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Planning began at the Mt Burr United Football Club in June 2010 for a regional coaching clinic. Long standing Mt Burr coach, Maurie Puiatti and then club president, Stephen Finch set the wheels in motion to continue the ongoing promotion of junior football at Mt Burr but at a higher level.
In conjunction with the Glenelg football club, a date was set to coincide with the Glenelg bye so that their players could travel to the South East to promote their club during “country week”. Brenton Hole from Glenelg had ongoing talks with the Burr over this time to create a great day for the youth of country South Australia to enjoy. The aim was to give them a chance to meet and interact with other regional kids, local senior players, coaches and Glenelg League players.
“The day was all about the kids,” club treasurer Ron Buwalda said, “We charged $5.00 per child for the clinic which was enough to cover advertising and promotion, it was never to raise funds, but to promote skill development for juniors”. Invitations were sent to all Mid South East football clubs and to all local schools and some sporting bodies in the region to offer youth from the ages of 8 - 14 years the opportunity to participate locally in a quality coaching program, a first for the area. On Sunday August 7th, the sun shone on the Mt Burr oval and at ten o’clock registrations starting arriving. Eighty seven children registered and eagerly ran down the race onto the oval while their parents watched, enjoying coffee, home-made soup and hotdogs with the sun on their backs.
Coach Maurie Puiatti had seven stations set up around the oval and with the assistance of the Glenelg players and senior Mt Burr players, the youngsters formed groups to begin developing new skills and improve on existing ones. Senior players who coached on the day included Adam Weise, Scott Bevan, Shane Bradley, Mark Kruger, Peter Guyett, Mark Teagle, Chris Puiatti, Clint Gallio, Brodie Hennink and Dylan Gamble as well as Mt Burr coach’s Geoff Medhurst, David Wallis and Ian Perryman. Scott Bevan said, “I really enjoyed coaching the young fella’s today, it’s great to do something like that for the community”. Participants were divided into age groups and the seven station workouts included tackling, hand balling, running and bouncing, kicking, marking, goals and team work. After the half way point of the clinic when the kids enjoyed oranges segments and cold drinks they were divided into six teams to play three short separate games of football across the oval.
All coaches ensured the day was fun as well as giving the participants the opportunity to play skilfully, to make new friends and to operate as a team during the clinic. Stephen Finch said, “Quality coaching is a vital part of junior football. Coaches are the primary reason why players either stay or leave football. We are very lucky to have had the likes of Maurie Puiatti at the Burr who has coached almost every player we currently have. We have great depth of skill and talent rising from our junior ranks and this all stems from the belief in looking after our juniors.” He added, “Mt Burr is a family orientated club and has a strong member base committed to juniors. At an age where peer groups are of great importance, football offers a sense of belonging and acceptance and our junior program values being part of a team.”
The clinic concluded with a Glenelg player addressing the young group regarding what it takes for a country athlete to make it to a higher level of football. Every participant received a bag of AFL giveaways donated by almost every AFL club with items including beanies, scarves, pencil cases, footy cards, posters and hats and they then enjoyed a free sausage sizzle and fruit boxes on the hill.
Last Modified on 11/08/2011 23:29