The Football Coaching Life with Trevor Morgan: “Put the player first and have empathy for their situation”

Gary Cole
The latest episode of The Football Coaching Life with Gary Cole, presented by Football Coaches Australia, sees Gary sitting down with the current Football Australia National Technical Director and Australian Mens U17s (Joeys) Head Coach, Trevor Morgan.

Morgan has been a well-entrenched figure within the youth development setup in Australia football over the past few decades, having been the Director of Football at Westfield Sports High and the National Youth League Head Coach for the Western Sydney Wanderers prior to taking on his current roles since 2018 and 2020 respectively.

Morgan led the Joeys to the knockout stages of the FIFA U17 World Cup in Brazil in 2019, and has remained in that role ever since.

Trevor Morgan’s ‘One Piece of Wisdom’ for aspiring coaches was: “Pay attention to what the player needs, don’t make it too complex, try and observe as much as you impart knowledge, put the player first and have empathy for their situation, think about what motivates and challenges them.”

Please join us in sharing Trevor Morgan’s Football Coaching Life.
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Mingle: Elevating your grassroots club

Founded in 2021, Mingle is a Dutch sports start-up aiming to elevate grassroots clubs through its impressive technology portfolio.

Mingle’s core product, the Mingle Sport app, strives to be a one-stop place for club members to easily access every piece of information they need.

The company offers three packages for clubs to use, from a basic free package to an extensive pro tier.

Team Management 

At its core, the Mingle Sport app is an easy to use, extensive and fluid way to organise a team. Users can implement a highly detailed schedule to track games, training sessions and other events.

This schedule can then be synced to a range of digital calendars, including Google, Outlook and iCloud. Through the schedule, players and coaches can RSVP and set up reminders.

To help identify how healthy a club is, Mingle also allows users to track attendance over a season by identifying trends.

Line-ups

One of the most important and enjoyable aspects of coaching is creating the team line-up, knowing this, Mingle provides an incredible degree of creativity within its native line-up builder.

The Mingle Sport app offers a range of formations for teams that are not only 11-a-side but also 7-a-side and lower.

Additionally, if the available formations are not to the liking of the user, Mingle enables users to drag and drop players to a desired location.

During a match, the line-up builder can also be used to track substitutions.

In higher tiered packages, match minutes can be live tracked, enabling users to see how many minutes each player is getting.

Team Communication 

The Mingle Sport app ensures club information is quickly available and accessible through its team chat.

Members can message through individual channels, or sub-groups can be created to deliver information quickly to multiple people at once.

Mingle’s line-up builder allows for team sheets and line-ups to be shared through the app to players, preparing them for games ahead.

Furthermore, notes and comments can be added to media posted on the app, allowing for updates and fun discussion to take place.

Performance Tracking 

The Mingle Sport app caters to a wide range of performance tracking, holding both quantitative and qualitative data.

Users can use the app to score keep, tracking stats such as goals, assists, and cards.

The app can then be used to measure trends, such as win rate, goal scoring, and goal difference. Additionally, members can rate matches from one to five.

Furthermore, Mingle Sport can be linked with Mingle’s Homebase, a desktop app focused on deeper analysis.

Mingle Sport also enables every team member to vote for three players of the match, for three different awards – MVP, Playmaker and Workhorse.

These MVP awards feed into Mingle’s monthly awards, where players can be awarded for receiving the most MVP awards within a month.

In addition, Mingle features leader boards which can track a range of stats, such as goals, assists and even attendance. These awards and leader boards act as a way to further motivate players into training harder and performing.

Content Sharing 

Mingle understands not everyone can access every game, so the app provides a live feed option in its premium tiers.

Users can customise the live feed to include the score, line-up, commentary, videos and blogs.

The live feed can then be enhanced by sharing updates and push notifications to members on key match moments.

Fortunately, the live feed is not exclusive to club members, outside fans can access the live feed through a shared link.

Besides the live feed, Mingle allows for a range of content sharing, users can post videos and photos in the app, which can be commented on. These can then be collated into albums, such as an end of year highlights package.

Conclusion 

Through its doctrine of ease, simplicity and accessibility, Mingle has proven itself as an incredibly and innovative successful start-up.

For any grassroots club looking to streamline and elevate their club communication, the Mingle Sport app is a perfect solution.

Football West and Persebaya Surabaya FC sign three-year MoU

Football West and Persebaya Surabaya FC have formalised their partnership by signing a three-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), marking a significant step in their collaboration.

The agreement was signed by Football West CEO Jamie Harnwell and Persebaya Surabaya CEO Azrul Ananda in the presence of Western Australia’s Minister for Sport and Recreation, David Templeman.

This MoU sets the foundation for a talent development and exchange program between Football West, the governing body of football in Western Australia, and Persebaya Surabaya FC, one of Indonesia’s top-tier football clubs.

As part of the agreement, plans are already in motion for Persebaya’s senior team to visit Western Australia next year. The club, currently leading Liga 1, Indonesia’s top football league, will participate in various football-related activities.

Football West’s relationship with Persebaya Surabaya dates back to 2018 when the Indonesian club’s youth team visited Perth for a three-match tour. The following year, Football West reciprocated by sending an Under 19 State team to Surabaya, where the visit was also a success.

Football West CEO Jamie Harnwell spoke in length on the importance of this partnership and their connection to Indonesia.

“Football West is delighted to renew our relationship with Persebaya Surabaya and we look forward to creating sporting and cultural opportunities through our shared love of football,” he said in a press release.

“Indonesia is a natural sporting partner for WA. Football is the No1 sport in Indonesia and we know from when we took our team to Surabaya in 2019 that they love Australian football.

“It has been a pleasure to host Azrul and his team this week, showing them several venues including the Sam Kerr Football Centre. We have had strong discussions about what we can achieve and it is very exciting.

“Football West’s Asian Engagement Strategy is a pillar of our Strategic Plan and this Memorandum of Understanding shows how committed we are in this area. We would like to thank Minister Templeman and the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries for their ongoing support for Football West in developing these relations,” he concluded.

Azrul Ananda, President of Persebaya Surabaya shared the same sentiment  about the extension of the partnership.

“We are happy to finally be able to continue our collaboration with Football West,” he said in a press release.

“During several days in Perth, the Persebaya management team has received much information regarding a visit from the Persebaya senior team in July 2025 for mini training camps and other cultural activities.

“Thank you to Jamie Harnwell and friends at Football West, Western Australia Sport and Recreation Minister Mr David Templeman, and Consulate General of Indonesia Mrs Listiana Operananta for their big support.

“We believe that the agreement between Persebaya and Football West over the next three years will strengthen people-to-people relationships between the people of East Java and Western Australia.”

This MoU signifies a deepening relationship between football organisations in Western Australia and Indonesia.

It creates an official platform for talent sharing and the development of players, coaches, and officials through exchange programs.

By facilitating visits and collaborative activities, the partnership also promotes cultural understanding between the two regions.

This deal is very important for Western Australian football and its attempt to expand their Asian representation.

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