Northern NSW Football (NNSWF) is pleased to announce the Newcastle Permanent Coach of the Month for June 2016 across the zones.
Football enriches character, intelligence, coordination and skill and each season, brave men and women step up to the plate and take on the task of helping our young athletes reach their potential: The Coach.
“Coaches are integral to the success of our sport and vital to ensuring that players enjoy a positive experience within our game. Coaches have a direct impact on whether players continue within football and it’s important that they recognised for their contribution and the important role that they play,” Community Football Manager, Peter Haynes said.
Each month, one registered coach from each of NNSWF’s seven Member Zones will be awarded the Newcastle Permanent Community Coach of the Month award.
Each winner will receive a Newcastle Permanent Community Coaching kit consisting of 6 balls, 20 markers, 10 bibs and a whistle, as well as a polo shirt and cap, to assist in fulfilling their roles at their respective club.
At the end of the season, each Zone will nominate one community coach from their pool of winners, to represent their Zone for the opportunity to be named “Newcastle Permanent Community Coach of the Year” announced at NNSWF annual awards night.
“Each of the June winners has brought a lot of enthusiasm, support, and dedication to their team’s improvement and worked hard to ensure their players enjoy their time within football,” Haynes said.
Newcastle Permanent Chief Executive Officer, Terry Millett echoes Haynes sentiments and applauds those who received the award.
“Newcastle Permanent is proud to support community football across Northern NSW and it is great to be able to recognise the efforts of a local coach who shows such dedication to developing their team,” Millett said.
Clubs can nominate their coaches by clicking here.
We look forward to receiving lots of nominations recognising outstanding coaches who give up their time for the enjoyment of our players.
The June Newcastle Permanent Coach of the Month Award recipients from across each of its seven Member Zones are as follows:
Darren Fry
South Wallsend FC
Newcastle Football
Our grandson plays in the Southy 9 Hunters, so it could be said that we are a bit biased, well of course. Darren is the Coach of the team, commencing this season, bringing along some extra players to boost the numbers for this team which was looking short for a full roster and might not have had a team. Darren’s manner and technique with the team ( a mixture of boys and girls) is to be admired; no fuss, lots of fun and heaps of enthusiasm and ‘well done – great effort’ can be seen and heard on match day. A testament to his dedication is keeping it simple but at the same time encouraging improvement; the first game of the season was full of effort and desire by both, the players and the Coach but the opposition was far too good, the score….not necessary. On the second round v the same opposition…..again the score not important….but the improvement was dramatic all players showed effort and left the field with huge smiles, Darren could not be more pleased with the players….all of them gathered around for the end of match cheer, chatting how well they had done. Darren gives out certificates at the end of a match and the kids eagerly await the results and cheer for those nominated – Biggest Effort Today – Most Improved Today – Had a Good Time Today. The team harmony, the sportsmanship, the fun, the enjoyment all come back to Darren (and his Team of Helpers) because they have a Coach who is ‘there for the right reason’……keep up the effort Darren the Players, Parents, and Grand Parents say thanks.
Tracy Spargo
Warners Bay FC
Macquarie Football
Tracy has never coached before but took on a team in which half the players has never played before. At first, she took it very seriously and I think struggled but then after attending grassroots training she made it ‘fun’. She encourages them, she cares for them she always has an ice pack and a bag of sweets in her bag for games. She gets the parents involved at training and game days. She encourages fair play. I actually think she deserves an award for the improvement in how far she’s come as a coach as well as the improvement that you can see in the children’s ball skills. She’s a go-getter, mother of three, who decided to give it ago and she really has. She also has gone above and beyond her coach duties. If people can’t get their children to or from training I know she has gone out of her way to pick up children and drop them home. One night at training one of the fathers was ill and she offered to drive his daughter home so that he could go home to bed. Tonight at training it was dark so she walked me to the car to ensure I got there safely. She washes the shirts each week which we don’t expect her to do. She volunteers for grounds set up. She’s a go-getter.
David Sibert
Pacific Palms FC
Football Mid North Coast
David travels long distances for training and for our games. He is a very dedicated, enthusiastic and a positive coach, who continually strives to improve the skills of the varying levels of players in our Open Ladies team. David also has focused on injury prevention and fitness, and partly due to his reputation as a great coach, our ladies registrations have risen by almost 50% this year.
Andrew Spradbrow
Muswellbrook FC
Hunter Valley Football
Andrew dedicates a lot of his time towards football, and especially the Eagles. He currently plays and coaches in both the First and Reserve Grade teams in the Zone Football League 2 competition, who have this year risen from a horror season in 2015 to now having both sides in finals contention, as well as coaching the club’s new All Age Women’s team, who are made up of a mix of experienced and inexperienced players.
While undertaking all this, he is also the club’s President, helps with maintenance, marks all the fields, and generally holds down the fort doing tasks that others would consider too hard or time-consuming. He will even jump in and referee the odd game if no one else is available!
Muswellbrook Eagles would be lost without AJ at the head of our club, and we hope he’ll be around for many many years to come!
Harry Menzies
Yamba FC
North Coast Football
When our previous coach decided to retire, Harry Menzies did not hesitate to put his hands up and volunteered to Coach our U15/U16s team. Harry is a great addition to our club giving our U15/U16s his full commitment and has guided them to further enhance their football skills, respect for the game, and commitment to one another as team players. Being a young Coach with achievement as a player and official referee, our players look up and respond well to him. We are so proud to have Harry as part of our Coaching Team as he has so much to offer to our club. He sure is our Coach of the month!
Amber Burton
Demon Knights FC
Northern Inland Football
Amber is a 16-year-old that coaches an Under 7s team. She also plays 16’s in the morning, gets to her junior team and coaches then goes on to play div 2 and div 1. She loves being able to share her experience with her team.
Damien Smith
Byron Bay FC
Football Far North Coast
One of our most passionate and dedicated club coaches is Damian Smith, our club goalkeeping coach. Damian is committed to coaching and bringing out the best in our young goalkeepers and inspiring them to embrace this unique, very important, but often unloved football position. Damian coaches a group of 10 junior keepers aged from 10 to 16 as well as our senior male and female keepers over 3 sessions a week. The goalkeeping squad is seen as a team among themselves and he provides great moral support as well as top notch technical training. He spends many hours researching drills and planning training sessions and also mentors youth players to develop them as goalkeeping coaches. Damian is also our men’s 3rd division goalkeeper, assistant coach of the men’s first division team and fills in at any level when required often playing premier or reserve division football when called on. he is an active member of our club, always helping with field setup, warming up keepers before games and generally being a great club member. He welcomes any aspiring goalkeeper, regardless of their ability and treats each as an individual working on their strengths and weaknesses and inspiring their confidence. He encourages fair play and respect for the opposition and match officials both on and off the field and is a great model for all of our young (and old) players.
About NNSWF’s Community Partnership with Newcastle Permanent:
Newcastle Permanent is the major partner of Community Football across Northern NSW and has partnered with NNSWF since 2008, supporting the High-Performance Program and Junior Football Program.
Newcastle Permanent’s investment in football is one of its most important community partnerships and reflects the financial institution’s commitment to supporting the local community.
The Community Partnership with Newcastle Permanent includes recognition programs such as Newcastle Permanent Volunteer of the Month, Newcastle Permanent Community Coach of the Month, Newcastle Permanent Community Club of the Year, training tools for community coaches and volunteers, as well as the distribution of over 9,000 free balls to young players.
