See what Melbourne City FC’s community department have been up to over the past month with a wrap up of City Football Schools
City Football Schools wrap
January 2015 saw the successful completion of the second City Football Schools in Melbourne with coaches Andy Smith (Technical Director of Coaching, City Football Schools) and Alan Dixon (Project Manager, City Football Schools) leading the program.
Participants aged between 5 to 17 years old had experienced sessions that were highly informative, engaging and fun in a safe environment. They were asked the big question “Who could you become?” and encouraged to express themselves positively in a 1v1, 2v1 and 2v2 situation.
Using the combination of verbal and non-verbal communication such as an iPad to show highlights of Manchester City FC players (David Silva, Jesus Navas and Sergio Aguero), participants had the chance to emulate what they had just seen with bounds of energy and confidence.
This visual communication helped participants gather an understanding of how to attack with speed, use a skill to get past a defender, when to pass to get around a defender, how to support off the ball and score plenty of goals.
A highlight for many was the chance to train on the same pitch as the Melbourne City FC Senior and Youth team at La Trobe University and a surprise visit from tge Melbourne City FC players. David Williams, Massimo Murdocca, Tyler James and Leo Athanasiou provided an invaluable Q&A time for all participants who got some tips on how to be confident with the ball and what it takes to reach the Hyundai A-League.
Melbourne City FC Game Development Co-Ordinators Louisa Bisby and Simon Zappia also gained further football experience and coaching education from the coaches who attached personal cameras to assess their football sessions for self assessment and feedback adding to their coaching experience and qualifications.
Local coaches also got to experience the opportunity of learning the Manchester City FC way and how to get the best out of all young players regardless of their playing ability.
Thank you to all the participants and guardians who supported the City Football School Program.
SEDA Welcome Day
Over 100 SEDA students and the staff from six campuses converged on La Trobe University for the Melbourne City FC SEDA Welcome Day.
The day consisted of talks, tutorials and clinics to prepare the students for the tasks they will be expected to undertake during the SEDA program throughout 2015.
The students were kitted out in their new Melbourne City FC SEDA uniform and were also given a rundown of the expectations placed upon them as part of the program.
Dom Kennedy, Melbourne City FC coordinator at SEDA, said that the SEDA affiliation with Melbourne City FC gives the students opportunities and access to a pathway into the sporting world.
“They have the opportunity of developing a work skill set being involved in a major conglomerate with access to clinic and games” said Mr Kennedy.
It was also an opportunity for the Club to meet the new batch of students who will be working closely with Melbourne City FC to gain experience in a professional sporting club environment.
“We gain a wonderful work force of young people who can help us all our events, school clinics and match day because it is not possible for the three community team members to run the programs that we do” said Sue Crow, Head of Community at Melbourne City FC.
For more information on Melbourne City FC and SEDA, click here.
Midsumma Festival
Melbourne City FC attended the Midsumma and Team Melbourne Sports Festival at Footscray Park, Maribyrnong for the LGBTIQ Sporting Community’s official ‘give it a go’ day. From 9:30am to 4:30pm, members of the LGBTIQ Sporting Community had the opportunity to choose from 16 different sports to ‘give it a go’ with Melbourne City FC organising a football clinic run by Game Development Co-ordinator Louisa Bisby.
Working alongside Melbourne Rovers FC and volunteer Alex Mungall, participants gained the opportunity to develop new skills, move the ball quickly in tight areas, juggle, play ‘closest to the pin’ competition and small sided games. For Melbourne City FC it was a great opportunity to assist new players to develop their skills and help encourage them to join a club.
Ballarat Clinic
Melbourne City FC travelled to Ballarat to conduct a school holiday clinic at Morshead Park. Nearly 50 children participated and were lucky enough to play on the main synthetic pitch that had been used by Bahrain in preparation for the Asian Cup. Each child received a Melbourne City ball and enjoyed a range fun skills and games. The clinic was organised to promote the NYL game that was played against Sydney FC.
Melbourne City has also established a grant for local footballers in the Ballarat and Districts providing additional financial support.
Thank you to the City of Ballarat and ZDO David Broadbent for helping make this clinic a success.
