Words: Garry McKenzie

Palm Beach SC Women coach Dave Thompson is eager to continue developing the club’s successful Youth Women as part of the senior setup in 2016.

Thompson guided Sharks to a first placed finish in the PlayStation® 4 NPL Queensland 2015 Youth Women’s division before being appointed to take the reins of the club’s Women’s team for next season.

His appointment predated subsequent changes to the age rules in PlayStation 4 NPL Queensland Women’s competition for 2016.

However, while Thompson concedes he did not foresee the age rules changes, he is excited by the prospect of helping his former youth players to become seniors next season.

“I had made a commitment to the team before the end of last season that if I could I would stay with them next year,” Thompson explained.

“It will be a big step up from last year and I'm very pleased I will get the chance to work with them again. We have a lot of good young talent and if they work as hard this year as they did last I'm sure we will do very well.”

Thompson’s football experience was forged playing in the North-West and West Midlands of England before moving to Australia at the turn of the millennium.

Thompson coached Gold Coast community club Mudgeeraba and the region’s youth representative sides, before his trophy winning stint at Palm Beach.

Thompson praised the quality of the Youth Women’s team, but said the main reason for their success in 2015 was team spirit.

“The main strength in my mind was how well they worked together and supported each other in games and at training. It was good to see player who were still fifteen being helped along by the older players,” he said.

Thompson is now looking to bolster his young squad after admitting many members of Sharks’ 2015 senior team were unlikely to return in 2016.

He said he was delighted with the response to recent trials, which has seen aspiring footballers from as far afield as Tamworth in New South Wales eager to break into PlayStation 4 NPL Queensland competition.

“I'm very pleased with the quality of the players that have come to the trials and it makes it so hard to pick the team from them all,” Thompson concluded.