Football Coaches Australia and XVenture partner to boost coaches across Australia

Australia’s football coaches will have access to a unique set of online courses thanks to a new partnership between Football Coaches Australia (FCA) and XVenture.

The courses will aim to develop essential skills on the mental side of the game – such as leadership, resilience, culture, and communication.

Having worked with a variety of Socceroos and top coaches, XVenture founded Mike Conway has developed a series of immersive and interactive courses as part of FCA’s plan to build a library of material for coaches in Australia to utilise.

The cost-effective courses – available from the start of next year – could be used by all coaches from park football to elite levels, and will position FCA as a world leader in the delivery of unique professional development experiences for football coaches.

The partnership will be launched in November with the delivery of an inaugural national FCA/XVenture ‘Mind Games’ Cup competition, pitting teams of coaches from national teams, A-League, W-League, NPL and grassroots football clubs in addition to academies and school teams against each other for the trophy and a $5000 cash prize.

This will provide ‘Community, Connection and Camaraderie’ between all Australian football coaching cohorts.

The partnership aligns with FCA’s mission of ‘promoting and strengthening the reputation of football in Australia and the reputation of Australian football on the world stage’.

The focus of XVenture’s work is developing emotional agility, resilience and leadership (EARL) to enable improved personal and professional relationships, individual and team success. The ultimate process involves ‘lifting the ceiling’ on people’s thinking to create Winning Minds.

Teaming with XVenture will enable FCA to connect with coaches Australia wide, and FCA professional development programs, commencing in early 2021, will focus on the essential ‘soft skills’ of coaching relevant to being successful, at a professional and/or community club level – that is, Leadership, Culture, Communication Skills, Resilience, Emotional Intelligence & Mental Agility.

XVenture Mind Games has been created by Mike Conway, the current emotional agility and mind coach for the Socceroos, who has worked with a number of high- profile coaches over the last few years including: Graham Arnold, Rene Meleunsteen, Steve Corica, Richie Garcia, Jean-Paul de Marigny, Ufuk Talay and Trevor Morgan.

XVenture are leaders in the creation and delivery of cutting-edge learning and development programs. Adapting their face to face business in response to Covid 19, XVenture Mind Games is a first of its kind remote virtual high- performance team mind-training solution for developing key skills including adaptability, communication, social skills and collaboration.

Since its launch, more than 500 teams across business, elite sport and education have participated globally including teams from: Perth Glory FC, Western Sydney Wanderers FC, Melbourne City FC, Chicago Fire FC, Australian Women’s Cricket Team and Olympic teams from Cycling, Water Polo, Rugby 7s, Hockey and Canoeing.

“We are absolutely delighted to enter this ground-breaking partnership with Mike Conway and his XVenture team,” said Phil Moss, FCA President.

“I’ve personally known & worked with Mike for nearly 20 years and everything he touches turns to gold. The modern game is so heavily reliant on the mentality of coaches and players so this is a perfectly natural fit for us as an organization as we continue to work with our members on their professional development.

“It connects the professional game with the community game, professional coaches with community coaches and further strengthens the camaraderie amongst our coaching fraternity.

“FCA is working on a number of really exciting initiatives with XVenture and we can’t wait to roll them out.”

FCA Executive Committee member Member Terry McFlynn, who has undertaken XVenture programs at both Sydney FC and Perth Glory, added that “FCA are delighted to enter into this partnership with one of the countries leading organisations in the field of mental agility, leadership, communication and team building.”

“I have had the pleasure of working closely with Mike and the team at XVenture on a few projects. The detail and delivery of the programs are second to none and the desired outcomes are amazing to witness first hand.

“This is a very exciting partnership, one which I know will benefit coaches at all levels nationwide.”

XVenture founder and CEO Mike Conway says of the partnership: “It’s an absolute honour to partner with Football Coaches Australia. I believe in what they are trying to achieve in building the reputation of Australian coaches and Australian football in a Global context.

“I’ve experienced first- hand the difference that great coaches can make to teams and the lives of individual players. I am thrilled to be able to provide our experience at XVenture to develop key skills for all levels of coaches, and thus improve the standard and quality of the game.”

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Ernie Merrick: ‘There are many clubs that would be fantastic additions to the A-League’

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Ernie Merrick will be forever recognised as a key figure through the A-League’s golden early years. Appointed Melbourne Victory’s foundation manager in 2004 he led the club to not just silverware, but legitimacy and respect in a serious sport city.

A Scottish migrant and PE teacher by trade, Merrick was the youngest of the NSL’s managerial crop when he started with Preston in 1987 in the era of Thomson, Arok & Matic; when he finished with Newcastle in 2020 he was the elder statesman in the A-League age of Postecoglou, Popovic and Arnold.

For the places the game took him and all he achieved – including time as national team manager of Hong Kong – Victory supporters can comfort themselves in the fact that for whatever they feel towards Merrick and his iconic group of players, that feeling is mutual.

‘Yes, definitely,’ Merrick told Soccerscene Unfiltered when asked if managing Victory was the highlight of his career.

‘I think success is [fans] having identification with players, especially. We had Victorian boys playing for Victory.

‘That second year I was determined to have a complete pre-season. Archie Thompson bought me a birthday cake with 200 candles and said “Ernie, we’ve had 200 training sessions. We should celebrate this” – so he was looking forward to a big year, and we won the Grand Final 6-0.’

Nearing 20 years on, Victory and the A-League in general haven’t managed to drive forward as would have been hoped. Unsurprisingly that comes as painful to Merrick, as does the change in landscape regarding his other great passion and contribution in player development. 

‘I’m disappointed, as would most people be, that it’s struggled so badly. To me, there’s something missing,’ said Merrick of the current state of the A-League.

‘Those players we produced at the AIS and VIS went on to be the golden generation. Unless the league is fixed, there’s going to be ongoing problems with the financial status of things.

‘You just cannot earn enough money from selling a youngster, who you might get a million for, who then becomes worth several million in a few years if he does well. Maybe there’s a bit too much of selling players early.’

As someone who gave enduring service across Australia’s two domestic leagues, his voice holds weight in the consideration as to whether it’s time to now blend the, in today’s hyper-corporate landscape.

‘South Melbourne and Preston are two clubs that are perfect for the A-League, I think, down the track. They’ve set up, they’ve endured, they’ve been resilient, they’re playing good football and they’ve got a home base with a home crowd, which is far better than starting a club up from scratch.

‘All those players coming through those squads and the number of supporters they’ve got would be a huge addition. In Sydney too, there’s Marconi – there are so many good clubs around that I think would make a great addition to the A-League.’ 

Merrick also spent thirteen years as head coach at the Victorian Institute of Sport. He feels modern player development is an equation we still haven’t got right, post the closure of the AIS’ football program in 2017.

While many argue the move to club-based academy structures has seen Australia fall more in line with global practice while still producing players of quality, Merrick still feels there is merit in a national high performance program, in addition to club academies.

He was in the process of setting up state academies through the Member Federations during his time as Football Australia’s chief football officer from 2022-25. While the Victoria project was short-lived, academies in Tasmania, Western Australia and South Australia continue to run, but it appears the broader expansion of the concept has been abandoned.

‘I think both systems should work [together] equally well. When I started with the FA program clubs thought they would lose players to us, but I didn’t take any of their players. We offered the opportunity of a high-performance program to other youngsters.

‘We could develop players completely; we weren’t restricted to playing 4-3-3 to combine with the way the first team were playing. We provided more of a rounded education, and good players can play in any system.

‘We managed to affect the coaches involved so they were up to date with the latest information on methods of coaching, etc.’

Catch the full chat with Ernie Merrick on Soccerscene Unfiltered: from being two-footed by a 15-year old Kevin Muscat to his enthusiasm for the future of the Socceroos, his memories of Wellington and Newcastle, and plenty more…

Harry Michaels – Never Standing Still

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Image Credit: Harry Michaels

It’s hard to imagine that so much life experience can be packed into one person’s voyage of discovery but in the case of Harry Michaels it has all materialised.

Michael’s recently, published autobiography is the fascinating account of a man who was determined to succeed in life, whatever the obstacles.

Significantly, his early life at the age of nine was smeared with the tragic loss of his father. Many people would have found it extremely difficult to ever recover from such a bitter experience but not Harry Michaels.

Incredibly, something in the makeup of this young man encouraged him to achieve greatness in honoring the life of his father.

There is a constant message in the book that Michaels would honor his father’s memory forever by achieving perfection in his life endeavours.

Michaels achieved many milestones in his life and football was to become a central theme after he first kicked a ball with his peers in the narrow streets of Cyprus, followed by playing in the school team when he stayed with his aunt in London for a few years after his father’s death.

Australia is the lucky country and when Michaels and his family migrated to Australia, this country was to become infinitely better for it.

In a relatively short space of time, Michaels and his family adjusted to life in their adopted country and when Harry acquired a part in the Channel Ten sitcom, Number 96, the sky was the limit for his future plans.

He became a household name in the living rooms of Australian television viewers and eventually succeeded in entering the cut-throat world of production with the Greek Variety Show.

His biggest success was with Aerobics Ozstyle which originated in 1997 when he witnessed some people doing exercise routines for a television show on the beaches of California and subsequently instigated a pilot television show in Australia.

Currently, it is experiencing a huge revival on Youtube.

Michael’s great love for football naturally led him into the broadcasting arena of the world game and from 1982-2006, he covered NSL and international matches for SBS, including the 1993 World Youth Cup in Australia, Australia v Argentina World Cup qualifier featuring the immortal Diego Maradona, the 1997 World Cup qualifier between the Socceroos and Iran and 2005 elimination match in Sydney between Australia and Uruguay which received some of the highest ratings of any sporting contest ever televised in Australia.

Perhaps, the most dramatic event of all was the coverage of the Pratten Park riot in 1985 at a match between Sydney Olympic and Sydney City.

If this wasn’t enough, Michaels also financed Wollongong Wolves in the 1988 NSL season and was successful in attracting the talents of Paul Mariner, Alan Brazil and Trevor Francis to the club as guest players which led to the first major title won by an Illawarra club since South Coast United led by the mercurial, Jim Kelly, won the 1963 NSW State League grand final in front of a record Australian club attendance of 30,500.

He was the President of Sydney Olympic from 1991-1993 and made a major impact on the club.

Michaels never wanted to be praised for his contribution to football and very people knew he introduced Ericsson Australia, Nanda Spaghetti, Coca Cola, Winfield, Beach Fashions, and Westend Beer Company as sponsors of the NSL, while never asking for any financial reward.

Also, when the broadcasting company which produced the A-League faltered half way through the 2023/24 season, it was Harry Michaels who stepped in to fill the void.

Ironically, Harry was not asked to tender for the broadcasting rights in the following season.

It was something he found hard to accept but successful people like Harry don’t dwell on such events and seek the next challenge.

Hence the title of his book, ‘Never Standing Still’ is a true reflection of a man who let’s no barrier stand in the way to achieve his next goal where others would have given up long before.

Appropriately, his true worth and contribution to the community was duly recognised when he was awarded the Order of Australia Medal in 2004 for his services to broadcasting and football.

This book should be read by all people who want to be inspired by a story where adversity was converted to positives and all football administrators who would learn how the man Harry Michaels became a winner and a highly respected public face in Australian society for his unselfish community contribution.

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