Eugene Lawrenz

After a few weeks of the new football season, if you have started to realise that you could do with some support and guidance, and would have actually benefitted from attending a coaching course or workshop in pre-season, you are in luck!

MWFA is pleased to confirm a new batch of coaching courses and workshops to give everyone another chance to pick up some new ideas, tips and skills.

MiniRoos Coaching Courses

This course is designed for coaches involved with age groups U6 to U11, as well as any new coaches looking for guidance and ideas of how to run fun and engaging training sessions. The course is fully practical and interactive.

Skill / Game Training Coaching Courses

These courses are designed to up-skill coaches of age groups U8 to U13, and U14+, respectively. Both are fully practical, with the Skill Training dealing with the development of the 4 Functional Game Skills (First Touch, Striking the Ball, Running with the Ball and 1 v 1), while the Game Training deals with the development of tactical awareness and applying the Functional Game Skills in a team setting.

Skill Training 

Game Training

Coach Workshops

These coach education opportunities compliment official FFA coaching courses, with topics based on feedback received on what coaches would find valuable. They are also often a chance to see an experienced coach working with an actual team of players from a local club similar to your own.

See here to register: https://manlyunited.wufoo.com/forms/mwfa-2022-coach-workshops-registration/

MWFA is pleased to announce that we will again be hosting a female only MiniRoos coaching course at Cromer Park this season, after 3 very successful female only courses over the last 2 years.

As an association, we are keen to celebrate and recognise the contribution females make to our sport, as well as develop more female coaches and role models for female players, so we believe offering a learning environment that is more welcoming for prospective female coaches is important.

We would like to encourage female parents, older siblings, senior players and even youth players from U14s and above to consider attending these courses if they might be interested in being involved in coaching. Any female coaches who have already done these courses but would still like to join in to support the event are more than welcome as well.

The courses will be presented by female Coach Developers, and all participants are also encouraged to bring a female friend or family member along to make it a more comfortable atmosphere.

Both courses are completely FREE, and there is no expectation that you will make a commitment to being a coach – just come along to learn about football and coaching in a fun, practical, and supportive environment.

MiniRoos Certificate

This course is designed to up-skill coaches of age groups U6 to U11, or just as a good introduction for coaches of any age group.

Monday April 4 @ Cromer Park

7:00pm to 9:30pm

Register here: https://education-ffa.sportingpulse.com/event.asp?ID=24796

MWFA would like to congratulate 18 local coaches for completing an intense 7 days of Coach Development on the recent FA C-Licence held at Cromer Park. It was a big challenge for everyone, but also a lot of fun with a lot of learning taking place, which they will now be able to pass on to their players and also other coaches.

The course was presented by MWFA Coach Development Manager Eugene Lawrenz and Manly United U20 Coach Nick Robb. There was a good spread of participants from the 17 clubs on the Northern Beaches, including 2021 Female Scholarship winners Emily Wood and Izzy Keech, as well as 7 coaches from the 2020 and 2021 Future Coaches Program. The group also work with a wide variety of age groups, levels and a good mix of both male and female players.

Football has come a long way since I first started playing and coaching, however there is still a significant way to go, especially in trying to engage more females into coaching roles within the sport. Undertaking this C-Licence course can be the first step towards making this happen. The course is relevant to the current time and expanded my knowledge in a number of areas that I hadn’t even considered as a coach. The course leaders and additional coaches challenged my way of thinking, but in a safe and positive environment where feedback and constructive criticism was welcomed. I thoroughly enjoyed the course and am excited to be a part of this next generation of quality female coaches.

• Emily Wood (Seaforth)

As a young female coach, I found the C-Licence course provided me with relevant and helpful information and tips to further develop me as a coach. The learning environment was incredible, and the interaction I had with the group encouraged us to share our own ways of coaching as well as getting to know each others coaching experiences. I felt intimidated going into a male dominant group, but after the first couple hours on day 1 I felt validated and respected and ended up meeting a mix of great coaches! I encourage more female coaches to consider this course, it’s well worth it.

• Izzy Keech (Dee Why)

MWFA would like to wish all of these coaches the best with their coaching moving forward, and commend them for their commitment to the never ending process of learning and personal development.

MWFA will look to host more FA/AFC C-Licence coaching courses later this year in the post season period and into the future.

In the meantime, all interested coaches are strongly encouraged to undertake official FA community coaching courses in the first instance. See here for more information: https://www.mwfa.com.au/coaching-courses/

Luke Collins has called the Northern Beaches home for the past 25 years, after growing up in Epping. He loves the water though, so he was always destined to live by the beach.

“Growing up I was always very active. I enjoyed doing anything that involved a ball or the water. This included rugby union, basketball, cricket, surfing and kayaking to name but a few.”

Like many others, Luke found himself interested in coaching when his daughter started playing football for Brookvale, and during the past 2 seasons, he was co-coach of her U10 and U11 team. Although he has played 20 years of team sports, he had only played football in primary school, and so because of this lack of football experience, he initially completed the Skill Training Certificate 2 years ago.

“The course opened my eyes up to the great resources available via the MWFA, if you are willing to allow yourself to be teachable and prioritise learning. We can become a bit fixed in our way of thinking when we develop a few grey hairs, however when I attended the course, I found Eugene Lawrenz’s teaching style really resonated with me.”

After realising the benefit of these Coach Development sessions, Luke decided to apply for the Future Coaches Program towards the end of 2021.

“What really impressed me very early on was the culture Eugene created. The group all committed to challenging each other in a supportive environment to lift the bar to be the best coaches we could be, and this hasn’t dropped since day one. I found myself having a bit of difficulty trying to sleep after the sessions, as I was buzzing after the experience. I enjoy coming together with other likeminded coaches who equally appreciate the importance of their development.”

On the momentum of attending the Future Coaches Program, Luke also started his C-Licence, and he feels completing the two courses together has turbo charged his learning.

“The course opened my eyes to the bigger picture a community coach plays. We are like a cog in the machine of developing Australia’s football talent of the future, and it is very hard for more senior coaches to “patch up” any missed prior learning. I also had to reflect on what I considered to be my biggest challenges in coaching, and what initially came to mind was how do I coach a desire for continual self-improvement, but at the same time teach self-acceptance, as these two can seem contradictory. I am working on cracking the magic formula to getting this balance right through creating a similar kind of challenging but supportive environment.”

Luke is eagerly awaiting the commencement of the 2022 season to see how he can apply what he has learnt.

“The true magic for me happens with what kids can learn from team sports, for example how a closely contested loss where the team gives everything will provide far more development then an easy win. Perceived failure teaches you things about yourself that you don’t learn from success. I am also passionate about kids being healthy and active – I remember reading a quote that kids make up 20% of the population but 100% of the future, so I can’t for the life of me think of a better passion project then being part of your child’s sporting development, having fun and coming together as a community in a healthy context. I would hope to bring a love of movement to any team I coach, that extends beyond the sidelines and playing careers.”

MWFA is looking forward to seeing Luke’s continued positive influence on his players and the football community.

Look out for more articles on other MWFA Future Coaches over the coming months.

MWFA is pleased to confirm dates, topics and locations for several pre-season Coach Workshops at various clubs, with even more during the season to be confirmed in the coming months.

These coach education opportunities compliment official FFA coaching courses, with topics based on feedback received on what coaches would find valuable. See here for more information on official coaching courses: https://www.mwfa.com.au/2021/01/28/new-coaching-courses-confirmed/

All MWFA Coach Workshops are completely FREE, but registration is required.

See here to register: https://manlyunited.wufoo.com/forms/mwfa-2021-coach-workshops-registration/

Giuseppe Barillari is an Italian coach with a strong passion for football.

“I grew up with this amazing sport and played this game for many years, and when I reached 26 years old I started to coach kids from 6-8 and 8-11.”

He came to Australia a few years ago, but before this he coached a Futsal team in the Italian C2 division. It is through these experiences that he developed a firm belief on what coaching football is about.

“Coaching for me is a more than teaching some tactics and drills, it’s a way to direct people to mutual respect, empathy, desire to improve, and sacrifice with a mix of fun and hard work. I still believe that sport, and definitely football, can change and improve our lives. Being a coach for me means being a mentor for a different generation, a different culture, different attitudes and different social relations, and bringing everyone together in the same direction to achieve the same goal.”

Giuseppe has taken the initiative to develop himself as a coach, attending several courses and workshops over the last 12 months. These reinforced many things for him about how a coach should approach their role.

“Football is a synonym of life. Obviously being a mentor means to also have strong experience. Being competent and organised is a MUST, but these are also attributes needed to win. I do my best all the time, which for me means being an example to follow, being punctual, being passionate but calm, and being patient and honest.”

Giuseppe only recently got back into coaching since moving to Australia, assisting Jorge Cabaco (another Future Coach from 2019) with his AL2 team at Dee Why in the second half of the 2020 season. He is looking forward to finding more opportunities to coach again in the future.

“I’m starting the C-Licence course in October, and I’m planning to coach again soon. I have a lot to share and that I want to give to the football world.”

MWFA is looking forward to seeing what else Giuseppe is able to give the sport in Australia in the future.

Applications for the 2020 MWFA Future Coaches Program are now open. See here for more information: https://www.mwfa.com.au/2020/09/22/2020-future-coaches-program-applications-now-open/

MWFA are excited to announce the four recipients of the Female Coaching Scholarship for 2020.

This scholarship program, which doubled in size this year, is offered as part of the MWFA’s commitment to increasing the number of female coaches on the Northern Beaches. It was a tough decision on who to select with several very strong applications being received, but we are confident that all four recipients will make full use of this opportunity and become great role models for other female coaches. The winners are:

Sai van Wegen (Wakehurst)

Tess McGrath (Seaforth)

Kiah Kennedy (Manly Allambie)

Marilinda Winter (Manly Vale)

All four coaches will receive funding to attend the FFA C-Licence at Cromer Park (either the Senior C-Licence in November or the Youth C-Licence in February), along with ongoing mentoring, opportunities to develop new skills, and give back by sharing what they’ll learn with other female players and coaches.

MWFA would like to congratulate all four coaches and we wish them the best of luck with their upcoming C-Licence course. We would also like to encourage the other applicants and all other female coaches to continue their development, and MWFA will continue to look for more ways to provide you with support in the 2021 season.