Over the past few months the NSFA Coach Development Team has been running various initiatives to upskill and support our local coaches.
“It’s been fantastic to engage different groups within our coaching community during the last half of this season,” commented NSFA Coach Development Manager Jake Stephenson.
“We believe that continuing to invest in our local coaches will provide the best long-term outcomes for players within our region.”
Read more about what’s been happening down below!
Goalkeeper Coaching Workshop
Earlier this month we were fortunate to have one country’s leading specialist goalkeeping coaches, Davide Del Giovine, deliver a bespoke workshop for NSFA coaches.
Coaches were able to ask Davide a magnitude of questions relative to their coaching context, leading to practical delivery on the ground – whilst highlighting the importance of video at the end!
NSFA are keen to continue to support and develop all coaches across the game – keep an eye out for more Goalkeeping initiatives in the future.
C Licence Assessment
Following prior curtailed seasons, in July we were delighted to provide an opportunity for previous Football Australia Advanced C-Licence Candidates to finalise their assessments through an initiative new to NSFA in the form of a live assessment evening.
Assessors Jake Stephenson and Chris Adams worked in partnership with Football NSW to ensure previous NSFA C-Licence candidates had an additional opportunity to gain their accreditations after previously attending the advanced coaching course. After weeks in planning and a few wash outs, the coaches were organised – and embraced the opportunity with positivity and support for each other.
Youth Coach Development Program
In the July school holidays we saw another batch of young coaches upskilling themselves through our third Youth Coach Development Program of the year, taking a total of nearly 50 young coaches coming through this program in 2022!
Mid-Season Blocked Approach Opportunities
Throughout the month of June we conducted a series of mid-season coach development opportunities in line with the new Blocked Approach released at the beginning of the year.
We welcomed 26 participants on the ‘Block 1 – Online Introduction to Coaching’ module, with a further 18 new budding coaches transferring over to the subsequent ‘Block 2- How We Coach’. Brilliant participants, engaging group and helped each other along the way – that is what coach development is about.
Progressing into the Block 3 options, we had 12 coaches elect to earn their Skill Training Certificates (coaching ages 9-13) by completing Block 3 ST, and 15 coaches complete their Game Training Certificate after attending Block 3 GT.
Coaches were supported by NSFA Coach Developers in achieving their qualifications over the weekend, with coach RJ from Lane Cove testifying; “I learned a lot and immediately put some of the lessons into practice. The U9s responded really well and we managed to put some of the training into a game immediately. It was very very rewarding to see how the players were able to use their new skills and the exercises we did in games! This is what makes me love coaching!”