About Easts FC
Welcome to Easts
Easts is a junior soccer club located in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney Australia. Our home ground, Queens Park, is located in Randwick only 5 kilometres from the centre of Sydney.
We are a progressive and inclusive club that welcomes all players, and will always find a team for every new member.
In 2010 Easts Football Club had 852 registered players from the age of 4 years up to 18 years making it the biggest junior club in the local Association. In the last decade the club has grown from 10 teams to last year having 80 junior teams.
The club's philosophy is to make football fun for kids while providing them with the skills and competitive edge to continue playing team sports at an older age. In 2011 we will be providing even more highly skilled coaching input for the kids.
While "soccer" is not the national sport in Australia it remains the most played junior sport in the country.
Register your interest
Please click here to receive an information pack by email.
When We Play and When We Train
The latest information on the pre-season and main season dates for 2011.
For all age groups, please note these dates will be subject to change, and extended, if games are washed out. On last seasons record, allow a minimum two extra rounds.
Pre-Season Team Formation and Grading
Please check back in January 2012 for details of Pre-season training and team formation.
Season Playing & Training times and locations
Playing Times
- Non-competitive boys and mixed age groups 6, 7, 8, and 9 usually play between 9am and 2pm on Saturdays
- Competitive age groups, 10 to 15 (mixed and Boys), usually play between 9am and 5pm on Saturdays
- Competitive age groups, 16 and 18 (Boys), usually play between 9am and 5pm on Sundays
- All Girls teams usually play between 10am and 5pm on Sundays
- Please note that some games in the Saturday competition will play on Sundays, if playing observant Jewish teams, or if catch-up games are required. Similarly Sunday games may on occasions be played on Saturdays. You will be expected to be available for these occasional games.
If your team requires special playing times outside the above noted times, please let Oonagh Power know immediately.
These requests must be made to ESFA prior to 28th February and NO LATER.
Fixture information will be available from the ESFA web site. Please click on the following link to go straight to the ESFA DRAW
Please ensure several of your team members check the draw every week, particularly after 5pm Friday prior to your weekend match, as changes may be made and these may not always be announced.
Training Times
Easts hire Queens Park on Thursday afternoons for training, however other training days and venues (including Saturday and Sunday) can be worked out amongst the teams.
For other training locations, please discuss this with David Owens.
How We Play
In keeping with the youth development initiative from the Football Federation of Australia we field teams in Small Sided Games up until and including Under 11s, and then the players progress to 11 vs 11 players on full size pitches.
In the younger age groups of under 6 to 9 the kids are mostly put in teams with their friends and school mates while the older ages are graded into teams of similar skill levels.
Coaching Policy
Easts provide coaching and player development support in different ways based upon the age of the players. In this way, we are able to provide coaching and support that is relevant to different age groups and that maximises the skill development and enjoyment of players as they develop.
Full details of the club's Coaching Policy are available on the Resources Page.
Small Sided Games
In 2011 all clubs and teams in the Eastern Suburbs competition in the U6s, U7s, U8s, U9s, U10s and U11s will play the Small Sided Games (SSG) format. It is important to emphasize that the purpose of SSGs is skill development through fun.
This system was introduced in 2008 as part of the Football Federation of Australia's ground up overhaul of football in this country. They benefit kids by making their early contact with the game more enjoyable while simultaneously providing an environment that will facilitate greater skill development.
Easts utilises professional coaches and smaller teams with higher levels of participation and ball contact from players.
What are small-sided games?
They are football games with fewer players competing on a smaller-sized field.
They are fun games that encourage players to have more contact with the ball because fewer players are playing in a smaller playing area. SSG have a definite developmental impact on younger football players.
Why change to small-sided games?
It makes the game of football a better experience for children. More touches on the ball, more opportunities to make decisions, more actual play. Players will be more active due to playing both attacking and defensive roles and will become all-rounded and understand the importance of team-mates and playing and working together.
Do other countries play small-sided games?
Small Sided Games are played and endorsed throughout England, Ireland, The Netherlands, Scotland, Germany, France, Korea and USA, to name a few. The idea of Small Sided Games is not new.
Benefits of Small Sided Games
A significant amount of research has been conducted in countries where Small Sided Games are prevalent, which overwhelmingly highlights the following benefits:
- More touches of the ball by all players throughout all areas of the pitch
- More shots on goal
- More efficient use of facilities, there can be multiple games on one standard-size field
- Repeated decision-making experience
- The ball is in play far more often
- The emphasis is on player development rather than winning or losing
- Better success rate leads to improved quality of play, self-esteem and player retention
- The game is easier to understand
- Freedom of expression – no positions in early stages
- Less perceived stress on the players
- Less perceived pressure from coaches and parents
- Parents more likely to volunteer for SSG game leader roles
- Children enjoyed the progressive and sequential game formats.
How will children learn to play 11 v 11?
Progressing from 4 v 4 on Under 6 and 7 to 7 v 7 inc a goalie in U8 and U9 to 9 v 9 in U10 (this year ) and U11 (starting 2011) BEFORE 11 v 11 is a sound educational method and process. The progression helps players discover the differences in the size of the field and size of the goal, and the benefits of having more space, learn to use different and better developed techniques to play a more tactical game, and learn the role of different positions and determine what best suits them.
Why no goalkeepers?
The role of the goalkeeper in football is uniquely specialised and typically players develop as keepers at a later age. In the youngest age groups, keepers can be uninvolved in the game for long periods which can be uninteresting and means they are not part of the team for long periods of the game. Most goalkeepers have played for many years as field players before deciding to become goalkeepers.
For more information on the benefits and philosophy of SSG go the community section of www.footballaustralia.com.au or visit www.esfa.com.au
Easts FC News
New Club Administrator and Registrar
The club has appointed Amanda Jane Head as the new Registrar and Administrator and welcomes her aboard our team.
Amanda can be contacted at registrar@eastsfc.com.au
Registration for 2012
Player registrations for 2012 will open in early February 2012.
Details of online registration, team selection and preseason training times will be published on this site in early January 2012.
Professional Coaching
Professional Coaching is now available for your team.
Together with two leading coaching organisations, Easts FC has arranged a selection of training packages to suit the different requirements of individual teams.
Easts FC believes in providing opportunities for and encouraging all players to play to the extent of their potential. For many, the involvement of a parent coach is sufficient and a very rewarding outcome for all involved. For others, parent-coaching may not provide coaching at a level to continually develop and challenge more talented players. To accommodate this and also to provide support for time poor parent-coaches, Easts FC offers a range of player development opportunities.
For young players (U6 - U10) , Easts FC offers the following opportunities for players to receive professional coaching:
· U6 & U7 receive professional coaching during the intra-club training and game sessions each weekend and midweek professionally supervised coaching sessions for teams
· U6 - U10 may attend professional coaching academy sessions each weekend
For youth teams (U11+) , but also open to younger teams, Easts FC offers 2 coaching options involving professional coaching (pro-coaching).
Both options are user pay. For a Dedicated Pro-Coach, whereby a coach is dedicated to a team for the season, the vast majority of the team must agree to engage the pro-coach. In situations where a team does not largely agree to it, individual players from different teams may combine to form a squad that can engage a Dedicated Academy Coach. For example, 5 girls from each of three similarly aged teams can combine to engage a Dedicated Academy Coach.
A. Dedicated Academy Coach
For individual players who wish a higher level of coaching support, Easts FC will coordinate a Dedicated Academy Coach for groups of players from similar age groups (say U12 & U13 etc). These sessions are intended to be academy style and augment parent-coach training, not replace it. The Dedicated Academy Coach will run skill based training sessions focussing on ball skills. The sessions will not generally deal with set-plays or game systems. It is expected that these sessions would be in addition to regular team based training sessions with a parent coach. These sessions will be charged on a user-pay basis.
B. Dedicated Professional Coach
For teams that wish to maximise the development of player skills, Easts FC will seek to identify and coordinate a Dedicated Professional Coach for individual teams. The Dedicated Professional Coach largely removes the need for a parent coach to be involved. The Dedicated Professional Coach will coordinate and attend all training sessions and games. This service is a user-pay service and is subject to agreement among the individual players of the team and securing the services of a suitable Dedicated Professional Coach. Teams will arrange payment directly with the coach.
Professional Coaches
The following coaches (in alphabetical order) are available to coach Easts FC teams subject to availability. To contact the coaches, please contact them directly. Payment to the coaches should be arranged directly with them.
1. Football Tech Academy (Renato Jelen) is a technical-based coaching program for young Australian Football players. Their programmes provide individual development for all players, from the beginner to elite level.
Football Tech's curriculum focuses on technical coaching in age-specific, game-related drills. Their coaches are Brazilian-trained and offer an elite coaching based on the curriculum devised by Technical Director, Renato Jelen. Utilising skills and playing experience, Football Tech has the ideal basis to educate young Australian players, physically, technically and also mentally to encourage, support and advance players during these golden years of their development.
Football Tech have been operating successfully in WA for four years with a number of their players now playing overseas and a large number of their younger players selected for State and National Teams. Football Tech offer their players opportunity to develop further with long-term residential programs at their partner club in Brazil.
For more information visit www.football-tech.com or call Renato on 0425 197 522.
2. Soccer de Brazil (Gui Carniel) will join Easts FC again for his 2nd season in 2011. In 2010 Gui became renowned throughout Easts FC for his brilliant coaching and adding a whole new dimension to football at our club. His successes with U7 Elks, U10C, U11C, U11A (Grand Final winners) & U15A (League & Grand Final winners) is testimony to his coaching skills.
This year, Soccer de Brazil will be offering more teams the opportunity to be coached to the extent of the players' capabilities. Players will learn more about the game than they have ever known. It's not just skills, it's set plays, playing formation, strategy and mental attitude.
For more information visit www.soccerdebrazil.com or call Gui on 0428 968 138.
Professional Coaching Options and Prices
Easts FC has selected these professional coaches on the basis of their vast experience and appropriate credentials for the benefit of our players. We have also negotiated pricing with the coaches which varies depending on which coach is involved. Individual teams and squads will be able to meet the coaches to find a suitable coach with availability at the right time for coaching their team. The costs noted below are based upon training at grounds that Easts FC has hired for the season for normal training use by all teams. If teams choose to train at venues not booked by Easts FC the cost of these grounds will be the responsibility of individual teams.
Click here for a table of the Pro Coaching options that are available
Girls Football
Easts FC has more girls' teams than most clubs in the Eastern Suburbs. Over the past few years the number of girls' teams has grown considerably and is proving to be a very popular team sport for girls aged 5 – 18. Adult womens' teams are also very popular.