Having briefly enjoyed a junior career at Port Melbourne and Heidelberg United before injury cut his playing days short, Yanni Galanis moved onto the tactical side of the game, earning his coaching badges (most recently an AFC B license) and became synonymous with Haileybury College’s football program while also being involved at the FFV in a coaching and scouting capacity. Arriving at Caulfield United Cobras – which didn’t have a women’s program – in 2011, Galanis built a team from scratch and enjoyed three successive promotions, with the reward a chance to compete in the WPL for the first time.
In between preparing his players for the challenge ahead while frantically seeking to replace his two departed central defenders, the Cobras coach took some time out to speak to The Corner Flag about his coaching journey, the impressive progress his side has made over the past three years, and how they’ll tackle their maiden WPL campaign.
Pre-Season Q&A – Moreland Zebra’s Riccardo Marchioli
Pre-Season Q&A – Heidelberg United’s Bill Mihaloudis
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Mark Gojszyk (MG): When did you start at Caulfield, what was the state of the club then compared to what it is now under your guidance?
Yanni Galanis (YG): I started at Caulfield in December 2011 with the first season being State 3, 2014. There was no women’s structure or program and the club approached me to start a women’s program, in particular a senior women’s team. I’ve coached for a long time and have been in and out of the game due to my commitments with work and coaching in the girls APS School System taking up a great deal of time.
I had just finished coaching the Southern Blue Tongue Women in the Victorian Champions League and needed a rest from the winter competition and had some other clubs approach me which I declined. However, starting a new team from scratch did appeal to me. I met the president, George Karagounis, for a few hours and liked what I heard and went away to think about it. The more time went on the more the challenge interested me so we decided to give it a go. I put my feelers out and attracted some of my past players which gave us a solid base to work with and it just grew from there.
MG: A hat-trick of consecutive promotions is no easy feat. What do you attribute to the team’s success over the past three seasons?
YG: It has been an amazing journey, really. I am a very highly motivated person and gave myself five years to get us into the top flight. However, to do it within three successive promotions has been a dream journey for the whole club. The support from the committee, in particular our president, has been something that has made the coaching staff and players’ jobs that much easier. Anything we have asked for the club has been forthcoming, as they truly believed in the women from the word go. Our success has not come by accident, as everyone from the outset was prepared to work hard together to improve. We managed to pick up some high quality girls that I knew from my previous coaching appointments which made sure we would have a very competitive spirit in the team.
The big part for us and the success is due to our girls and how much they had embraced all our new initiatives. We made sure we put in structures from the outset which was quite new to a lot of the girls and they just embraced it with open arms. Firstly, we worked on strategy, which is the way we want to play, our patterns of play and how we set up. Under that, we really worked on leadership and developing certain players into leadership roles on the park. We talked about teamwork and commitment. I think when everyone understands what their roles and responsibilities are, you get that teamwork and commitment, which then becomes confidence. All the little things add up to great things, so we’re focused on achieving those to get good outcomes and before we knew it we were on this ride which never seemed to stop so the confidence grew and grew.
Three successive promotions! Meet Caulfield United Cobras WSC, the @wplvictoria‘s newcomers for 2015: http://t.co/BPoze9f5r0 #WPLVIC
— Sportsmart WPL (@wplvictoria) September 16, 2014
MG: Have you been able to keep most of the squad together over this time? Have they learnt and progressed as a tight-knit bunch?
YG: We have been very lucky as we have managed to keep the core of our players every year and with the addition of 3 to 4 new players every year it has enabled us to keep improving, which has been a key to our success. If you looked at our team from its inception, there would be about 6 players in the current starting line and the rest are new. Having a reserves team in 2014 enabled us to keep most of the original girls which has been a bonus for us. All the girls are just amazing people and to be able to keep them around the club has been a real positive influence for all the other girls and the coaches.
MG: Especially in the women’s game, how difficult is it to balance football with school, work and personal commitments? How do you work around all that with the girls?
YG: Very difficult for both players and coaches. From a coaching point of view, being in the teaching profession where I am Head of Department and also Head of Girls’ Football, it takes a huge toll on my family life and trying to find the correct balance is difficult. I am lucky I have a very understanding family who supports my footballing passion.
From the players point of view, I learnt a long time ago that you cannot treat the women as you do the men. Women play the game for different reasons and they have very different needs from the men. Yes you need to have all your structures in place but you also must understand that women are balancing more commitment than men who play the game.
We try to have the girls lead our rules regarding what is acceptable and what is not – this way they are accountable not only to the coaches, but also to their peers. All our girls also know that with me being in the education system, I understand that when it comes to school commitments, they will always take precedence over football. This is a rule that I make non-negotiable for all our girls and this way they do not have to feel guilty. With regards to work commitments, we tackle that on early in the year when all girls fill in the initial goal setting form. This way, if any issues arise we can try and find a solution.
MG: What is your footballing approach/philosophy?
YG: At the start of every year we always do a theory session on structures, training schedule, coaching philosophy, team structure and our goal setting. This helps the new girls. However, it is always a revolving document as my philosophy is consistently evolving. It is based on proactive based possession football, with quick direct passing and plenty of movement of the ball.
When I introduce my philosophy to the girls, I always mention three points: discipline, communication and team unity. All these fit not only how we want to play the game, but also how we want our whole club to operate. From here, we can go on and talk about how we want each line to play and where we want them moving, both in the attacking and defensive phase. Suffice to say, we always aim to score more goals than the opposition.
MG: Will your approach be any different to the upcoming season now that you’re in the top flight and taking on players that have featured in the W-League?
YG: We have had our two key defenders depart the club. One has gone to the USA for a scholarship and another has departed due to work commitments. We need to desperately replace them and also pick up some experienced players as we are quite a young team. How we go with this will determine how we approach the 2015 WPL season.
We are all under no illusions that it will be a big jump from State 1 and we’ll need to work that much harder to ensure we have a successful season. How successful will be determined after our pre-season in January. The one thing that is clear after watching many of the WPL games is that transition will play a big part in how we structure up next year. Not only transitioning when we are attacking, but also critically how we transition when we lose the ball.
MG: What are your thoughts International Women’s Day as a symbol of celebration of women and football to open the season?
YG: I think it is a great initiative and am very happy for the Caulfield United Cobras to be part of this day. To be able to play our small part in women’s equality around the world is something we should all be proud to be part of. People might not be aware that International Women’s Day has been observed for more than 100 years. What I would like to see is maybe a weekend of festivities for this event with the Senior WPL Players being involved with the juniors so we can be good role models and inspire them to make a difference one day.
Caulfield United Cobras will face Sandringham SC in the first round of the 2015 WPL season. Galanis is encouraging any players wishing to play to get in touch with the club, which can be done here.