Some of the state’s finest coaching brains have spent the past week in Canberra completing Parts 2 and 3 of their FFA A-Licence.
Victoria had the highest representation of any member federation, with 13 of the 39 participants hailing from the state, while 22 came from interstate and four from overseas.
Headlining the Victorian contingent at the state-of-the-art Australian Institute of Sport was 2015 NPL Championship winning manager John Anastasiadis.
The Bentleigh Greens supremo heaped praise on the extensive knowledge offered at the license upgrade, in particular highlighting the importance of in-game analysis on acquiring desired results.
“We are mainly focusing on analysis which is a very important part of winning a football game and we hope clubs will start investing in the right equipment and people to conduct detailed analysis related work at our respective NPL clubs,” Anastasiadis said.
The 47-year-old also stressed the giant strides taken in coaching development over the last decade in the country, which has seen more extensive and detailed analysis of every aspect of coaching.
“A lot of coaches are putting in a massive amount of detail in their session plans. The fact that a session is based on a football problem highlights how nowadays there is a serious process in place over how a session is conducted and hopefully solved by the game on the weekend.”
The other Victorian representatives at the license upgrade included: Lachlan Armstrong (Melbourne City), Alex Cobo (Moreland Zebras), Tom Gameras (Kingston City), Vincenzo Ierardo (Geelong Galaxy), Tomas Kovar (Heart Wings Academy), Peter Kratky (Heidelberg United), John Kyrgios (Northcote City), Eugene Lawrenz (Oakleigh Cannons), Matthew McNamara (Brunswick City), Ricardo Martinez (Bulleen Lions), Savas Saglam (Whittlesea Ranges) and Agim Sherifovski (Green Gully).
All men occupy various coaching capacities at their respective NPL clubs, and in the case of Ierardo and Kovar, their respective WNPL outfit and academy program.
Melbourne City’s Under 20 NPL manager Lachlan Armstrong was also full of praise for the week-long event, lauding the benefits of networking with other coaches and the knowledge gained for the individuals to apply within their own clubs.
“To have some Victorian coaching colleagues is a privilege, as collaborating and networking with coaches who have extensive knowledge of the game is a wonderful opportunity for us all,” Armstrong said.
The 42-year-old, who featured in the NSL for the Gippsland Falcons, added: “the course is well delivered and we are all looking forward to taking the learning outcomes back to our clubs”.
Similar sentiments were echoed by Armstrong’s coaching colleague, Matthew McNamara.
After previous stints as manager of Geelong SC, coach of the Hume City Under 20s, and assistant with the Goulburn Valley Suns, the 29-year-old was recently appointed as technical director of NPL2 side Brunswick City.
“To be able to get together with some great coaches from around Australia is a fantastic opportunity,” McNamara said.
“We were here earlier in the year to complete part 1, and had the opportunity to go back to our clubs and apply that learning.
“Part 2 is a reflection on that, with an increased focus on match analysis and the overall,” added McNamara, who is also the head of scouting agency Professional Football Consultants.