In the news this week

Make sure you pick up a copy or view online. Thanks Shepp News!

On the bus with GV Suns Shep News journo Adem Barolli joins the GV Suns seniors and U20s for their away game to Box Hill.
Zito annoyed about team turning up with little enthusiasm
Suns dig deeper to draw
Zero joy for junior suns with Tom Raditsas, Olivia Saron (not Oliva as printed), Marcus Thomas, Nicky Pena and Brodie Wooster featuring in this week's pics.

All home games this weekend

This weekend GV Suns seniors take on Werribee City FC - a club that is nearly 50 years old, while our Junior squads take on the mighty Bentleigh Greens - a much younger club approaching its 30th birthday.

Remember its free entry to all junior games and free entry for members to our senior games. If you haven't collected your membership pass see Nick Corbo.

School holidays & Saturday games for Juniors

No games scheduled for 9 July. The middle weekend of the July school holidays (8 & 9 July) is a catch up round. At present no catch up games are scheduled for the GV Suns and it may become a break for all our junior squads. It's a great opportunity to take a break, recharge and get ready for the second half of the season.

Saturday games - We have two Saturday rounds scheduled for 1 July and 15 July and both are at home. Please make sure you have the dates in your calendar.

We will confirm training days and times shortly.

Winter warm up is important

Cold weather, wet and slippery grounds and mid-season lows can all contribute to nasty injuries - but often our injuries are made worse by not taking the time to warm up properly.

Click on this poster to read great articles, watch videos and view the exercises that can help our squads warm up properly and avoid injuries.

Please note the program is designed for male and female football players aged 14 years and older and claims that teams that performed the program at least twice a week had 30-50% fewer injured players.

FFV Referee meetings

To help with ongoing development and support, referees are encouraged to attend the monthly referees meeting on the first Monday of every month from 7pm at the Quest Hotel conference room.

FFV Junior Coaching Courses

Begin next week

You don't need to be or want to be a coach to participate in these courses. For many parents and supporters the courses can provide a valuable insight into the FFA curriculum and the GV Suns coaching philosophy.

MiniRoos Certificate

(Coaching 5-9 year olds)

Monday 19th June
6pm-9pm
McEwen Reserve
Cost: Free
To register: https://education-ffa.sportingpulse.com/event.asp?ID=16663

This 3 hour course is fully practical and encourages the coach to develop practices that are based on FUN. The emphasis is on natural development i.e. learning by PLAYING football. No coaching but organising FUN football exercises is the key to helping players build a love for the game. Another highlight of the course is that the coaches are exposed to basic rules of the game as well as tips and hints on building a football culture in a completely practical setting.

Skill Training Certificate
(Coaching 9-13 year olds)

8 & 9 July (during the School holidays)
9am-5pm, McEwen Reserve
Cost $100
To register: https://education-ffa.sportingpulse.com/event.asp?ID=16677

In the Skill Acquisition Phase the coach MUST focus on building a solid foundation of technical skill. The course is conducted over 14 hours, is fully practical and deals with the development of the 4 Functional Game Skills:

First Touch
Striking the Ball
Running with the Ball
1 v 1

Enquiries can be directed to Atila Kerestes 0428 574 423 akerestes@ffv.org.au

And this time last year...

No matter what we have to say about the cold weather, works or other mid-season gripes - its worth reminding ourselves that 12 months ago training sessions were relocated, rescheduled or cancelled and game days could change at the last minute because of the prolonged wet weather... let's enjoy the weather while it lasts!

Match Reports

Under 12s

Sorry - no reports this week.

Under 13s

Stuart Bethall

First touch was our focus in training this week. This key area helps with time and space to make better decisions while in possession.

The league table doesn’t lie. Springvale White Eagles are top of the league and for good reason. We knew we would have to be at our best to compete. Our pre-game team talk was not just about first touch and keeping possession but working as a team.

Without doubt, this was the best we’ve played this season. The first half consisted of Springvale scoring their only chance and our side missing a few chances, including a penalty. Against the top side, we had dominated possession and clearly created more chances but just hadn’t converted.

After half time was more of the same. We got on the score sheet with a header after some excellent unselfish work down the right wing and at this point there was only going to be one winner, us! The White Eagles managed to create just one half chance in the second half, which they scored. We continued to create goal-scoring opportunities but were still on the wrong end of the score-line at fulltime, a 2-1 defeat.
The end of game team talk is never easy after a tough defeat but it was definitely worth mentioning that we had outplayed and out-created the top team and were very unlucky not to get something from the game. Bring on Bentleigh Greens!!!

Under 14s

Shaban Mehmet

During week worked on defence-shape when and where to press (win the ball back). We worked on getting behind the ball as soon as possible and being patient to pick your moment to win the ball back.

There were signs of our defensive shape in both halves which was pleasing to see. On transition we wanted to delay the opponent as much as possible so it would give our team to get behind the ball to setup.

A slow start to the game but got going in the second half. Some really good signs of team work coming from this group. We still need to work on body language out on the pitch, this is a work in progress.
Keep up the hard work and we will see the results.

Under 15s

Paul Nieuwenhuizen

During the week at training we focused on transition from attack to defence and regaining the ball back quickly. This was the task set for the team on the weekend.

The first half was an even contest with both sides creating a number of goal scoring chances. However, due to the commitment of the team to win the ball back quickly ensured the opposition was unable to create any real goal scoring chances. The ability of the team to turn defence into attack after win the ball back was great to see. This lead to a number of goal scoring chances being created. With halftime in sight we conceded a goal against the run of play from a well-taken corner kick by Springvale White Eagles.

At halftime the team’s attitude and the belief that they could get a goal back was very positive.

The second half was a mirror image of the first with both teams failing to take advantage of the chances created. The team continued to work well to win the ball back quickly through out the half. However, despite their great effort, we once again conceded a very contentious goal in the last few minutes.

After the game I congratulated the team on its effort and its continued self-improvement. I reminded the team that they must maintain control of their emotions when things do not go our way.

The team as a whole, is recognising the improvements in their performances each week. This is great to see.

Under 16s

Sorry - no report this week.

Under 18s

Stefo Radevski & Glen Wilson

Training was limited this week. Wednesday night the Under 16’s & 18’s put in an awesome shift. We focused strongly on defensive positioning and movement mostly off the ball. It was a stop-start session to allow myself and Glen the opportunity to explain what we wanted to achieve. Friday night was very low key with a majority of the squads away. The 5 boys that were at training joined in with Shabs and Under 14’s.

Game day was a chance to put into action what we worked on at training. Unfortunately the end result was 7-1. The first half was a joy to watch from the sidelines. Our defensive set up shifted and moved across the field as one and the communication was great. Players new the role they had to play and each player performed exceptionally. Springvale had more shots on goals but very few on target. At the other end, Fergus Wilson scored an absolute unsaveable screamer from 40 yards. Keeper had no chance as sailed into the top corner. Half time we were 1-0 up.

Second half the boys went out pretty fired up but unfortunately like most games this year, we conceded cheap and early goals and found ourselves 3-1 down in 15 minutes. The boys continued to press and work hard but eventually conceded another 4 goals as legs grew very tired. The scoreline is not a true reflection of how well we played but unfortunately with playing stock depleted the goals were leaked. We started the match with only 5 regular 18’s. Fergus and Moses were playing their third game for the day and were absolute stars. Tommy R, Kane, Connor, Cal and Logan also stepped up straight after their match and put in great shift. The 18 boys did not stop all match and should be very proud of themselves for the way they kept on fighting.

In Lucas Enders, GV Suns have a senior player in the making. Week after week he manages to save the unsaveable and stop shot after shot to keep us in the match or to save the score blowing out. Sunday is testament to the hard work he is putting in with a Best on Ground performance. Springvale were gifted 2 very soft penalties but Lucas denied them on both occasions.

Codes of Conduct for everyone

We want GV Suns to be a friendly and welcoming club - and we want everyone to feel comfortable being a part of our family. Our FFV approved codes of conduct for spectators, players, parents, coaches and administrators are available from our website.

Please read the codes to understand your responsibilities and there is further information in the 2017 NPL Rules of Competition .