Tell us about your football background

I grew up in the Wairarapa where I played all my junior football, and in those days, Rep football on Sundays. I thrived on that next level of challenge and loved the way it brought players from various clubs and regions together to play the game and compete in friendlies or tournaments. It set me up for my senior football, not only in skill development but also the more important aspects of any competitive sport in having resilience, mindset (performing under pressure) and commitment, for yourself and for your team.

I believe these are important skillsets to grow in our young people and football is one of the best vehicles to do this from.

I played competitively back in Wellington, then the UK during my OE and later Waikato when we moved here, until an injury and a busy family life made playing more difficult. Football has always been a way to meet people and connect.

What's your motivation behind coaching?

My aim for our players is for them to get to the best possible level they can play and use football as a way to compete, learn and connect with others.

When I joined the club I always had a vision to give the kids the opportunities I had in football and didn’t want the fact that we are a small or rural club to be a barrier to not having those opportunities.

I have enjoyed coaching all levels from 4 up to 14. I love seeing the kids having fun with each other, mastering new physical skills and getting past challenges.

For me, any training and game has to first and foremost be fun!

Sometimes players, parents or our environment puts a lot of pressure on them to perform… that will come, but shouldn’t be a feature at these ages, having fun will ensure they perform and ensure they remain in the game into their adult years.

Coaching has been a real learning journey for me too, to transition from playing the game to teaching it to young kids!

I learnt a lot as I went through trial and error and the one thing I loved was the challenge of finding or making games the kids would really connect with and transferring the technical of football to words or games they can relate to.

Bringing in others to help

One important thing we did was getting a FDO (Football Development Officer) to help with training across the club. It has been great for coaches and players having a skilled coach provide that next level of development to all players in the club. Like every club, we are reliant on our parent volunteers who do an amazing job, but not all have that technical background to teach the game or skills beyond the basics. 

On providing the next level challenge point

The youth format for aspiring footballers has long since changed from regional Rep Teams to club based teams in Federation leagues, which I don't think is as accessible for smaller clubs or areas.

Kaimai Rangers became a reality last year when Dwayne from Matamata got in touch and proposed a partnership. This was exactly where we had been developing the club towards.

It is amazing to be able to offer this level now from our rural clubs, and gives these kids that opportunity to compete at the next level and challenge their skills, mindset and resilience in a competitive atmosphere.

We are seeing genuine excitement from our junior players aspiring to join these teams. 

I'm really enjoying the challenge of coaching an U13 federation youth team.

My focus for this group is that success is measured on outcomes, not results. How we play, improve, compete and use every training and every game to get better.

They get sick of me saying our three key principles of Effort, Attitude and Basics….to me, these underpin everything.

I love working on the mindset with them to get over those challenges of competitive sport and keep growing!

For me, this is now my game time and a chance to really give back to a sport that has given me so much and see the next generation of footballers grow. Our youth players are already spreading that growth, helping ref games and develop the younger players coming through!