Northern Suburbs Football Association launched ‘XLR8 Player Development Programs’ in 2018 to meet the growing demand from clubs and members for professional football coaching.
XLR8 launched with the vision to strengthen grassroots football by providing all community players with the opportunity to access high-quality coaching and player development opportunities. In doing so, XLR8 will strengthen the technical foundation for all players within NSFA and raise the quality of football and player engagement with the world game.
All NSFA player development and coaching programs were rebranded under XLR8, as well as launching new programs to meet the market and needs of playing members.
XLR8 programs can be broadly split into two categories; association-wide programs whereby anyone can enter and participate; and in-club programs, whereby participants of these programs must be members of an XLR8 partnered club.
XLR8 partnered with nine NSFA clubs in 2018, offering a wide range of programs to suit the individual vision and needs of the clubs. These clubs include Asquith SC, Berowra FC, Chatswood Rangers FC, Hornsby Heights FC, Hornsby RSL FC, North Sydney United FC, North Turramurra FC, Turramurra United FC and Willoughby Dalleys. Through in-club programs, XLR8 provided player development opportunities such as team coaching, individual skill training sessions, goalkeeper academy and the XLR8 collaborative coaching program, which provides mentoring to NSFA club coaches whilst they coach their team.
In-club programs catered for all age groups and ability levels, from MiniRoos to Over 35’s. During the season, XLR8 delivered 85 sessions, with a total of 1,350 players influenced each week via its in-club programs.
XLR8 association-wide programs also increased in presence and offerings throughout the 2018 season. Regular programs such as ‘Football School’, holiday clinic programs and the Women’s Skill Training continued to be delivered, along with the introduction of new programs such as XLR8 Goalkeeper Academy, Tiger Cubs (Players Under 5) and Small Group Coaching (aimed at aspiring players from Under 10 + from NSFA clubs and Northern Tigers FC).
The XLR8 rebrand and impact on the association is concluded to have been extremely positive throughout the 2018 season, epitomised by the staggering July XLR8 Holiday Clinic participant numbers, which exceeded 620 players, surpassing the last highest attendance of 340 attendees.
XLR8 is a key strategy within the NSFA 2020 Strategic plan to improve the football experience of players and coaches throughout the association. XLR8 has gained considerable success due to unique vision to improve individual playing experience as well as the reinvestment of all funds back into the NSFA.
XLR8 will continue to provide unique player development experiences to the NSFA community with sights set on becoming the only coaching provider within the NSFA within 5 years.
We would like to thank the following coaches for delivering all our programs in 2018: Daniel Alessi, Anders Balle, Kiran Best, Raphael Blanchon, Eliza Campbell, Elliot Carwardine, Kaitlyn Chan, Braden Cheng, Quentin Cheng, Pierre Citta, Saoirse Cobbe, Alex Cole, James Conn, Matt Davey, Alex Di Ciano, Matthew Di Ciano, Daniel Febo, Danilo Gama, Amber Glew, Sarah Gordon, Genevieve Ingham, Irini Kacopieros, Harry Kaye, Jake Kellow, Luke Klusman, Penelope Knox, Joshua Lazarus, Jun Huek (John) Lee, Eilidh Mackay, Hamish Mahon, Heidi Makrillos, Hannah McNulty, Zachary Morris, Scott Morris, Karim Moursi, Saskia Newman, Nick Pagano, Ben Riley, Matthew Rootsey, Chris Sciberras, Ben Stibilj, Oliver Stickland, Rhys Treasure,Craig Tyrie, Jack Wall-Coltman,Christopher Watts, Elliot Wheeler, Ollie Wheeler.
This report is part of the 2018 NSFA Annual Report – view the full document here.