Soccerscene the only online publication dedicated to the Australian and international football industry. It serves as a practical guide for those involved in the business of running a football club and bringing readers up-to-date research and development across all football matters providing insights, discussion and information related to topics that matter.
Football West has announced that every game of the senior and Under 20 matches in National Premier Leagues Western Australia will be live streamed until at least the end of the 2021 season.
The new deal will have Football West deliver 12 games each weekend of the NPL WA season, to be broadcasted on Facebook and YouTube. In addition, The Belt Up Cup Final and all NPL Top Four Cup matches will be shown live.
A highlights package for all the weekend’s action will also be provided, catering for all supporters across Western Australia and beyond.
In total, there will be an extra 120 NPL WA senior and Under 20 games shown this season across the social media channels, which will grow further to 264 matches for the 2020 and 2021 seasons.
Football West’s commitment to showcase each moment of every game is in similar vein to other state federations and will introduce more quality broadcasting of games across the country.
With more state leagues getting on board, it will only enhance the talent and hidden gems found in the lower level competitions
Following the recent surges nationwide in female participation, Football Queensland (FQ) has also proven they are making important strides in their 50/50 gender parity plan, with FQ appointing women to higher positions in the sports hierarchy.
Throughout the state, FQ is committed to achieving 50/50 gender parity in participants, referees, committees and club officials by 2027.
FQ has announced that of 10 FQ members, five have been women, hitting an impressive 50/50 representation.
These representatives are chosen from their local communities, proving that the push for change in equity comes from the members of the community.
These members include Sarah Jones (Far North & Gulf), Roslyn Minnikin (Metro South Chair), Azra Rantucci (Northern), Jodie Dickens (South Coast) and Rebecca Whisker (Sunshine Coast).
In conjunction with these appointments, Football Queensland also announced the re-election of Board Director Amy Chapman following the recent Annual General Meeting as the FQ Board of Directors.
FQ President Paula Robinson commented:
“Following a huge 2023 that saw the game reach new audiences and engagement levels like never before and after FQ recorded an incredible 44% increase in outdoor female players in the first quarter of 2024, we are excited to further consolidate the growth of female representation on the pitch with similar progress off the pitch in vital governance roles,” she said.
These appointments are a key part of the Football Queensland 2024-2026 Women’s & Girls Strategy and show the effort made to deliver on this mission.
In Pillar One: Participants & Clubs: A main goal is for 100% of Queensland club boards, committees and FQ members to meet the 40/40/20 gender representation by 2027.
These appointments prove that FQ is well on the way to this goal not just in leadership but also state-wide through all the different footballing communities.
FQ President Paula Robinson also commented, “Having such a diverse group of esteemed members within football’s governance ranks helping to design an inclusive future for the game in Queensland will ensure that more participants, particularly women and girls, can get involved in the game earlier and remain engaged for life.”
Retaining participants and early involvement in the game is another goal within Pillar One of the 2024-2026 Strategy.
Also in Pillar 2: Advanced Pathways one of the strategies includes:
Increase the awareness of the 50/50 gender parity initiative through storytelling and regular representation of achievements in all our published collateral and marketing promotions.
This news post is a prime example of the media and storytelling strategies towards the equity goal of 2027.
The announcement shows dedication to the ambitious plans of Football Queensland for the Women’s 2024-2026 strategy.
In this process, FQ will be making the football scene a more accurate industry of Australian’s diverse sporting community.
George Katsakis’ 38-year coaching resume places him as one of NPL Victoria’s all-time greats.
From his playing career into the early stages of his coaching where he worked up the ranks at many clubs, there was always a passion for coaching at the highest level.
Of course, it’s his 18 years at Heidelberg United that cemented his legacy as one of the greats, where he won the 2017 NPL Victoria Men’s Coach of the Year award and spearheaded Heidelberg United’s golden era.
The golden era involved winning a coveted NPL Australian championship, a National Premier League title, a Charity Shield, a Dockerty Cup triumph in 2017 and securing a treble of NPL Victoria Premierships in 2017, 2018 and 2019.
In 2015, he led Heidelberg United to the FFA Cup Quarter Finals stage after a fairy tale run and managed to reach that same point two more times in 2017 and 2018. One of the most special cup moments for the Bergers was the 2017 FFA Cup run and the famous 1-0 win against Perth Glory at Olympic Village in the Round of 32.
In an interview with Soccerscene, Katsakis discusses his fantastic start at Bentleigh Greens, his philosophy on player development, the future of coaching in Australia and the attributes he had to become such a successful coach.
You joined Bentleigh Greens in March – it was a shaky start, but you have settled the ship. What brought you back to coaching through Bentleigh Greens?
Katsakis: This is my 38th year in coaching at all levels so first and foremost, I was missing it. I know it was only a short break, but I suppose what really inspired me to get back into it was the chain of events and the way I was released from Heidelberg that really made me think about where I am in football and where I need to be.
Obviously, I’m always aspiring to be at the top level but with Bentleigh Greens, I know the history of the club, I know their achievements over the last decade if not more and had some great teams, some great coaches.
After their phone call, they were convincing to me that they were looking to get promoted and back to the top flight, and I thought it was a no brainer. It inspired me to take a team that was struggling and hopefully steer the ship to a promotion or to a lot of improvement.
At the moment all we can say is that we’ve improved dramatically. Myself, the experience has come in and settled things that were not previously addressed earlier on and now obviously the results are flowing. It’s been a great transition for me.
In terms of player development, how do you go about that as a head coach?
Katsakis: I think this is a great topic at the moment in Australian football. A lot of my emphasis at Heidelberg over the last 18 or so seasons was to try and introduce a pathway to players through the senior team but also paying a lot of attention to our u18 and u23 programs.
It was important to blend what I could foresee being the future of the club with the senior players, try and bring them in through that avenue and make sure they’re steered one by myself and my assistants and two and very importantly, by the senior players.
One of the fundamentals of kids developing is their environment and the people around them. If you have got the right group, as I did at Heidelberg for many years, there will be success.
I had a group who bought into our culture and accepted the fact that young kids were going to come through and help them through that development. There’s quite a few that I can possibly name that have taken the next level and next step.
Looking at the current coaching ecosystem, do you see players transitioning well into coaching and do you see coaching improving in the future?
Katsakis: It’s exciting because I now know of maybe 10 or more young aspiring coaches that are coming through. A classic example is certainly Andrew Cartanos, but I also have to mention the likes of Nick Marinos who’s taken the reigns at Port Melbourne, Luke Byles who’s become my assistant, Steven Pace is at Eltham Redbacks. So there’s quite a few coming through.
It’s great because they’re just added value, away from their coaching they can actually relive their football through those youngsters, and it makes them understand what it takes to make it at the top level.
After all the success at Heidelberg United, for any aspiring coaches, what were the attributes you had that made you so successful as a coach?
Katsakis: When I first got into coaching a very experienced coach from England said a couple of things to me that I took on board. The most important thing for me is to be humble and to understand that at any point in your coaching career, whether you’re a 20, 40 or 70 year old, you’ve got to be able to accept the fact that you’re going to learn every day.
Every day there is something new that you’re challenged with as a coach and accepting the fact that you keep learning until the day you retire, I think is very important.
We all learn from each other and generally in life as well as in football, we’re not born to know it all. Accepting that your philosophy, or someone else’s philosophy, or their techniques, or the way they coach, or their persona, whatever they bring to the table. If you can take a little bit from everyone’s leaf and add it to your booklet, it’s probably the most important part of coaching.
