karonsaunders

Gonzalo Naya grew up in Uruguay where he played senior football, and also started coaching the U18s at his club 3 years ago, before more recently coming to Australia to study an MBA. His plan was to take a break from football, but this only lasted about one month, as he started playing again for a little bit and then decided to focus on coaching. His first coaching role was with the U15s at Harbord Seasiders, and he now works at Manly United assisting the U14 AYLs, as well as working for an academy.

I thought it would be tough to stop playing after 30 years, but now I have found that I have a greater passion for coaching. Coaching and educating gives me more satisfaction because I can give more to others.

So what are the differences that Gonzalo has noticed between South American football and Australian football?

In South America we live football with passion. Its everyones first passion, because the quality of life is not the same there and football is an escape. Football can give people hope and something positive in their lives.

Is there something we can learn from this and apply in Australia?

I think it is very important to consider the environment you create with the team you are coaching, and ask them to consider why we play football. There are values we can teach as a coach such as working hard for your teammates, praising effort before talent, and encouraging a growth mindset. South Americans also have a proactive mentality when it comes to taking responsibility for dealing with setbacks rather than just giving up. Players need to develop more perseverance and resilience in Australia.

Luis Suarez is Gonzalos favourite player, and he tells a story from Suarezs career to illustrate his point.

Suarez was in the first team of Nacional as a teenager, and he was whistled by his own supporters. He then went to a small team Holland and worked hard, always with his mind on his dream. His wife had to move to Barcelona for family reasons, and he told her he would one day play there so they could be together.

And what about coaches developing themselves as well?

I think coaching should be supported by the best knowledge. I think we as youth development coaches have a big responsibility to be pillars for kids, and so we have to be highly prepared. Football it is my passion and I am committed to becoming the best coach I can be, which is why I am taking all the courses I possibly can, including doing the C-Licence soon, as well as looking to acquire as much knowledge as possible through reading books, watching games and informal football discussions.

Gonzalos dream is to go back to Uruguay one day to become a professional senior coach there.

I want to start as a youth coach and gain enough experience there first, but eventually I want to be a senior coach because its the highest level and I want the highest level of challenge. In the future I hope to work with a high level senior team in Australia at some point, starting as an assistant coach and eventually becoming a head coach. Then I want to give back to my country because I am patriotic and my passion was born there to be honest, I would prefer to coach my team (Penarol) than Barcelona. Most people get their role models or idols from football, so if the first team can be a good example in terms of behaviour, values and attitude, then it will have a positive influence on society because people will follow their example.

MWFA is looking forward to seeing Gonzalo develop as a coach and hopefully achieving his dream one day.

Look out for more articles on other MWFA Future Coaches in the coming weeks.

FUTURE COACH PROFILE: SAI VAN WEGEN

Sai van Wegen has been at Wakehurst since the age of 6, and currently plays in the AL1/PL reserves squad. She started coaching one of their U15 girls teams last season, and is also currently working in the Manly United GSAP program with the Girls Development Squad, which is players from U10s to U13s.

Last season I felt like I was in the deep end when I was asked to coach, but I wanted to be the best coach I could be, which lead me to finding the coach workshops that MWFA were providing. They were huge eye opener because of my fitness background, and they helped me understand how to make my sessions more football based and fun, while also incorporating fitness into them. I hope to continue to gain more experience in Manly and progress as a coach because I am passionate about developing female football players.

Sai also wants to be a role model to help grow the number of female coaches in football.

I believe hard work, commitment and gaining as much knowledge as you can on coaching and football will help any aspiring coach. I did several courses with MWFA, and I want to get my C-Licence in the near future too, plus Im part of the Future Coaches Program. Youre never too young or old to start coaching and really get a lot of enjoyment out of it.

And what has been her most memorable experience so far?

When my team won a game for the first time last year after a tough previous season, and seeing how excited the girls and parents were. I was even more proud of them when they ended up making semi-finals at the end of the season, and all the girls want to play again next year.

Sai also has a business called The Performance Elements (www.theperformanceelements.com.au) which is another way in which she helps players, in particular females, to grow.

This first year of coaching has taught me a lot. Im really passionate helping players who are looking to have fun and develop their skills and fitness in competitive, game-based sessions.

MWFA is looking forward to seeing Sai progress as a coach and reaching her potential over the next few years. Look out for more articles on other MWFA Future Coaches in the coming weeks.

The first part of the 2019 Future Coaches Program concluded recently, moving into a more 1-on-1 mentoring format during the 2020 season.

There was a lot of interest in the program, with 15 initial applications eventually being sent in, and the group finally settling into a good size of 10 coaches in total. This included people from a wide variety of backgrounds, ages and levels of experience, as well as different ambitions and motivations for being involved in the program. The common theme between all of them was their attitude and desire to improve as a coaches, which meant the bar was set very high throughout.

Part 1 of the program consisted of 10 weekly sessions, with a lot of the content being chosen by the participants. Workshops were run on topics such as designing training sessions, tactical analysis, leadership, and understanding how the brain works, while a lot of self-reflection and peer feedback also took place as coaches presented about themselves and where they wanted to go with their coaching. Many of the coaches also attended various other MWFA courses and workshops that were organised during the same period, while several special guests (all with connections to Manly Warringah) were invited to share their experiences and advice to the group, including Sydney FC NPL Head Coach Jimmy van Weeren and FCA President Phil Moss.

Look out for profiles on each of the Future Coaches on the MWFA website in the coming weeks.

The Future Coaches Program will run again in October this year for anyone ready to get out of their comfort zone and keen to take advantage of a similar personal development opportunity.