JUNIOR DEVELOPMENT
The club has continued to increase it’s junior player numbers and has survived a geographical transitional period over the past years the club that has seen the residential infrastructure of the areas inhabitants evolve from the family orientated community of yesteryear to a much more professional single residential area. The continued increase in junior players of the Broadbeach Soccer Club throughout this transitional period is testament to the quality standing the club has in the Gold Coast soccer community at both senior and junior level and is directly related to the quality coaching staff appointed and employed by the club to oversee the clubs junior development.
Many players who have come through the Broadbeach United Soccer Club Junior ranks have gone on to play at professional level in both Australia and overseas and also continue playing for the club at Senior level in the Gold Coast Premier League. These players include Danny MILOSEVIC – Leeds United (UK), Celtic (UK), New Zealand Kings (A League), Shane STEFFANUTTO – Norwegian First Division, Steve FITZSIMMONS – Singapore First Division, David PILIC, Brad DITTON, Peter DWYER – Brisbane Strikers (National League), Lee VERNON – Gold Coast City (QLD State League), Gold Coast Premier League Rep Team, Luke MARTINERO – Gold Coast Premier League Rep Team.
A network of volunteers and parents form the backbone of the Broadbeach United Soccer Club Junior support team who work together to ensure a successful and professional environment along with assistance from many senior players to assist with coaching the juniors and therefore improving the players of tomorrow.
Quick guide to your junior season
The Season: The Gold Coast junior soccer season generally runs from April to September with games most Saturday mornings. There are a few breaks for holidays and carnivals during the season. It can seem like a long year towards the end so be sure to save some energy and ideas for the last few weeks of the season. We try to keep the competitions in a tight geographical area to minimize travelling for everyone but sometimes that is not possible. A lot of work goes into getting the draw as fair as possible for all clubs on the Gold Coast.
The Players: The main aim of soccer at Broadbeach is for you to enjoy yourself. You will learn skills as the season goes on and you will be a better footballer in September than when you start in April. A lot depends on you listening to your coach, practicing your drills and being willing to have a go at new positions or styles of kicking and different ways of playing.
Your team mates want you to have fun too and the best way to do that is to try your hardest. Everyone starts at different levels so cheer on the advanced players in your team and learn from them and make sure you include the less experienced or new players and help them to learn to love soccer.
Be sure to turn up to training and games on time, with your shin pads on, boots tied up and water bottle full.
The Parents: Broadbeach Junior Soccer Club encourages parent participation. We love to see parents helping out at training, cheering from the sideline and even assisting in the setting up and packing away of posts and nets on game days.
Your enthusiasm is infectious, especially if you are in tune with what the coach is trying to achieve with a particular player or team. Positive talk and cheering is tenfold better than negative. A few great phrases to learn that work wonders are:
• “Clear it” (this is to encourage a player to kick the ball well clear of the danger zone and is a much better and more constructive term than ‘Boot it’, which we have all yelled at some stage!)
• “Pass it” (it can take many players a long time to learn the awareness of where their team mates are, but when they do, the soccer is beautiful. This phrase reminds them there are others on the field to help them and, again, is much more precise than ‘boot it’)
• “Shoot it” (this is for that moment when a player is encouraged to have a shot at goal. Learning the confidence to shoot is an important step in junior football and whether the shot is successful or not, should be applauded. It is a much more sportsmanlike phrase than something such as ‘smash it’).
Parents can help out a lot by making sure their child(ren) are at training and games on time and ready to play – that is with shin pads, jersey, boots tied up and a full water bottle. Encourage every small improvement you see in your son/daughter during the season as a year’s progress is made up of many small steps.
Get to know the other parents in your team as the camaraderie can make the season much more enjoyable for you. And lastly, we all have hopes and dreams for our children so if the season is not working out for your son/daughter as you would have hoped, please talk sooner rather than later with your coach or manager. And if it is going well, be sure to let the coach and manager know you are happy. They are people too!
The Coaches: All our coaches are volunteers and many of them are fathers or mothers of players in the team, so if you have a desire to get involved, let us know. (The club can always provide support and ideas for running a successful junior training session. Information on coaching clinics and accreditation is also available). There are a number of simple drills that coaches will mix and match but all are aimed at improving the skill level of the individual, while ultimately encouraging team play.
Coaches keep training fun and love to win, but don’t mind to lose – and that’s an important message that permeates junior football.
All players, regardless of ability, are expected to share roughly equal time on the field. A good player should not necessarily spend more time on the field than a beginner or less skilful player. Look for ways to involve less dominating players by insisting they take throw-ins or corner kicks for example. Insist your dominating players pass the ball. Rotating players through all positions is an important part of a player’s junior football education so this should be encouraged.
Many in the junior ranks are unenthusiastic about being a goalkeeper so be sure you practice it at training and perhaps give players a half game each to allow them to ease into the position. Encouraging a sense of ‘team’ is a coach’s primary responsibility.
Good coaches delight in the improvements the team makes as the season progresses. Encourage parents to be involved. The coach also chooses the Most Improved Player of the season. (The Best Player is a confidential team vote)
If there are any concerns, air them with the club or the parents sooner rather than later.
The Managers: A team manager is usually (but not always) a parent of one of the players in that team. A manager’s role is one of support for the coach. Some coaches like their managers to assist at training. Others are okay on the field but need support off it. Tasks such as ensuring the balls and equipment are provided and returned each training session and game, keeping track of players’ attendance, assisting with substitutions and even organising a team roster for half-time oranges are common.
A manager should, early in the season, create a list of all players and their parents and contact numbers and distribute this around the team. It is amazing how helpful it can be.
Towards the end of the season the manager should ask the players to vote for their Best Player for the season, tally these votes and keep them confidential until presentation day. (The Most Improved is chosen by the coach).
Referees: Referees are paid a nominal fee for each game they control. While the rules are there to be adhered to, good referees also acknowledge the level they are adjudicating and do all they can to keep the play flowing for the enjoyment of the players.
The club is always looking for more referees and a short training course is held at the beginning of the season by Gold Coast Soccer. So let us know if you’re interested.
The Club: Broadbeach is a small club compared with others on the Gold Coast, but we have many other things going for us. We think the Chelsea Avenue ovals provide one of the nicest settings for Saturday morning football on the Gold Coast. The intimate atmosphere of the club makes it ideal for families.
We are always keen to welcome new players, families and helpers to the fold.
Junior Teams
- Under 6 Blue
- Under 6 Red
- Under 6 Gold
- Under 7
- Under 8 Blue
- Under 8 Red
- Under 8 Gold
- Under 8 Green
- Under 9 Gold
- Under 9 Blue
- Under 10
- Under 11