Junior players are put through their paces during the Brisbane Roar coaching clinic at Cooktown’s John Street Oval in the lead-up to the Easter long weekend. Photo: Supplied.
Junior soccer players are practising newly-learned skills after Queensland’s premier football club visited Cooktown for a coaching clinic on 17 April.
The Cooktown Reefs Football Club hosted coaching and development staff from the Brisbane Roar for the three-hour clinic in the lead-up to the Easter long weekend, and club spokesperson Jen Jenyns said it had been a tremendous opportunity for younger players to hone new skills on the paddock.
“Twenty boys and girls aged 4-12 developed their football skills, stayed active and had fun with their friends,” she said.
“Coach James Sangma ran the clinic, which helped the kids develop essential game skills, including one-on-one, first touch, striking the ball and running with the ball.
“It was a fantastic opportunity for players to access outdoor coaching of this calibre.”
The sport has experienced a Cape York resurgence over the past 18 months in Cooktown and Weipa, and Ms Jenyns said the clinic had also provided Football Queensland (FQ) with first-hand insight into the challenges associated with supporting the development of high-level players in remote areas.
“FQ were able to see the difficulties with the cost of travel to their academies for our star players to advance through FQ’s professional representative pathways,” she said.
“We hope to raise funding for Darius Boyers and Alfred Joy to attend these academies with the possibility of selection for state and national teams in the near future.
“It was important for our players to see how popular and supported football is so close to home.”
The club is looking for more parents to help with coaching and game day support, and while the indoor incarnation of the sport is flourishing in Cooktown, Ms Jenyns said infrastructure continued to limit the rebirth of outdoor soccer.
“The Reefs FC have been trying to get an outdoors season going for some time now, but logistically, without lighting at John Street Oval, this is still some time off.
“We will continue for the foreseeable future to meet every Monday during school terms at the Events Centre Cooktown, and seniors will continue to play against Lakeland as well.”
There were smiles all round when the Brisbane Roar delivered a soccer clinic for Cooktown’s up-and-coming stars on 17 April. Photo: Supplied.
