Footy Manager’s Report – Round 3

Passion Teamwork Fun Respect.

Friday night I popped down and gave Ben Smith a hand at U11 training. I was only there for 45 minutes and what a bunch of goers those lads are. I got them to rate their skills every 10 minutes and they were honest in their appraisal.

It’s far easier coaching groups asking for ownership/feedback. We see player/coach respect is earned even as far south as U10; the kids have pride in showcasing skills and endeavour. A challenging environment that is measured helps a positive culture.

Talking about a positive culture, Happy Mother’s Day to all our Mums, the photos of our teams with the mums were brilliant.

I arrived at Boss James around 8.15am Sunday and the modified ovals were already set up and a hive of activity was great to see. Thanks to the TMs that get the mini army of volunteers into action, I watched Rohan’s Under 9 team showing the Sharks how to play the Boss.

I went over to Castlefield as Steve’s U8 team were about to kick off, they had a goal on the board within seconds and another soon after, those kids are hungry for action.

I disappeared for an hour and took my youngest to his first umpiring gig, Como park in South Yarra, the biggest oval in the SMJFL. I thought “fancy doing this when you should be resting his legs for his game at 2.15pm in U14 at the Boss”. He was real nervous in the car asking me many questions. The coaches and TMs of both Ajax and Prahran were excellent and he did a great job and enjoyed it and he was keen to get to umpire training last night at Elsternwick Park with his mate Charlie. I questioned him about players telling him how to umpire. I made the point as he needs to keep quiet when playing himself, (his dad needed to calm the farm also when coaching a little later).

I encourage all players to consider a year of umpiring. It teaches you another side to the game, added fitness and a few dollars in your pocket.

The U17 Lads in Div 1 had their first win for the year in a heart stopper at Mentone, love these lads with their Mums. Hugo Lay had a monster against his school mates, Tom Mackie snagged 4. Sharpie and Benvo real solid in defence.

My last stop late afternoon on Sunday was back at the home of Rovers footy to see another final quarter thriller. Here are the mighty U18 girls after they beat St Bedes. It was a big day; they unfurled the flag earlier from their premiership last year. I saw Sean Brady our Under 10 girls coach still at the club as we were packing everything up around 5.45pm. He had been there for three hours watching girls footy in U14 and U18. He had visited their training and was now watching them play, understanding the messages Richard and Jacko were investing into the girls. Sean wants to learn and impart this knowledge into his U10 team. That’s great coaching, spending the time to learn.

I always encourage our coaches to attend as many huddles as you can, even opposition coaches, and listen to different messages.

Looking through scores after a family dinner for Mother’s Day, the club had a positive day on the park:

The U12 girls in Orange had a day of chasing the opposition, whilst Violet had the bye. Both teams in the U14 Girls sang the song; Violet beat Dingley and Orange beat St Kilda City.

The U11 boys won; Red beat Ashwood, well done Ben. U11 Yellow beat the Zebbies in a tight one.

U12 Green had a hard-fought 3 point win against an Ajax team that does not like to lose. U12 Blue found the going tough against the Vampires.

Both U13 teams struggled to hit the scoreboard.

The U14 D5 team led all day, only to lose in the dying minute after leading by 3 goals in the 3rd quarter. The U14 D2 team won well against St Peters.

The U15 teams: Div 2 won large, Div 3 had a loss against Port South Melbourne whilst Div 4 found Oakleigh too good and maybe they need to go up, Oakleigh that is.

Emma tells me the U16 girls that are on permit to Zebs U16 Div 1 are loving footy, a few concussion injuries playing netball and Gabs still out injured, the team has not lost in Div 1.

The Under 16 boys had a day to forget against Bentleigh. Keep your heads up boys.

The final message is about mouth guards. I am big on wearing these to training, I have witnessed many times teeth issues in training mishaps. Friday night was no exception with one young bull copping an errant smack in the mouth, a bit of blood, all good. Parents please send your child to games and training with the mouth guard on them, not in their bag at home or in the car.

Have a great week everyone.

Cheers
Caggs
Go Rovers!!!