, can’t do it again this year.

The 29-year-old became the first Canberran to play in a winning A-League grand final last year, when he lined up in defence for Melbourne Victory as they won 1-0 against Adelaide United in a packed out Docklands Stadium.

It was the second time Kemp had been involved in an A-League grand final between the two teams, except that

back in 2006/07, Kemp was playing for Adelaide and actually in the stands for the final after receiving one too many yellow cards in the final play-offs.

But Kemp joined the Victory a few weeks afterwards. Since then he’s become an integral part of the Melbourne defence, particularly in last year’s championship winning season. He’s now signed another two-year extension for this season and next.

And he’s excited about possibly being part of the first A-League team to win back to back league titles since the competition started five years ago.

“Of course we have to think we can do it again, that we have the basically the same team that won the championship I think that will definitely help, there shouldn’t be a drop in standard.

“In the first championship there was a big turnover of players, now there has only been about three changes throughout the whole squad, everybody knows exactly what everyone else is capable of and how they will play and that sort of stability will be important.

“And obviously we believe that we can do it.”

Then there is their second attempt at

the Asian Champions League. The 2008 ACL was where Kemp really settled into the Victory squad, his attacking runs also helped endear him to the Victory fans who weren’t so keen when he first moved to Melbourne. Now he’s a fan favourite. This time, Kemp said he hasn’t thought about the next ACL campaign too much, but that doesn’t mean the coaching staff haven’t.

“The coaching staff have probably looked ahead in terms of the training load we are doing now,” Kemp said.

“But we are just really focused on the A-League season.

“It’s been about a four-month preseason so we’re really looking forward to playing some games.”

And Kemp is just as excited about season five of the A-League as plenty of fans out there, he can’t wait to see exactly what the two new teams have.

“To travel to new areas, to have these new players in the league, and to go up against players like Jason Culina and

ABOVE: Kemp is serious about Melbourne’s chances this year LEFT: Kemp training last year

Robbie Fowler, those are players that you really enjoy playing against just because of who they are, it’s definitely an exciting season,” Kemp said.

It’s a particulary exciting season for Canberran’s watching the A-League.

This year there is a total of 10 players on A-League and national youth league contracts. Five, including Kemp, Nikolai

Topor-Stanley, Kaz Patafta, Shaun Ontong (all Newcastle Jets) and Adam Casey (Sydney FC) will start the season with spots in their team’s starting eleven.

Kofi Danning is just behind at Sydney FC, while Andrew Barisic could be next striker in at Gold Coast United behind last year’s golden boot winner Shane Smeltz and Joel Porter. Then there is three on national youth league contracts, Steven Lustica (Gold Coast United), Sam Munro (Sydney FC) and Football Superstar Luke Pilkington with Kemp at Melbourne Victory.

It’s a long way from the start of the A-League and Kemp, a former Belnorth junior, thinks it’s a fantastic thing for his home city.

“It’s good to see the players from Canberra finding their way into teams,” Kemp said. “I remember a few years ago when there was only two or three of us, now it’s very encouraging for Canberra trying to get a team as well to have all these players that are at the A-League standard.”

Canberra’s expected A-League regulars

Shaun ONTONG Newcastle Jets #13 Midfielder

Kaz PATAFTA Newcastle Jets #22 Midfielder

Adam CASEY Sydney FC #18 Midfielder

Kofi DANNIN Sydney FC #11 Striker

Nikolai TOPOR-STANLEY Newcastle Jets #4 Defender

Andrew BARASIC Gold Coast United #18 Midfielder

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2009 McDonald’s Kanga Cup a “great success”

T

ournament officials have labelled the 2009 McDonald’s Kanga Cup a “great success” after the week long youth football tournament culminated with finals today across the territory.

highlights from this year’s tournament but for organisers none was more special than the introduction of a dedicated Under-10 girls competition for the first time.

in the football while a big thank you must also be made to the family and friends that battled the cool this week to show their support from the sidelines,” Body said.

The second largest McDonald’s Kanga Cup on record saw 223 teams from across Australia, New Zealand and Chinese Taipei contested 584 games over the course of the week, including 25 finals today.

“It goes to show how far the tournament has come in its relatively short history with the introduction of a dedicated competition for the girls under-10,” Body said.

“A tournament such as this wouldn’t be possible without the fantastic assistance of our volunteers who have come from as far as New Zealand and Queensland, all of whom give up their own time to make the McDonald’s Kanga Cup a special week.”

“The 19th McDonald’s Kanga Cup has been a great success with fantastic football being played from under10’s through to under-18’s this week,” McDonald’s Kanga Cup Event Manager Sarah Body said.

“We have a reputation as ‘drought busters’ but this year has been picture perfect with Canberra turning on the blue skies and sunny days for the visitors this week.”

Everyone will go home with their own

“Hopefully we can build on those numbers in the years to come and hopefully all those young girls that competed this year will be back in the years to come before going on to play for the Matildas.”

The committee would like to extend their appreciation to everyone involved in this year’s tournament from players, coach and managers to referees, volunteers, staff and sponsors.

“Last but not least, a big thank you to our wonderful sponsors ACT Tourism, the ACT Government, University of Canberra, the Australian Institute of Sport, 2B, Kennard Hire, Capital Chilled Foods and particularly our naming rights sponsor, McDonald’s ACT.”

Only 353 days until the McDonald’s Kanga Cup turn 20 years old with the “On behalf of the tournament, thank you 2010 tournament kicking off on July, to the four thousand directly involved 5th 2010.

ABOVE: New Zealand’s Coastal Spirit and Chinese Taipei’s Feng-Si Junior High School combine for picture following Girls U15 Cup final

Coaching Courses and Seminars

Coaches Corner

This months activities are taken from a presentation at the recent FFA Capital Football Junior Licence course by Assistant Technical Director and Coach Instructor Pat McCann.

All of these fun and fast moving game based exercises can be used to focus on attacking or defending and are suitable for players of all ages. - PART 2 ACTIVITY #5 Progressive Pressure Set up: 20 x 20 Grid, 10-12 Players, Balls Instructions: Attacking team to keep possession. Defending team adds an additional defender after every five consecutive passes. Exercise is over once defending team wins possession. Exercise will progressively get harder Coaching Points: Attacking: Keep good shape, good body shape, ensure you can see the ball, teammates and defenders, good movement off the ball to support player with the ball, keep ball moving, first touch should be out of feet and into space, constant communication, be aware of new defenders, use entire grid.

Defending: Pressure ball carrier, make direction of next possible pass predictable, make playing area as compact as possible.

ACTIVITY #6 4v4+4 Set up: 40 x 40 Playing Area 12 player, 3 sets of colour bibs, Good Supply of Balls Instructions: Green and yellow attempt to keep possession of the ball inside the grid. Both teams may use the four neutral players on the outside for support.

10 passes equals 1 goal. Play for 3-4 minutes. Team on outside is active team resting.

Coaching Points: Attacking: Keep good shape and individual body shape, keep the playing area as large as possible, keep the ball moving, touches should be into space and away from pressure, continuously scan area for team mates and opposition.

Defending: Immediate pressure on ball on turnover of possession, win ball back as early as possible, make the playing area small, be patient, only tackle when you’re sure you can win the ball cleanly. Don’t be satisfied with kicking the ball out, keep possession.

ACTIVITY #7 4 v 4 with Shooting Zone Set up: 40 x 20 Playing Area, 8 players, 2 goalkeepers, supply of balls Instructions: Teams play 4 v 4. After completing five passes one player may then break out of the possession grid and take a shot on goal.

Variations: 1) Dribble out of square, 2) receive a pass out of square, 3) add wide goals on either side of square to encourage players to break wide and cross for a team mate, 4) shoot and restart in opposite direction, 5) striker must run around the goal after shooting before recovering and helping team defend next ball.

Coaching Points: Attacking: Make the space as large as possible, good team shape and body position, passing angles and movement off the ball, keep the ball until you can go forward then attack quickly.

Defending: Make area compact first then they to win the ball, good pressure on ball, avoid being split by passes, make direction of play predictable, only tackle when certain you can win the ball, counter quickly.

Capital Football Unit 2 / 3 Phipps Close, Deakin, ACT, 2600 Tel: 02-6260-4000

Fax: 02-6260-4999

www.capitalfootball.com.au