Western Pride are aiming to foster a greater connection between the club’s junior and senior teams following the announcement of the club’s mentor programme for the 2014 season.

The initiative was unveiled at Pride’s Junior Season Launch last Friday night, and will see the club’s senior players assigned to a junior team they will mentor throughout the season at training sessions and club social activities.

While the concept has been whole-heartedly embraced by the club at all levels, Pride General Manager Pat Boyle was eager to point out that the initiative was the brain child of senior men’s captain Niall McCarthy.

“For Niall to come up with that idea – and ultimately it was Niall, so full credit to him – it’s just going to alleviate that division between juniors and seniors,” Boyle explained.

“It’s something for the kids to aspire to, they see those guys and they say ‘there’s one of the senior players’, that’s the buzz we want around this club.”

“We are one club and that’s what we are trying to promote,” he emphasised.

McCarthy explained that the concept flowed from his experiences gaining his coaching qualifications several years ago, and that as a recently formed club, Pride had the potential to foster an all-encompassing club culture from the outset.

“Each of the junior teams will have three players allocated to them and they will rotate, so they get involved with the training sessions, the kids learn their names and the will be able to assist the coaches as well,” McCarthy said.

“I’d previously been the junior technical director down at Redlands United a couple of years ago and I got a lot from that experience.”

“I realised our senior players could not only give back to the juniors but also learn from the experience at the same time.”

“So the idea behind the mentor programme was not only to connect the seniors with the juniors on a weekly basis, but at the same time our seniors learn about the club and coaching.”

“It’s not just on the park, it will be off the park as well,” McCarthy said citing activities like regular team barbecues where the senior players can further connect with Pride’s junior base.

McCarthy said the mentors will also attend junior games when the senior schedule permits, and that he believed that support would be reciprocated by the juniors supporting the seniors at home matches.

“There were some games last year where there were some good support but we want to build on that,” McCarthy said.

“If we can get a handful of teams come down regularly to watch it brings the atmosphere to the games.”

“It’s always great fun playing in front of people, and if they are young kids who aspire to play like we do then that is great for the game.”

McCarthy said the Pride was more than a nickname, it was a key part of the ethos of the club.

“We call ourselves the Priders, and the seniors and the juniors before we kick-off we put out hands in and we call out ‘Priders!’

“Right the way through we identify ourselves as that from the juniors, the seniors, the committee, and the families involved – we are proud of this club.”

“We are not another United, the club has a unique name to it and that’s a good thing.”

The Pride’s senior men’s side, including high profile senior head coach Kasey Wehrman, were present at the junior launch, which was hosted by Ipswich breakfast radio personality Mike Byrne.

The boys and girls teams from across the NPL age divisions were presented with their jerseys for the upcoming season at the club’s new Briggs Roar home base by Pride Club Patron Gary Wilkins and Football Ipswich Chairman Todd Hunt.

The event proved a great success with over 300 players, coaches and parents on hand to usher in the club’s second season of NPL Queensland football.

The club’s senior season launch will be held February 21^st at Brigg’s Road Sporting Complex.

 

Words & Image: Michael Flynn (Football Queensland)