THE Countdown to the start of the WRFL season has officially begun. Today we profile the Williamstown Juniors Football Club.
The WRFL spoke to Williamstown Juniors president Michael Furlong about the 2016 season.
How has the pre-season been, any exciting news?
With the introduction of 17’s this year we have requested that they are included in the pre-season training program with the under 19’s squad for CYMS amateurs.
Our Director of Coaching introduced the WJFC Junior Summer Academy which met for skills and development training for 1.5 hours on a Wednesday night before Christmas. The coaching academy was open to all players that were not playing a summer sport and wanted to maintain fitness and get a head start to the pre-season. Most weeks we had between 20-30 kids attend from the under 13’s and up.
What are your expectations for the new season as a club?
This is the second year of the Coaching Pathways Program. During the implementation year (2015) we found that the training sessions were more fun for the kids, that they were more engaged in training and enjoyed training more because they felt that there was a specific purpose of the drills, linked back to the game plan. With most of the coaches reapplying for 2016, the objective is to drill down to individual plans for the kids and to work on specific skills per player, rather than simply as a group of kids
Being a string junior club, we have high expectations to play deep into the finals series and even on Grand Final day for both levels A and C levels for Under-11’s Under-12’s, Under-13’s and Under-14’s.
Our under 15’s were premiers last year in the C division and we expect that they will be lifted up a grade. They should be very competitive in the higher division.
In 2016 the committee has made a conscious effort to focus on providing the kids with the all the equipment needed, all the training programs, and the coaching education equivalent to best practice / AFL guidelines for junior football. We want to ensure our kids have the best opportunity they can to be the very best players they can be.
Any staff/coaching or manager changes at your club?
Our under 8’s & 9’s coaches have yet to be appointed. This generally takes place much closer to the start of the season given that many of the newer players have not registered as yet.
We are lucky enough to have Josh Vanderloo part of our coaching squad in 2016 – Josh is employed by the AFL and was formerly the National Game Development Manager, his new role is in the area of female football development.
Our Under 14’s C Coach has stepped up from an assistant/support role in 2015 to take the reins of the C’ squad.
This is also the second year for the committee.
Approximately, how many teams will you be fielding this year?
At this stage the plan is to have 16 -17 sides from under-8’s to under-17’s with the aim to also rush through a junior girls side
Upcoming events?
The club is running the New Families Meet and Greet on April 28 between 10.00am and 12pm.
On Sunday, April 3 we are holding our Season Launch and Family Day.
On Friday April 8 we are holding our Official Season Launch and Sportsperson’s Night.
For more information on training for their junior club contact:
Anthony McDonald – Football Registrar
0402 951 113
registrar@williamstownjuniors.com.au
Marty Bokma – Footy Operations
0432 322 269
footyops@williamstownjuniors.com.au
Related:
DAY 31 - Glen Orden
DAY 32 - St Bernards
Last Modified on 10/03/2016 13:54