Changes to U15, U16 & U18 games

Shepparton Sports Precinct - Tuesday 28 March

Large cranes, water and sewer connections and power outages are all scheduled for the Shepparton Sports precinct on Tuesday 28 March. There will be no access to the back pitches on that day but the works bring us a big step closer to completion of the small pavilion. 

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Weekend thankyou!

In addition to our regular thankyou to all the parents, players and supporters who helped out over the weekend, we would also like to thank

Noel Mitchell for taking over the Operations Manager responsibilities (photo supplied by a greatful Nick Corbo);

Nathan Saron who began the day referreeing the U12s and finished it coaching the U16s.

Linesmen required for away games

• 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.
• If you are available for any of the games please advise Nick Corbo or your team manager

Find a friendly Telstra employee...

Are you or do you know a permanent TELSTRA employee? If so you can assist our club to obtain a $1,200 Telstra grant.  

The employee does not need to be connected directly to the club - just willing to perform a good deed to help a community organisation. All the Telstra employee needs to do is start the application  (a couple of minutes) and click a button to submit the grant application, we will do the rest  - and in turn the employee is viewed favourably by Telstra as helping the community.

FFV SAP coach visits Shepparton 

Thanks to our coaches and squad volunteers who participated in FFV Head Skills Acquisition Coach Anthony Frost's SAP session for GV Suns junior coaches last night.

 

Match Reports return for 2017

Shab's Shorts

Since the inception of the NPL, Boxhill has been a yard stick in my eyes. The way they play, the way they prepare, their skill and habits are really great. The even more pleasing thing is that each year I have seen us bridge that gap, year apon year we are becoming more competitive, we are preparing ourselves better mentally and physically. This is down to a few key elements, 

1. You the player, your willingness to listen and learn. To fail and to succeed. To come to training and not stay home on the iPad, Xbox or play station. These traits are what coaches look for in a player. 

2. Our coaches, your desire and passion, your willingness to think outside the box. How we learn from our mistakes, how we let the players learn from their mistakes. This provides a platform for learning.

3. The parents. The positive reinforcement you give your children, not focusing on the negative but pointing out the positives your son or daughter did. Allowing them to explore and create and become the player they want to be.

These elements make for a bright future. Keep up the great work

Under 12s

Scott & Zac Hutchinson, Tim Nelson
 

Great effort over the weekend in both games  mill all at half time  in both games.
The kids shows lots of promising pieces of play and was unlucky we didn't score several times

Under 13s

Stuart Bethell
 

We started this game week with plenty to think about, especially after last week’s away draw at Murray United. Having comfortably beaten them in pre-season, we weren’t quite at the races and could only manage a draw.

At training this week, we worked on taking less touches when on the ball and working harder off the ball to get into space for our team mates to receive a pass. This was something we didn’t do against Murray Utd.

The game didn’t start as planned with Box Hill United having the majority of possession in the first half and most of the scoring opportunities. As we hadn’t had much of the ball in this period, we hadn’t had chance to practice what we had worked on at training. We defended for our lives and to go in at half time with the score level at nil nil was very pleasing. However, what we had done extremely well was make the pitch very small while defending, giving Box Hill very little space to pass the ball around.

At half time we had to change our focus slightly to get back into the game. We had struggled playing the ball out from the back at goal kicks, giving Box Hill plenty of possession in and around our area, plus we needed to stick to our task of making the pitch bigger while in possession giving us more room to play in and keep the ball for longer. We made sure that our full backs were available to receive the goal kicks in space and this worked much better in the second half, giving us a chance to build from the back with some excellent passing moves.

The team knew that to make the pitch bigger while in possession we had to work harder off the ball for each other. By the end of the game the players had worked so hard at this, not only had we kept the ball for longer giving our defence a well-earned break, we had created some great chances to score ourselves which we hadn’t managed in the first half.

By the end of the game we had it turned around and could have potentially won it. A goalless draw was a very satisfying result and the players deserve every credit for their total performance of backs to the wall defending and creating goal scoring opportunities late on.

Under 14s

Tommy Giuliani
 

The first home game of the year for the 14s against Box Hill was a fantastic opportunity for the boys to test themselves against a high class football team.Our pre game focus when we were in possesion was on patient low risk build up in the middle third then to hit our attackers quickly with through balls and try to get in behind them. When we were out of possession we needed to be very compact, press aggressively and win the ball back immediately

Unfortunately we were asleep from the kick off and we conceded from a long ball that just should have been dealt with easily. This happened in the first 10 seconds. Core skills let us down - too often we hit simple passes to blue shirts bisecting two orange shirts. This happens to all players at every level, but becomes a problem if it happens "too often". This hurt us badly and stopped us from moving the ball into attacking areas. When we could face forward  higher up the pitch and play through balls we chose to dribble instead of pass and lost the ball. When we're in a BP/wide formation and we lose the ball easily we are very vulnerable. These are the moments that we will concede goals.

However I thought we worked our socks off to press and harry to win the ball back and we transitioned into a compact shape better than in any game we've played since we came back in the new year. Our shape in and out of possession was the best it has been too, not the gaping spaces between the lines as in previous games. This is progress. The difference being Box Hill just didn't give the ball away too often. Their core skills far superior than ours.

Football doesn't need to be about speed and strength, skill and speed of mind. This is our challenge. I've laid it down and it begins at training. Simple unopposed warm up "striking the ball" drills must improve before we can string a chain of passes together in a game situation.So too must our scanning, clearly we are getting our head up too late, the good players always know what's around them and appear unhurried.

So to wrap it, 3-0, lots of things to work on, plenty of positives too! There's plenty of talent here, remember they're playing at a very high level, they will improve. Let's be mindful not to put too much pressure on these boys, sport needs to be fun too ;kids are competitive enough, they hate losing!! Let's keep encouraging,praise effort and enjoy the journey into senior NPL football AND hopefully beyond ?

Under 15s

Paul Nieuwenhuizen
 

For this week’s game the team was tasked with keeping their positions and staying compact when Box Hill United SC had the ball. We found ourselves down 4-0 at halftime due to lapses of concentration and not sticking to the set task. Players were pulled out of position due to the opposition's ball and player movement, and teammates did not step up to support. Despite this we still managed to create a couple of goal scoring chances through some good play between the forwards and midfielders.

At halftime, we had a quick chat about refocusing on our team task, and this lead to a big improvement from the overall team during the second half. The ability to regroup when losing the ball meant we could apply pressure earlier on Box Hill and this resulted in several goal scoring chances with 2 goals and a couple of near misses. Even though we still conceded 3 goals, Box Hill had to work a lot harder to score.
 

The boys were reminded after the game, that the differences between the GV Suns and Box Hill are not that great, they just need to concentrate for the full 70 minutes.
 

This week the under 15s will not play due to half the team being away on camp. I hope these boys enjoy the experience.

Under 16s

A game of two halves. The first half which saw us make the most of our chances with two lovely set pieces scored by Brenton. The first was a free kick outside the box which was executed to perfection curling the ball around the wall. The second was a lovely set piece play whipped in by Fraser who picked Brenton's head for a nicely tucked away near post header. And then an opportunist striker's goal from Elijah, which he hit from an acute angle the keeper couldn't handle it and parried into the goal - 3-0 up at half time.

The second half started out well with Fraser finishing of an explosive run with a shot to match for the 4th goal. The game stated to get a bit heated which resulted in a Box Hill player being sent off for a kick on Josh Rachele. Now we all know when you go down to 10 men it should be more difficult, well this started off a good spell of possession for Box Hill. Box Hill took control and scored 3 consecutive goals. If not for a fantastic penalty save from debutante goal keeper Logan the result could have looked a little different to 4-3 in favour to the Suns. Well done boys well fought out. 

Under 18s

Glen Wilson & Shaban Mehmet
 

Prior to our game on Sunday, we spoke about keeping compact when the opposition had the ball and not allowing them to play through us……we were quite good with this aspect in the first half and the way they looked like they would trouble us was by putting long balls over the top.  They did manage to score a goal with this method late in the half ……much to the disappointment of our back 4 who were convinced the linesman should’ve put his flag up for an offside call.  Thankfully, our guys remained composed and didn’t let this get the better of them.

At the break, we discussed how we were playing and in most parts it was quite reasonable and with a bit of luck we could’ve had a goal or two of our own.  A couple of small adjustments were made to the midfield shape during the break and we tried to stress the importance of forgetting the scoreline and just keep to the basics.

The second half was very much like the first, with our mids and defenders keeping it tight and repelling their attacks…..we created a couple more chances that went begging.  After about 25mins we made a couple substitutions and with that there was a letting down of the guard in which the opposition scored 3 goals in about 6/7 minutes………to the credit of all, our guys rallied somewhat and found that compactness we had earlier……the fresh legs helped us get forward a bit more and with this we managed to score from a corner set piece……some just reward for effort by the lads.

All in all, the score of a 4-1 loss doesn’t look great from the outside, however apart from a dodgy line call and a 5 minute lapse of concentration…..we were well in the match and showed glimpses that will see us trouble quite a few opposition teams going forward as long as we continue to work hard on the training grounds.  

Codes of Conduct for everyone

And in other soccer news...

Date: Saturday 25 March 2017

Time: 10:00am – 4:30pm

Venue: John McEwen Reserve, Shepparton. 

To register: click here

Cost: No charge for SJSA. This includes course registration, first season of referee registration free (valued at $100), a green (first year) referee shirt with FFV accreditation badges, black referee shorts, two assistant referee flags, a whistle and a red and yellow card set (Equipment valued at over $80).  There is also ongoing value with access to mentoring within local referee groups and the ability to earn money by refereeing!

Online Laws of the Game Certificate: The Online LOTG Certificate is a pre requisite to attending the level 4 referee course, please print and bring this with you on the day of the course. Please complete this online on the FFV web site

Course Description:

• To undertake this training program you must be at least 13 years of age and have successfully passed the online Laws of the Game within the past two years.
• This training program is aimed at match officials officiating in junior and youth matches.
• The program consists of theory modules, practical sessions and practical mentoring in matches as a referee and assistant referee.

Upon completion of all components referees will be officially qualified as a Level 4 Referee. The qualification is valid for a period of up to 4 years. More information about the Level 4 Referee course can be found here. If you have any questions about the course please email referees@ffv.org.au or call 9474 1800 (option 4)

MiniRoos Certificate coaching course

This course is compulsory for all game leaders who are new to SJSA and have not refereed before.
Date: Tuesday 11 April (During school holidays)
Time: 10am-1pm
Venue: McEwen Reserve, Shepparton
To register: click here  
Further information - please call Jodie on 0439974944

Shepparton hosts Neymar Jr's 5 Qualifier

Shepparton will host one of 38 Neymar Jr’s Five qualifier events across Australia that will decide the Australian national champions who will join 53 countries competing for the global title in Brazil.

The 2017 tournament is open to teams of five to seven players aged 16 to 25, with two over-aged players allowed as part of each squad.

Date: Sunday, 21. May 2:00 pm (GV Suns juniors have a bye)
Venue: John McEwen Reserve

For more information visit Greater Shepparton City Council website or register your squad online.