GV Suns v Heidelberg @ McEwen on Saturday
With Heidelberg's home ground still under repairs our first away round has become a Saturday home game.
| Squad |
Kick off |
Squad |
Kick off |
| U 12 |
12 pm |
U 15 |
1 pm |
| U 13 |
1:20 pm |
U16 |
2:30 pm |
| U 14 |
2:30 pm |
U18 |
11 am |
To check time, date, venue, pitch and any other match details visit sportstg.com
Your Team Manager - the quiet achiever!
Each week your Team Manager ensures your squad is ready to play and allows the coach to focus on coaching. Once the game is underway the coach takes over interactions with players and often this means the efforts of Team Managers are not obvious - but they are vital to a well functioning squad (just ask any coach who doesn't have a TM). The following are some of the ways you can help your quiet achiever!
Players
- Advise as soon as possible if you are not available to play. If you know there are rounds when you will not be available advise your Team Manager immediately.
- Arrive on time - the Team Manager needs players to sign in an hour before the game and provide the completed team sheet to the Refs at least 30 minutes before the game. If you are late you make completing this task difficult.
- Advise of injuries early - you need to advise your Team Manager of any injuries. If you expect the club trainers to assist you with strapping or other pregame prep then make sure you are onsite a full hour before your game. While matches are underway the trainers' priority is to players on the pitch.
- Return your kit before you leave the change rooms - The Team Manager will confirm whether they want to collect all or part of your kit each week (socks, shorts and shirts) following the game.
Volunteer
- as a team marshal to escort the match officials to and from the pitch and to ensure we provide a safe and orderly environment for the game eg request extras leave the technical areas or ensure the linesman have a clean line of sight along the pitch boundaries. We must provide one marshal for every game - home and away. No match knowledge required but you must be at least 18 years of age and you can volunteer to assist other age groups.
- as a linesman to, as the name suggests, run the lines. We must provide one linesman for every game - home and away. There is no age requirement but you need to know the current rules of the game. Our preference is to roster on players, parents and volunteers who have completed thier Refereeing Certificate 4.
- to set up and/or pack up the pitches. This involves rolling out/away the goals, putting out or collecting the corner flags, collecting the chairs from the technical areas and rubbish from around the grounds.
If you are interested in any of these activities or you think you could give it a go with a little guidance or coaching from a regular please let us know. You will be surprised how much fun you can have.
What's the PD for a marshal?
Every weekend we are required to provide 1 marshal for each game.
Marshals
- must be at least 18 years of age,
- collect match balls,
- chaperone the referees to and from the pitch and
- assist the match officials (referees) to ensure a safe playing environment for all players, Club Officials and spectators.
This last requirement may be daunting but usually it just involves providing a 'presence' around the technical area during the game, asking non-players to leave the technical area and encouraging supporters not to speak (or harass) the match referees, players or coaching staff of either team.
The marshal is assisting the match officials so if things get out of hand the officials will step in. If you can help for all or part of a game please advise your team manager.
Laws of the Game - Law #11 - offside
 Everyone is an expert on this one - particularly passionate supporters sitting the other end of the pitch. So the first rule of offside is if the linesman calls it - its offside, and secondly if the match referee calls it - its offside.
The basics are:
- You are in the offside position if, when the ball is played, you are in your opponents' half and there is only one opponent between you and your opponents' goalline .
- BUT its ok to be offside provided you aren't involved in play or gain an advantage from being offside.
- There is no offside offence if a player receives the ball directly from a goal kick, a throw-in or a corner kick.
These last points are why a player can be offside but the linesman doesn't raise his/her flag - the offside is called once the player becomes involved for example turns to play the ball. If you want the full details visit FFA's website.
Technical Directors' Update
Tommy Giuliani & Shaban Mehmet
Shaban and I are in constant communication with our junior coaches about the progress of individual players and we have an extensive coaching resource on a google drive where we have archived our session plans and training cycles. In a six week cycle 60% of our sessions will be BP-“In possesion”, 30% BPO-“Out of possesion” and 10% Transition moments BP-BPO or BPO-BP.
On matchday we discourage shouty coaches telling players what to do. We coach during the week. On game day we manage players game times, starting positions, formations and set team tasks and individual player tasks. Then we need to observe players perception of the game, their decision making and execution. We don’t dictate from the sidelines. Nor do we need parents coaching from the side. Let them play and paint their picture.
Losing 5-0 doesn’t mean we were badly coached or the players were poor. We’re playing NPL football, our opposition at this stage may be better. Let’s keep working hard on the track. We see 10-20 passing combinations every weekend. We don’t ever see this at school soccer level - ever! We see players kicking long and chasing loose aimless balls mostly so it requires a shift in mentality to play GV Suns and NPL.
This week sees the return of our match reports - but we are taking a slightly different approach this year. We will run a cycle of reports so each week a couple of age groups will feature. This appraoch further reinforces our approach to player and squad development across the cycles not on individual or squad highlights each week.
Match Reports
 Under 12s
Tommy Giuliani
Sunday’s game against the most successful club in Australian football history concludes our first month of competition. I was also thrilled to get directly involved with our under 12s group. What a great bunch of boys. These boys competed really well on the day,are a really young group of players and are must not be under pressure to win but to develop their core skills and Football Habits. There can be no shortcuts. Is it about the next 3 games or the next three years? We need to be patient and embrace the learning process. In the next 28 weeks these players will develop in leaps and bounds by being in this elite environment. This is, let us not forget the highest level of club competition in Victoria outside of A League. The perfect environment for to measure our growth as footballer⚽️⚽️
 U12s
Paul Nieuwenhuizen
The focus for the under 12s over the last few weeks has been working on their core skills - 1v1, dribbling, kicking the ball & controlling the ball, and continued improvement in these areas.
Over the last few games we have worked on trying to play the ball out from the back rather than just kicking the ball long. While the boys endeavoured to execute the team task with varying success, they need to remain focused on the task set and learn from any errors made, rather than slipping back into old habits of just kicking the ball long.
It was great to see the boys on the weekend remain positive despite results not going their way. The other positive from the weekend, was the continued narrowing of the gap between the GV Suns and the established Melbourne teams.
 U13s
Shaban Mehmet
The team task on Saturday was to play out from the back to get into middle 3rd in possession. I was fortunate enough to take this great group of boys for the weekend and I'm pleased to say there is progress being made.
The work these boys are putting in is fantastic. Pre match I asked the boys to come up with thee playing out from the back scenarios (and demonstrate them on the white board) to execute in the first half. I was so impressed with the results and answers these boys came up with. We had approximately 25% success rate in the first half in playing out from the back. We have some football problems to address now.
At half time I asked the boys to review the scenarios they came up with pre match but now with some solutions to our football problems. Our second half success rate in playing out from the back was around the 40% mark. The boys understanding of the team task here was great, now they have to develop the confidence in themselves and each other to do so on a more consistent basis.
U14s
Tommy Giuliani
It was an exciting win on Sunday for our 14s against South Melbourne. It was also very well deserved.
These boys are training well at the required intensity and have worked hard on their football conditioning. We looked very organised in possesion on Sunday and the players must take all the credit for executing our game plan so well. Our back 4 played a higher line when we didn’t have possesion and refused to allow any half spaces between our back 4 and defensive mids for SouthM to play in. Our pressing was sharp and when we won the ball back our mids played our attackers in beautifully with well weighted diagonal passes for our attackers to get in behind their back 4. We were able to turn them around continuously in the first half with fast effective ball movement and fast transitions.
However again we conceded too many goals which is an ongoing theme with these boys so we need to tighten up further. So in the coming week we will frame our sessions around being even more compact in defence, eliminating silly fouls that hurt us and our set up at free kicks.
 U15s
Glen Wilson
During the week we would usually be working on a specific game phase, like ‘playing out from the back’. But with a lack of numbers at training due to Notre Dame’s Outward Bound Camp the main focus of the week was pulling a team together for the mountainous task of South Melbourne.
Further shuffling had to happen due to ”Keeper-gate” on the Saturday morning prior to game.
The game started as we half-expected = with us deep in defence and defending, trying to maintain the ball once we gained it…..they had a few really good opportunities but either missed the target or they were well stopped by our stand-in Keeper, Ben Gilberto. I think it was on only our second opportunity to get out of our own half, a wonderful run by Teng Kuol around 3 players and into the box saw him win a penalty…..Up stepped the ever-cool hand Luke Mitchell for the conversion - this was Luke’s 1st goal at the GV Suns, well done lad.
Almost immediately, we conceded a penalty at the other end. So much for our surprising start! However, our stand in keeper Ben made a wonderful save and allowed us to retain our lead. We held on doggedly until just before the half-time break, when a defensive error saw us concede a goal directly from a long kick out by their keeper. Half time score 1 – 1.
At the break we chatted about what was working for us and what we could do better in the second half. I emphasised to them that I didn’t really care about the end scoreline, it was how we were playing that was impressing me - we were scrapping and fighting like dogs on a bone and I just want them to continue in the same vain.
The second half did see us continue to play the same….backs to the wall, defending as defiantly as we can but on occasion heading forward to put a scare on them….we did concede 3 goals in the 2nd half, but we had a couple of great opportunities, including a free kick taken by Zach that was exceptionally well placed into the top right corner – but alas their keeper was equal to the task and made a wonderful save. End Result, we lost 4 – 1, but I couldn’t be prouder of the guys.
We had 4 lads step up from the 14s (Christian, Gerald, Kai & Tutu), as well as a stand in keeper (Ben) …..well done to all you future legends.
U16s
Paul Nieuwenhuizen
Preparations for the weekend’s game against South Melbourne were disrupted by player unavailability during the week and on game day.
I would like to begin by thanking the following players who either stepped up from the under 15s or down from the under 18s – Moses, Ben (our fill in goalkeeper), Connor, Fergie, Zulf (welcome to the club) and Teng.
Before the game, I reminded the boys that Together Everyone Achieves More if they work as a team and not as individuals.
Our team task for the game was to deny South Melbourne the time and space to move forward. The team performed this task very well over the course of the game with our opponents not generating any real scoring opportunities.
While the end score was 5-0 to South Melbourne, 3 of those goals came in the last 5 minutes of the game when tiredness crept in (especially those playing their 2nd game for the day). The overall performance was a big improvement on those of the pervious few weeks and showed what they can achieve by working together.
Over the next few week we will be working on ball possession, and also factors that can influence the performance of the players (Commitment, Communication, Concentration, Control and Confidence).
 U18s
David Davkovski
Great game with so many positives to take from it. Well done to Lucas Enders who has been selected to start in the 20’s which meant Isaac Rossignuolo had the opportunity to step up for us and did a great job. Hopefully Isaac with get many more opportunities throughout the year.
The game was played at high tempo with our boys still adjusting to the pace of the 18’s competition (and my expectations). We have been trying to install a high tempo playing mentality during training from the onset which is what NPL is all about. We are such a young side but I believe if we can maintain this philosophy it will only benefit the kids as the year goes on.
In terms of the match we are still learning and at the moment we are focusing on playing comfortably while receiving the ball in tight spaces (good space awareness). This is a vital component of the game as there is little or no space at times and the boys must make good decisions to maintain possession of the ball. Overall the boys are responding well and have demonstrated they want to take the next step which is very positive for us as a club…
I'd like to say a quick hello to all the old faces I have not seen in a few years, hope to catch up with everyone over the next few weeks.
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