Football Coaches Australia presents ‘The Football Coaching Life Podcast’ S2 Ep 6 with Heather Garriock interviewing Gary Cole

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Gary Cole

Gary Cole has had an immense impact on Australian football during a playing, coaching, mentoring and administrative career that has seen him occupy roles at all levels of the game.

His passion for the game and driving it forward with a pure agenda of what is in the best interests of the game is second to none. He has a 100% inclusive mindset and an ability to adapt to any level, situation or person he is dealing with. His relationships with all stakeholders in the game and his reputation is testament to that.

Gary played in Victoria with South Yarra, Ringwood City Wilhelmina and Fitzroy United Alexander before playing in the inaugural season of the NSL then a decade long career at the highest level with Heidelberg United and Preston Makedonia, amassing 247 appearances (109 goals)

He also made 40 appearances (21 goals) for the Socceroos, 19 of which were A internationals, with 17 goals including a world record for goals scored, at the time, in a World Cup qualifying match when he nabbed 7 against Fiji in 1981.

His coaching journey began at the Australian Institute of Sport as Assistant to Dr Ron Smith and also included a stint as Assistant Socceroos Coach to Frank Arok. On moving back to Melbourne, he coached in the NSL with his much-loved Heidelberg and went on to coach and win championships with Altona Magic and Bulleen in the Victorian Premier League.

Gary also enjoyed great success as a football administrator at the top level of professional football in Australia, occupying the role of Director of Football for both Melbourne Victory FC & Sydney FC – the A-League’s two biggest clubs and at Football Victoria as Executive Manager Facilities & Advocacy. We delve into his time helping to set up Victory and the importance of people, relationships and culture.

This conversation covers a wide range of topics and Gary is very honest in talking about his thoughts on coaching and coach education, as well as players learning new techniques and behaviours through both coaching and the game being the teacher. The conversation also covers the importance of resilience for coaches and his personal fight with Lymphoma.

Please join one other football legend, Heather Garriock, in sharing Gary Cole’s Football Coaching Life.

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Off the Pitch Podcast: Cavallucci On the Importance of FQ’s Future Club+ Initiative for Local Clubs

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Image Credit: Football Queensland

On Episode 16 of Soccerscene’s Off the Pitch Podcast, it was a special episode with FQ CEO Rob Cavallucci ahead of the all-important 2025 Queensland Football Convention.

Many topics around the issues in Queensland football were discussed including Futsal’s incredible growth, update on Perry Park’s upgrade plan and driving player retention in certain youth age groups.

On the topic of administration, FQ’s new Future Club+ is a ground-breaking initiative designed to strengthen the foundations of football clubs across the state.

The concept of this began after last year’s convention and through interactive club lab sessions and ongoing consultation, FQ are continuing those discussions and driving practical change.

Cavallucci discussed the current volunteering and administration issues that are plaguing local football clubs.

“Future Club+ is in line with what I talked about earlier in regard to what we need to do to best position this sport for the next 20 years,” he said.

“Clubs are run by volunteers and volunteerism is waning. A lot of clubs can’t get the administration right because they also can’t get the governance right.

“The sport is run by volunteers and when you look at the fact that volunteerism is declining in Australia across every sport, you know it’s a problem we have to solve right now.

“From a governing body point of view, when you look at that, that’s actually a limiting factor on the success of our sport.”

He also gave a solution on how FQ are going to tackle this in the future, specifically in regards to what  Future Club+ will offer in the 2025 Queensland Football Convention and beyond.

“We need to start to work with clubs to transform how they manage themselves and that means a whole series of things. Hence the Future Club+ concept is looking at that and rethinking about best practice of how a club should operate,” he said.

“What we’ve been doing over the last 18 months through a series of webinars and in the last convention, and even in this upcoming one, there’s three Future Club+ sessions and it’s all about best practice at a club.”

In this convention, the three Future Club+ sessions are:

#1 What data reveals about your club future

#2 The amalgamation playbook: Real stories from the clubs forging the future

#3 The growth engine: your tool kit to fund staff and empower volunteers.

“Those three subjects should be very appealing to any club.”

Click hear the full interview with Rob Cavallucci, on Episode 16 of Soccerscene’s Off the Pitch Podcast – available on all major podcasting platforms.

Off the Pitch Podcast: Shepparton Cup’s Incredible $5 Million Community Impact

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On Episode 15 of Soccerscene’s Off the Pitch Podcast, it was a Shepparton Cup special with Australian Football Skool Director Rolando Navas and Mayor of Greater Shepparton Shane Sali on the eve of the 2025 Shepparton Cup.

On the topic of tourism and the economic impact of the event, the annual Shepparton Cup is the region’s most lucrative and popular event, amassing over 12,500 visitors and generating $3-4m in revenue in the 2024 edition of the cup.

Shane Sali discussed the importance of football and the cup in the Greater Shepparton region for tourism.

“We have a strong multicultural community and a lot of people have grown up playing football. People have migrated and really contributed to the sport over here and it’s a sport that’s been very active in an around Greater Shepparton,” he said.

“When you come to the event and get that warmth that we want to provide, not only to the people hosting the event, but the visitors , we hope you can leave with a smile at the end of it and encourage family and friends to come back.”

Sali continued to speak about the impact it has on local businesses and the great feeling of seeing the town’s buzz during the weekend.

“We like to position Greater Shepparton as a really prominent regional city and we feel like we’ve got a role to play in economic activity for surrounding communities.”

“As Rolando mentioned, with the visitation that comes with this event, you’re getting close to 15,000 people in and around the town. I can’t believe we have the facilities to cater for that,” he said.

“This is the biggest sporting weekend we have in and around Greater Shepparton and it will generate well over $5m for our local economy.”

This upcoming weekend, the 2025 Shepparton Cup is predicted to become the largest weekend junior football tournament in Australian history, and the sheer scale of the event will have a lasting impact on the local community.

Click hear the full Shepparton Cup special, on Episode 15 of Soccerscene’s Off the Pitch Podcast – available on all major podcasting platforms.

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