About Easts FC

Welcome to Easts FC

Easts FC 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.

Easts FC is one of the largest clubs in the local association, the Eastern Suburbs Football Association (ESFA). In the last decade the club has grown from 10 teams to last year having 80 junior teams.

Easts FC registers players in ALL age groups with ESFA. Some clubs in the local area do not register U6 - U11 players with ESFA and play outside the oversight and requirements of ESFA, Football NSW and the Football Federation of Australia. 

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 2012 we will be providing even more highly skilled coaching input for the kids, particularly U6 and U7 girls and boys.

While "soccer" is not the national sport in Australia it remains the most played junior sport in the country and the world's ost popular sport.

Request for Information and Register your interest

Please click here email the Easts FC Administrator for further information or request registration packs.

When We Play and When We Train

Easts FC welcomes players of all ages and abilities and will always endeavour to place players into a team.

Easts FC forms teams after players are registered in February each year, so it is not necessary for individual players to form teams.

Pre-Season Team Formation and Grading

In forming teams, while consideration is given to players' friendships, Easts FC generally seeks to forms teams of players of similar abilities. Experience has shown that players enjoy the sport more, develop their skills faster and expand their frienship groups when matched on the basis of skill and interest levels, rather than purley on the basis of friendship groups. Easts FC has developed a balanced Grading Policy under which players are graded and teams formed.

The timetable and training ground availability details will be available to downloaded here in the coming days once ground bookings are finalised with Centennial Parklands and Councils.

Season Playing and Training Details

Under 6 and Under 7 boys and mixed (boys and girls) teams play on Saturday monrings at Queens Park each week at the same time and place. U6 start at 8.30 and U7 start at 10am. U6 teams train at Queens Park on Fridays 4pm - 5pm starting 30 March. U7 train at Queens Park on Thursdays starting on 29 March.

Under 6 and Under 7 girls only teams play late at 11.30 on Sunday mornings at Queens park each week at the same time and place.

All other age groups play against other Eastern Suburbs Football Association clubs each week at grounds conveniently located around the Eastern Suburbs.

Boys and mixed teams from Under 8 to Under 15 play on Saturday mornings.

Boys from Under 16 and older play on Sundays.

All girls teams play on Sundays.

All adult teams play on Sundays.

Changes to the schedule are sometimes made to make up for wet weather and other competition requirements.

If your team requires special playing times outside the above noted times, please let Oonagh Power know immediately.

Easts FC welcomes players from private schools, as well as public schools. We recognise the requirements of private school players to play school sport on weekends. Easts FC and ESFA will schedule games to avoid clashes between private school and ESFA games wherever possible. Teams with private school players should notify Easts FC prior to the end of February to allow the draw to be constructed to miinimise clashes..

Easts FC uses Queens Park as its home ground but also has the use of other fields in Waverley and Randwick for training. The allocation of these grounds by Council to our club changes a little from year to year. FInal ground availability will be notified to teams and players prior to commencement or training in February

Fixture information is published on 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.

Coaching

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.

Coaching Policy

Easts FC encourages parents to be involved with their children's sport through coaching or managing their teams. As a volunteer run and not-for-profit club, it is essential that parents play an active role. It is not financially possible (nor desirable) for the club to provide full coaching and management for all teams.

U6 & U7 age groups receive high quality professional coaching as part of their registration fees every week. The acquisition of basic skills at an early age is the foundation of later development and enjoyment of the game. Even with these age groups, Easts FC requires parents to play an active and involved role and we structure the weekend coaching seesions to be based upon parental involvment.

For older age groups, Easts FC has relationships with indpendent professional coaching organisations who are available at pre-arranged rates to coach individual teams. This may be relevant for higher performing teams who want to extend their skill development. Full details of these programmes are available here.

The acquisition of coaching sills by parents is just as important as the acquisition of playing skills by players. From U8 onwards, paents must play a bigger role which is much easier for those that engage at the earliest opportunity.

Of course, being involved and active in the sport with your child is an extremely rewarding and enjoyable part of parenting. It is much better to be on the field with your child rather than be on the sideline while someone else engages with your child.

Small Sided Football

All clubs and teams registered in the Eastern Suburbs competition in the U6s, U7s, U8s, U9s, U10s and U11s play the Small Sided Football (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 is Small Sided Football?

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. SSF have a definite developmental impact on younger football players.

Why change to Small Sided Football?

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 Football?

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 Football

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 5 v 5 in Under 6 and 7 to 7 v 7 inc a goalie in U8 and U9 to 9 v 9 in U10 and U11 before playing 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 SSF go the community section of www.footballaustralia.com.au or visit www.esfa.com.au

Easts FC News

Gear Purchases, Playing Shirt & Ball Collection

Playing gear and team equipment can be purchased and arranged by emailing Emma Horniblow or calling her on 0411 097 170 .

 

Registration for 2012

Registrations for all age groups remain open. Enquiries should be directed to the Age Manager for your age group. See the Contact page of this website.

U6 & U7 games and new registrations (new players welcome) continue next Saturday Darley Rd Queens Park: U6 8.30am - 10am, U7 10am - 11.30am.

 


 

Professional Coaching

With top quality professional coaching provided at weekday training AND weekend game sessions for ALL Under 6 and Under 7 players, Easts FC leads the way for the development of young players.

Our partner coaches from Kickeroos are skilled, friendly and professional and will provide the best foundation for the developemnt of skills over a lifetime. For aspiring players this is essential. For those that want to try football and keep fit & active, this is the way to do it.

Kickeroos will be holding School Holiday Camps for 3 - 12 year olds. This is a great way to keep your skills growing and keep the holiday blues away! Click here for more information.

Professional Coaching is also available for competitive age groups too.

Together with partner coaching organisations Soccer de Brazil, Football-Tech and Kickeroos, 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.

U6 & U7 receive top quality professional coaching each week from our coaching partner, Kickeroos. U6 train on Friday 4 - 5pm, and U7 Thursday 4 - 5pm. Porfessional coaching from Kickeroos is also provided as part of the the training and game sessions each weekend.

For youth teams (U8+) 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) has become a bit of an institution at Easts FC since he started working with us in 2010. Since then, Gui and his team have become renowned throughout Easts FC for brilliant coaching and adding a whole new dimension to football at our club. His successes with numerous teams from U6 - U15 including league and grand final wins 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.

Easts FC is a major promoter of Girls' football and is supported by ESFA and Football NSW. Easts are committed to advancing Girls football and actively encourage girls to play the world game. Girls' teams are created for G6, G7, G8, G9, G10, G11, G12, G13, G14, G15, G16, and G18.

  • G6 & G7 play 4 a side on mini fields mostly against other Easts FC girls’ teams on Sunday mornings. Occasional inter-club gala days are held. All G6 & G7 receive professional training each Saturday before games and midweek at training
  • G8 & G9 play 7 a side on small fields against other clubs in the local area
  • G10 & G11 play 9 aside on 3/4 fields against other clubs in the local area
  • G12 and up play 11 aside on full size fields against other clubs in the local area
  • All Girls competitive games (G8 - G18) are played on Sundays at convenient locations around the Eastern Suburbs

If interested contact Brendan Browner or the Age Managers listed on the Contacts page.