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Victory for football athlete, 2 November 2011
Mathew Lowe from Wonthaggi Soccer Club in Gippsland got a fantastic opportunity to meet some of his idols at the first Melbourne derby of the 2011/2012 A-League season.
Mathew ... on the field with Melbourne Victory
Mathew was part of the Gippsland Academy of Sport football program and is a keen Victory supporter. He was named as a train-on for the U14 Boys Country state team in 2011, and will once again feature for the Gippsland Knights in the VCL with the U15 boys.
A points system was put in place to reward good behavior throughout the Academy program, and Mathew was the deserved winner thanks to his excellent attendance, commitment, discipline and attitude towards developing himself in all areas of his game. Melbourne Victory wanted to congratulate Mathew on his great achievements this year and was more than happy to donate free tickets to Mathew and his whole family for the A-League's most exciting match.
One of the regular features at the end of many Academy training sessions were full field Heart vs. Victory matches, which among other things was designed to help promote the brand of Australian football and support for the A-League, where many of the Academy players are hoping to play one day in the future. Mathew, who is very polite and quietly spoken, says that his ambition in football is to "make the A-League, and hopefully play for Melbourne Victory because that's my favorite team."
It just so happened that support for Melbourne's two A-League clubs was split almost exactly down the middle, and so whenever numbers permitted, players would line up against each other and put into practice what they had been focusing on earlier in the session, but with a bit more spice and extra motivation to raise the quality of play and enjoyment.
On some occasions when players were away and teams could not be balanced evenly, scenarios were created such as one team playing for 30 minutes with 2 players less but also 2 goals up, and so both teams had to learn to deal with these kind of situations from opposite sides of the scoreboard without compromising playing good football, which was one of the key focuses of the Academy program.
In total 19 games were played, with Victory initially starting quite slowly, but slowly and surely they found their form and eventually came out on top with 8 wins to 6. In total there were 5 draws and Victory also scored 27 goals to Heart's 26.
The most exciting game was easily the last one for the whole program, where a 'winner takes all scenario' was played out for the entirety of the session (except for the warm up) and the intensity of the game was the highest it had been all year.
There was fantastic attacking football on show, some great goals, and even some last minute excitement with Victory coming from behind to secure a 4-3 win in the dying seconds.
"It was great fun to play the Heart vs. Victory games" Mathew said. "The Academy program was really good, I learnt a lot and met new friends".
Melbourne Victory would once again like to congratulate Mathew and all of the Gippsland Academy players, and looks forward to seeing some of them featuring in Victory colors in the near future!
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Academy football athletes on tour, 4 July 2011
The Gippsland Sports Academy Football Program will be undertaking a mini tour of Gippsland this weekend to promote the GSA as well as showcase Gippsland’s best U13 - U15 boys and girls to all the shires of Gippsland. The tour will include friendly matches against teams from Leongatha, Phillip Island and Bairnsdale, as well as a Futsal session at the Sale Regional Sports Complex. Two further friendly matches are also planned for August in Morwell and Baw Baw against teams from Melbourne.
Mini Tour friendly matches:
Sunday July 10 11am Leongatha vs. GSA
Sunday July 10 3pm Phillip Island vs. GSA
Monday July 11 3pm East Gippsland United vs. GSA
The GSA Football Program has a total of 30 players including 11 girls. Four of these are train-on players who are part of the VCL Country team playing in the Women's Premier League in Melbourne. The players come from many different areas within Gippsland including Sale, Wonthaggi, Phillip Island and Trafalgar, as well as Latrobe Valley. Five have so far been selected to represent their state, while another 11 are still in contention to make their respective state teams.
Head Coach Eugene Lawrenz, who is also Gippsland Knights Head Coach and a State coach for Victoria, said the friendly matches are a good chance for the players to put into practice what they have been working on in training in a no-pressure match environment. "Match play is a vital ingredient to a player's development, however just playing matches for the sake of it doesn't really achieve much. We aren't looking to get a result though, and we aren't really even looking to build a team as such, we are purely looking to gauge the progress of our group, the progress of individuals, and to get them to play free-flowing possession based football."
Eugene is also keen for local players, coaches and the general public to come out and watch the games. "People can get the chance to see where the standard is at the top of Gippsland, and what they need to do to get there in terms of style of play and technical qualities. It isn't rocket science but it does require a belief in playing football a certain way and also requires undertaking a methodical process as far as training goes to get to where you want to be."
Eugene works full time for Football Federation Victoria as Gippsland's Zone Development Officer and was previously assistant coach of the ACT Academy of Sport Women's Football Program. He currently holds an AFC 'B' Coaching Licence. Assistant coach for the program is Adrian Salvatore, who is also currently coach for the Falcons 2000 reserve ream in the Gippsland Soccer League. Goalkeeper coach is James Nicolopoulos, a current A-League referee and former National Youth League player. Both Adrian and James are qualified senior level coaches. All three coaches are young and motivated, having been educated in the new methods of coaching under the National Football Curriculum. "We go into great levels of detail in regards to planning and evaluation, and we are working hard to teach the players a new modern way of playing football, as well as the technical, tactical and mental demands required of players at elite levels. Every little extra thing we can give the players counts" Eugene said.
The Football Program will resume regular training on Monday July 18 at Latrobe City Sports Stadium in Morwell. They will continue to train every Monday and Wednesday night from 6:30pm until mid September. Local coaches are invited to attend training to observe and discuss the coaching methods and principles used by the coaching staff. Please email Head Coach Eugene Lawrenz at elawrenz@footballfedvic.com.au if you would like to come along one night.
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Footballers make Victorian teams, 23 June 2011
Gippsland Sports Academy football athletes are preparing to represent Victoria in the upcoming 2011 Football Federation Australia National Championships.
“It’s always very exciting when regional athletes are recognised for their hard work”, Gippsland Sports Academy Chief Executive Officer Judi Buhagiar said, “these young athletes play football almost all year round and their families sacrifice a lot, so this is a great reward for all involved” she added.
Sale’s Jacob Richardson will line up in goals for the Under 15 boys team. Tour details are currently being arranged with the team more than likely travelling to New Zealand as this age group no longer has national championships.
Churchill’s Lani Murdoch will join the Under 15 team while Churchill’s Tahlia Flake and Traralgon’s Isabella Scott have been selected to represent Victoria in the Under 14 age group.
All girls are preparing for the 2011 Football Federation Australia National Championships being played in Coffs Harbor from July 10 to July 16. In the meantime all players will also have the experience of attending a team camp in April. An evening has put aside for the presentation of jumpers in early July.
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Future stars put in the hard yards, 14 April 2011
from Anthony Grima (FFV)
The state’s best and brightest Under-17 female footballers have travelled from as far as Mildura and the Latrobe Valley to attend a Football Federation Victoria (FFV) training camp at Geelong Grammar School in Corio this week.
Many of the girls are already well on their way to establishing themselves on the women’s football scene, playing in the Women’s Premier League for VCL Country.
As well as training in an elite environment, the girls played two friendly matches against a side from the Tasmanian Institute of Sport (TIS).
The TIS won the first match 4-1 but the girls were able to rally for the second match to record a 2-2 draw.
These are encouraging results, considering the substantial experience and physical advantage of the TIS.
The long journeys taken by many of the players are not unusual, as Zoe Scott, 15, casually mentions that she flies from Mildura to Melbourne most weekends in order to follow her football dream.
“If we’ve got a game or training on Sunday, I’ll fly down on the 6:30(am) flight, train, play and then fly home on the 7:00pm flight,” she said.
“It’s a big ask, but I enjoy it.”
She is delighted to have been selected to attend the camp, as it is unlike anything she can get at home in Mildura.
“It’s not just your general training, where you grab a ball or do some laps,” she said.
“It’s more workouts, set plays, different tactics and team bonding.”
Sean Douglas, technical director for FFV and coach of VCL Country says that the main purpose of the program is to ensure that the girls get training and competition on a regular basis.
“If they stayed in their own country towns, they wouldn’t get this level of competition,” he said.
“It’s very important for them to get three or four training sessions a week, (whether that is) at the regional academies or their local club, as well as playing competitively in Melbourne.
“If they have any aspiration to play on an international level, they really need to be doing these sorts of things now.”
Formal partnerships created with professional sporting organisations such as the various regional academies of sport, allows FFV to provide a consistent approach to the delivery of the state development program.
The program includes an intense identification and development camp, access to better coaches, monitoring of player well-being by physiotherapists and sports science staff, and even links with current National Training Programs, National Youth League and W-League squads.
From here, the sky is the limit as to how far these girls can go. Whatever their future, the FFV support staff are determined to help them every step of the way.
“We’re looking to develop them all to their full potential and see where they can get to,” said Douglas.
Emma Gunn ... already scoring goals
“Some will get time with the NTC (National Training Centre), which is basically for girls in the Australian teams. So it’s for the Under-17s, Under-20s and Matildas as well as girls in line for the W League.”
Ellen Turner, 16, from Blackburn South, says that the whole experience really helps with developing as a team as well as an individual player.
“These types of programs are good because it gets all of the girls together and you merge as a team,” she said.
“You’re away from your parents so you have to rely on the other girls and the coaches which is a good experience especially if you want to be a good team.”
Emma Gunn, 15, travels from Hazelwood near Morwell and has only been playing football for two years and is already scoring goals for VCL Country.
“I was into netball all my life and I tried out for a team and they told me I was too short and too small,” she said.
“I was introduced to soccer because I didn’t know what to do for sport.
“Then I started playing at Churchill (local club), I played two seasons of (VCL) summer league and now I’m here.”
Despite her meteoric rise, Emma is keeping a cool head.
“I really want to travel overseas with my soccer and play in England or somewhere like that, but representing Victoria is my short term goal,” she said.
“I’ve got a long way to go, but everything has been great so far.”
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Academy's Gunn Player 28 February 2011
Young Emma Gunn from Hazelwood has been named the best and fairest player in the football champion's league Under 17 age group.
Emma Gunn
In only her third year of playing the sport Emma was also runner up in the golden boot challenge, seeing her score the second highest number of goals for the season. The young Gunn was recognised for her achievements at the gold medal night recently held at Etihad Stadium.
"Emma has just turned 15 so considering she was playing in the Under 17 age group and up against the best of the best in Victoria, she has really excelled," Gippsland Sports Academy CEO, Judi Buhagiar said.
"We are very proud of what she has achieved and excited about her potential," Judi added.
Emma had played netball locally for 7 years before being overlooked due to being regarded as too small. A family friend then introduced her to the sport of football and she has never looked back.
The modest young player says she had no idea that she would be in with a chance for the title of best and fairest and was happy to be there purely for the experience. Emma trained hard with the team twice a week and did additional training at home to ensure her fitness levels were the best they could be.
Emma also attributes her accurate shooting style to the Gippsland Sports Academy football programme which she was a member of in 2010.
Her sporting hero is Tim Cahill who Emma admires for his ability to score so often from his head even though he is not the tallest player out there.
After being voted best first year player in 2009 and winning a number of awards over the past 3 years, Emma intends to continue on as far as she can with the sport of football and hopes from her hard work she will eventually represent Victoria and then look to playing in England and for the Matildas.
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Soccer seven make teams for Nationals, 20 August 2010
Gippsland Sports Academy has had 7 young footballers selected into the Victorian Country under-14 and under-15 State Representative teams, following selection camps held in Bendigo recently.
“Everyone involved with the academy is very proud of these young boys and we know they will do themselves and us proud at the National Championships,” Executive Officer, Judi Buhagiar said, “this is what the academy is about giving young aspiring Gippsland athletes opportunities to prove themselves and reach their full potential.”
“Gippsland Sports Academy football head coach Chris Van Lambaart, has done a fantastic job in preparing these players for this opportunity,” Judi added.
The teams will play in the Football Federation Australia Boys National Youth Championships from September 27 to October 2 in Coffs Harbour. Games will be played at BCU International Stadium.
Keiran Coltman, Tommy Nguyen and Ashley Ross will line up in the under-15 Country State Team while in the under-14 Country State Team Jacob Richardson, Gianni Salvatore, Aloysio Ferriera and Dean Panayiotou will represent Gippsland.
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Football Squad hits the road, 5 July 2010
The Gippsland Sports Academy football squad trained at Sale United Football Club in Raglan Street, Sale recently.
The squad consists of under-13 to 16-year old players that have been nominated for State tryouts at the end of the year. This Gippsland Sports Academy program gives the athletes a chance to train with the best players in Gippsland at their age group before trying out with their respective state teams. Athletes also get an insight into recovery, psychology and nutrition sessions which are held approximately once a month.
“We were made to feel very welcome, the hospitality shown by Sale United’s President, Michael Mitchell and Barbara Sutton was greatly appreciated," Academy CEO, Judi Buhagiar said.
"We would like to thank them very much. We would also like to extend our gratitude to the Wellington Shire who allowed us the use of Aqua Energy Centre for our recovery session,” she added. “It’s generous support like this that encourages our young Gippsland athletes
to reach their full potential.”
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