No Images? Click here On behalf of Cairns FC we’d like to thank you for your support, and in particular the great showing at our first game of the season against Gold Coast United where over 1300 football enthusiasts made themselves heard for a spectacular evening. I can tell you from my own personal experience that there is no club in the National Premier Leagues (Qld) who gather such vocal support or a club who presents and engages as well with the community as Cairns FC. So, to all football supporters, our volunteers (a mighty bunch of individuals), staff and officials a huge thank you for your involvement. As you’ll note with this new format of our news bulletin (The Far Post), we will regularly keep you up to date with the club’s happenings and news. In this edition:
Hello and welcome to the 2018 season. Well, what a start to the year. Last weekend we travelled to Brisbane in Round 3 against Brisbane Roar Youth, having lost the first two rounds against the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast. Our performances in Round 1 and Round 2 were quite positive from a coaching perspective, but unfortunately, a couple of defensive lapses in both games cost us the points. These are games that we really should have earned a result or at least salvaged a draw out of. The main positive from the first two rounds has to be the support we received from the region. I have never before witnessed such fantastic support from a sporting community at this level of football, and to see the engagement between the fans and the players after the games has been a fantastic advert for the game and an absolute pleasure to be part of. When I first arrived here the club was a brand new project and at my first training session I had only 6 players return to training from last year's senior squad. Following trials and a strong recruitment drive we have managed to assemble a team on the pitch which has a good balance of youth and experience along with predominantly local based players. We are also playing a good brand of football which I knew in time would bring the results that our magnificent support deserves. On Saturday we managed to bring home 3 points in what was an extremely difficult fixture against table toppers Brisbane Roar Youth in a very exciting game. We took the lead early on in proceedings when a quick throw-in from Jamie Carroll caught out a sleepy Brisbane defence for striker Joshua Taylor to rifle into the top corner against a stranded Brisbane keeper to continue his goal-a-game tally for the season. Brisbane continued to push until half time yet could not penetrate a strong defence with both Josh Wilson and Joe Zupo having superb debuts at goalkeeper and centre half. However after half time, Brisbane had a 15 minute spell where we simply couldn’t contain the movement in their midfield, scoring two goals and putting the home team in to the driving seat. I asked for a response from the boys and I certainly got it as we dominated the remainder of the game with great chances for Josh Taylor, Jamie Carroll and new signing Tom Murphy hitting the crossbar. However it looked as though it wasn’t going to be our our day until injury time when a wonderful ball from Bronson Koppen released Jamie Carroll down the wing for him play a wonderful cross to Joshua Taylor, who only had to tap the ball in to get our first three points of the season. If we continue to work hard and tighten up at the back we can definitely build on these three points. Kind Regards, Danny Graystone As the season starts to ramps up there’s lots of activity both on and off the park, it can be a challenge to keep up, and even more difficult getting the right message and information to the source – the players and parents. So I hope the following will help a little to point you in the right direction. CAIRNS FC – GOALKEEPING ACADEMY Commencing 19th February, we began providing services for aspiring goalkeepers. Initially catering for Glovemen/Women aged from 8 – 18. This will coincide with our use of West Barlow Park as our official Training Facility. Keepers will have the option of attending an initial 6 week program for Term 1 or simply attend sessions as required. This is a user pay program and participants MUST register online through the Cairns FC website www.cairnsfc.club The program will be fully structured and participants will work with both Cairns FC coaching staff and senior Goalkeepers. Full details are available on the Cairns FC website or for further enquiries please contact goalkeeping@cairnsfc.club CAIRNS FC – NPL ACADEMY Our NPL Academy was to commence at the conclusion of the FNQ Zone Tri Series Development Program, where identified players would be offered opportunities in one of two ongoing Identified Player Development Programs – FNQ Zone Squads and Cairns FC NPL Academy. Unfortunately due to a lack of numbers and a conflict with other football programs at this time of the year it was decided to shelve the Zone Tri Series. With this in mind, we will commence the NPL Academy process a little earlier than anticipated, and our coaching staff will be out looking at local games and club training sessions to identify potential talented players to be invited into the program selection and identification process. The NPL Academy is the conduit for regional players into NTC Programs, the Brisbane Roar Academy, State Programs and links with A-League clubs. During the process of establishing Cairns FC, a great deal of consultation and collaboration was made with Football Queensland, FNQ Football and local clubs to develop a model which supports the club system yet still maintains the compliance required to maintain an NPL Licence. One of the agreed elements was that selected NPL Academy players will train twice weekly with the Cairns FC NPL Academy and return to their registered clubs for their final training session and play for their club on a weekly basis. This is to assist with growing numbers and enhancing the local league structures. Cairns FC NPL Academy Squads - Under 13 Boys, Under 14 Boys, Under 15-16 Boys, Under 12-13 Girls, Under 14-15 Girls, Under 16-17 Girls. There is also a Youth Squad (17-20) which will work very closely with the Senior Men's NPL squad. Each squad will prepare for involvement in a Northern NPL Series against NQ United FC (Townsville) and Magpies Crusaders FC (Mackay) on 6 separate occasions, all double header weekends, commencing from April. There is also provision for Skill Acquisition Program age groups Under 9 - 12, to participate in these football festival weekends, which at this point in time will be fielded through our Brisbane Roar Academy Preparation Centre. In addition to games against the Northern NPL Clubs our Junior Academy Squads will be working towards the Mackay Community Cup Tournament in July (July 8-14). This seeded tournament will enable additional playing opportunities against other other Regional NPL Clubs and Tier 1 Zone Representative Squads. The Youth Squad comprising of players age 17-20 will also be involved in weekly in-house games with local opposition and Senior NPL squad members. In addition to this, the Youth Squad will also be included in the Northern NPL Series against NQ United FC and Magpies Crusaders FC with the same format as junior NPL Academy squads, incorporating another 12 High Performance Games. Some of our Under 16 players will also be invited into this playing group for in-house games and interaction with the Senior Squad, however they must be registered with the Under 15-16 Program first for this to occur. Under 16 players cannot be involved in the Youth Squad as a standalone program. The Youth Squad program will be under the supervision of Senior Head Coach Danny Graystone and the Club's Technical Director Mark Boyd, both highly qualified and experienced professional coaches. All players in the NPL Academy will remain registered to their community clubs, but train twice weekly as a squad. Cairns FC Academy preparation centre for the Brisbane Roar has been going from strength to strength over the past three weeks. Players from the Academy have been showing their skills before games and during the half time break at Cairns FC NPL games against the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast. If you have a child aged 5- 12 years, now is the time to register for the program as we have games against Townsville coming up during the Easter period, and many more home games where your child can be a part of the 'big game', and mix with the senior players and coaching staff. These are inspirational experiences that are available for any kids with ambition to play at the highest level. Visit www.cairnsroaracademy.cairnsfc.club for further details. UPCOMING COACHING COURSES Aldi MiniRoos Certificate Course – A short 2 ½ - 3 hour program designed for Game leaders and parents working with children aged 5 – 8 playing in Small Sided Football game environments. A great assistance for those new to the game to provide some concepts, practices and organisational methods that will help you with young children in a controlled fun activated football environment. This program is provided FREE OF CHARGE and requires approximately 10 – 12 participants. Skills Training Certificate – This 14 hour short course bases itself on delivery of the 4 Core Skills (First Touch, Striking The Ball, 1 v 1’s and Running with the Ball) and components of the National Football Curriculum. Attendance at this certificate program will enable candidates to gain a ‘snapshot’ of what is required in the Advanced Coaching Pathway with some components from the AFC ‘C’ Youth Coaching Licence. Cost per participant $80.00 (Requires a minimum of 16 participants) Usually delivered over two full days (Two consecutive Saturdays or Sundays, two consecutive days Saturday/Sunday) currently scheduled courses are listed below: 3rd & 4th March 2018 Skills Training Certificate – Register Here 3rd & 10th June 2018 Skills Training Certificate – Register Here 10th & 11th November 2018 Skills Training Certificate – Register Here Game Training Certificate – This 14 hour short course bases itself on delivery of Game Training components real to the 11 v 11 game, as per the National Football Curriculum. Attendance at this certificate program will enable candidates to gain a ‘snapshot’ of what is required in the Advanced Coaching Pathway with several modules from the AFC ‘C’ Senior Coaching Licence. Cost per participant $80.00 (Requires a minimum of 16 participants) Usually delivered over two full days (Two consecutive Saturdays or Sundays, two consecutive days Saturday/Sunday) currently scheduled courses are listed below; 22nd April & 13th May 2018 Game Training Certificate – Register Here 15th July & 29th July 2018 Game Training Certificate – Register Here 17th & 18th July 2018 Game Training Certificate – Register Here Senior Coaching Certificate – This 14 hour short course bases itself on delivery of Game Training components and football specific conditioning, real to the 11 v 11 game. Attendance at this certificate program will enable candidates to gain a ‘snapshot’ of what is required in the Advanced Coaching Pathway with several modules from the AFC ‘B’ Coaching Licence. Cost per participant $80.00 (Requires a minimum of 16 participants) Usually delivered over two full days (Two consecutive Saturdays or Sundays, two consecutive days Saturday/Sunday) there are no Senior Courses scheduled at this point in time. CAIRNS FC TEAM APP Download Team App onto your smartphone. It's 100% FREE. * Launch Team App, select sign up. You'll be sent an email to confirm your registration. Log in, then search for CAIRNS FC and request access to group(s) that apply to you. 2018 SPONSORSHIP | Cairns FC has sponsorship opportunities available for the 2018 season. Please get in touch if you would like a proposal sent out or to discuss the packages available. |