GOLDFIELDS Coaches Association

NEWSLETTER – Edition 3 - MAY 2015

GOLDFIELDS FOOTBALL DEVELOPMENT MANAGER COMMENT:

Tim Shearer: tim.shearer@aflvic.com.au

Brett Anderson: brett.anderson@aflvic.com.au

WELCOME:

Welcome back to all AFL Goldfields Coaches for the 2015 season.

The Goldfields Australian Football Coaches Association congratulates all returning and new coaches on your commitment to your players, club and the game of AFL Football in general. This is the first edition of the 2015 Goldfields AFCA Newsletters and we trust that you will find the content both interesting and beneficial for your coaching.

Our first activity for the 2015 season was running the Level 1 Coach Accreditation Course, which occurred in March this year. This was once again extremely well attended with approximately 80 people present on the day. The assessment tasks are now due for all who attended so please send these back to Tim Shearer at your earliest convenience.

In 2015 and beyond a new Level 1 re-accreditation process is required for all those who are seeking re-accreditation. The following documentation must be submitted to your Football Development Manager in order to gain Re-Accreditation:

Coach Reaccreditation Checklist

TO ENSURE THE PROCESS IS SUCCESSFUL PLEASE ENCLOSE THE FOLLOWING DOCUMENTS:

AFCA Coach Education Reaccreditation form completed and signed

Reference letter from Club President, School Principal or Auskick Manager

If you are coaching at Under 13 or below you need to do the Junior online course which can be

found at the link below:

http://www.aflcommunityclub.com.au/index.php?id=575

If you are coaching at Under 14 or above you will need to do the Youth / Senior online course

which can be accessed through the following link..

http://www.aflcommunityclub.com.au/index.php?id=1885

AFL Coaches Code of Conduct Form signed

$85 payment for Reaccreditation - Four year period

Cheque made payable to Australian Football League (Victoria) Limited or via direct deposit as per details on attached form

Police Screening /Check undertaken if deemed necessary by AFL Victoria

GAME DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVES:

JUNIOR GIRLS FOOTBALL

Following on from a successful Come & Try Program trialled last year, the inaugural season for a local U/12 Junior Girls football league will commence in the latter half of 2015. Another two sessions of the Come & Try Program will be held prior to the June/July school holiday period followed by the four-club competition commencing after the holiday period. Any coach interested in getting involved with this exciting new competition should contact with Tim Shearer. Female football is the fastest growing sector of our great game so we are always looking for keen coaches to help grow participation and foster the girls’ knowledge.

NAB AFL AUSKICK Welcome to all new and existing co-ordinators of AFL Goldfields Auskick Centres. Auskick continues to be one of the most important planks in the pathway for players as they transition from lower primary to upper primary and secondary school. In 2015 we welcome 3 new centres into the Auskick network within AFL Goldfields region, these centres are: Dunnstown, Harcourt and Newstead. We hope you have a successful season of Auskick and very encouraging numbers to each session. This gives us a total of 38 Centres within AFL Goldfields for the 2015 season. Many thanks to the NAB who have supported our centres through the provision of supper and drinks at our Start Up Meeting this year, barbecue assistance for some centres and equipment as part of the NAB Auskick Local Activity Fund. Half Time Games in 2015: Thanks to all centres who provided participants for the half time Auskick at the NAB Challenge Game between Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs at Eureka Stadium. We have two more games for this year and will be seeking Centres to provide Auskickers for Auskick Rules games and Grid Games for the Western Bulldogs vs. Fremantle game at Etihad on May 17th and the Western Bulldogs vs. Richmond game at the MCG on July 25th.

NAB Staff (Mark Simpson & Natalie McKay) handing over some equipment to the Wendouree Auskick Coordinators (Leah

Mikus and Tracey Anderson)

SCHOOL FOOTBALL 2015 The local Ballarat Associated Schools Football and the School Sport Victoria School Football are now well underway. St. Patrick’s College will again compete in the Herald Sun Shield and the winner of the first Ballarat and Clarendon College vs. Ballarat Grammar game in the BAS will represent the Region in the Herald Sun Country Shield. The annual Goldfields Primary Schools Lightning Premiership is scheduled to take place at Victoria Park in Ballarat on Friday 19th June. This will involve some 30 teams from across the

Throughout Term 2 in 2015 a pilot Sporting Schools Program has been running in 15 primary schools across the Region. AFL Goldfields has appointed 9 Game Development Officers to assist with the running of this program. Lesson Plans have been developed by the Australian Sports Commission and the Game Development Officers have been busy running these sessions for grades Prep – 2, 3 – 4 and 5 - 6 classes as part of this trial program. The program is taking the place of the Active After School Program and we thank all the schools for taking up the offer to run the sessions within the schools.

Sporting Schools Program underway at Ross Creek PS with some interested spectators in the background

GOLDFIELDS AFCA COACH OF THE MONTH The Coach of the Month / Coach of the Year Program has again kicked off for 2015. All clubs from across the Region have been invited to nominate coaches for the Coach of the Month to Goldfields AFCA with prizes being a $200 voucher from Footy Mart for the Club and a $50 voucher to Ballarat Leagues Club for the Coach. Nominations will also be eligible for the Coach of the Year, which will again be presented to a Coach from each League at each Leagues Presentation Night. Goldfields AFCA is looking for applications for the May announcements so feel free to send in your Junior / Youth and Senior nominations during this month. Please click on the link below for the Flyer and nomination forms for details on the Coach of the Month / Coach of the Year. http://www.sportingpulse.com/assoc_page.cgi?client=1-9653-0-0-0&&news_task=DETAIL&articleID=34506330

UPCOMING AFL GOLDFIELDS AFCA & AFL CENTRAL VIC – JOINT COACHING SEMINAR Join Current Western Bulldogs VFL Coach, Ashley Hansen & Current North Melbourne FC High Performance Coach, Jason Lappin for an afternoon of Coaching Tips. All Junior & Senior Coaches from all clubs with the Regions are invited to attend. When: Sunday 21st June Time: 1.00pm – 4.00pm Where: Princes Park Maryborough Cost: Nil RSVP: Tim Shearer tim.shearer@aflvic.com.au or Rick Coburn ricky.coburn@aflvic.com.au by Friday June 19th

AFL GOLDFIELDS ACADEMY PROGRAM 2014/15 In 2014/15 AFL Goldfields ran a very successful Inaugural Junior Academy Program based at the City Oval in Ballarat. The program was run for 45 junior players at each of the Under 12, Under 13, Under 14 and Under 15 levels. Thanks must go to the Ballarat City Council and the Redan FNC for allowing us to use the facility on Tuesday and Friday nights for the 8 week program during December and February. Thanks must also go to our Head Coach Shaun O’Loughlin who provided guidance / drills for all the coaches at each age group. The program was extremely well received by the players and parents of all involved and we feel sure that this program will continue to be one of the most important development initiatives within the Region, continuing to go from strength to strength as players move through the various age groups from year to year. Nominations will be called for again later in the year so make sure you supply the nominations from your club when nominations are called for – which will be some time in October. Thanks to all coaches involved in this year’s Program.

Final Academy Session Under 15 Academy trip to Bulldogs Academy Under 12 Squad

Under 12 Under 13 Under 14 Under 15 Nathan Reid (Head Coach) Tom Molan (Head Coach) Tim McKay (Joint Coach) Chris Gleeson (Head Coach)

Dale Murley Travis Polkinghorne Jamie Grant (Joint Coach) Ricky Andrews Hugh Briody Mick Elliott Brandon Weatherson Johnno Leoncini Jason Baynes Wayne Sharp Gavin Nash Jamie Gepp Peter Rizzoli Jamie Lamb

Jason Lappin (Specialist Coach) Shane Hutchinson (Specialist Coach) Matt Lowe (Conditioning)

COACH COORDINATOR FORUM In April a Coach Coordinator session was held for clubs in the Goldfields region. We were fortunate to have AFL Victoria Coach & Umpiring Development Manager Steve Teakel run the session for us with several clubs making the most of this opportunity. The role of the Coach Coordinator is pivotal in the football club environment, especially for the larger junior clubs who can have in excess of a dozen coaches coaching within their club structure. This can be doubled when we take into account our assistants. The night was a great success for those in attendance and provided a number of ideas on how clubs can assist in supporting and developing their coaches through the assistance of the Coach Coordinator. Those in attendance also walked away with several excellent resources to assist in their role.

Steve Teakel presenting to local coaches / coach coordinators on the importance of a Coach Coordinator position at Community Football Clubs

AFL AUSTRALIA POST COMMUNITY CAMP 2015 was our first year hosting the Western Bulldogs FC as part of the Australia Post AFL Community Camp Program. The Camp proved to be a great start for the AFL Goldfields season with players involved in numerous activities across the region. The main activities involved:

• Civic reception at Ballarat Town Hall • Clinics with Primary Schools around Ballarat • Masterclass for Community Coaches with Luke Beveridge and Bulldogs Assistant Classes • Open Training session for the Community • Player Visits to Ballarat Community Centres / Hospitals / Retirement Villages / Sovereign Hill

Marcus Bontompelli and Lin Jong with the winner Jordan Roughhead speaking at the Civic of the Australia Post / Courier competition Reception on behalf of the Western Bulldogs

Western Bulldogs players Koby Stevens and Jordan Grant meeting with clients from McCallum Disability Services as part of the

Community Visits during the Community Camp

AFL PLAYER APPEARANCES The Western Bulldogs FC provided 20 players to the AFL Goldfields Region in mid-February this year to conduct a round of Country School visits. A fantastic mix of experienced and newer players were able to participate in two school clinics each having morning and afternoon sessions scheduled. The AFL and AFL Players’ Association build AFL Player Appearances into the Collective Bargaining Agreement annually to ensure that the current stars of the game help to promote football and develop the future participants, which inevitably will include the future stars of the AFL. This year the players were able to conduct clinics at 13 different schools during their day in the region with 920 students gaining the opportunity to join them in football skill activities, drills, Q&A sessions and healthy lifestyle presentations. North Melbourne FC has been the AFL club providing our region with most of the AFL Player Appearances during the past seven years due to their alignment with the City of Ballarat. This year six Kangaroos attended Maryborough on March 12 and visited St Augustine’s Primary School in the morning and Maryborough Education Centre in the afternoon. Just over 110 students were able to join the players during the day in activities that will hopefully engage the town’s children in playing football. YOUTH GIRLS ACADEMY PROGRAM The Rebels Youth Girls Academy has been operating for four seasons and the 2014/15 intake have been active since October last year with fortnightly training sessions aimed at developing both their skills and their game knowledge. A round robin of matches was played against the other five Academies in Gippsland at the end of February. The photo below shows Darcy Vescio, on the left, with Aasta O’Connor at a Rebels Youth Girls Academy training session held on March 4. Darcy and Aasta attended as part of the Western Bulldogs FC’s AFL Australia Post Community Camp held in Ballarat earlier this year. Both Darcy and Aasta play their club football at Darebin WFC in the VWFL and have been drafted by Western Bulldogs FC to play in the annual AFL Women’s Match. Aasta played in both 2013 and 2014 while Darcy was drafted for last year’s match. They were both retained by WBFC this season and will play in the two matches against Melbourne FC on May 24 and August 16. It was fantastic for the Rebels players to be able to take part in training drills with Darcy and Aasta as they all aim to play in the AFL Women’s League planned for introduction in the next few years.

PHOTOS FROM AROUND THE REGION

Under 15 Academy participants at the final session for the year, which conducted at Western Bulldogs FC.

Local Auskickers lining up in preparation for Half Time Games at Eureka Stadium during the Western Bulldogs and Melbourne NAB Challenge clash.

Ballarat FL Under 15 squad preparing for their upcoming clash with the Riddell DFL

SPONSORS OF GOLDFIELDS AFCA