Hello!
The summer football season in New Zealand is coming to a close and the club footy season, the one we have all been waiting for, is just around the corner.
Olé Football Academy could not be more proud to be associated with Western Suburbs Football Club as we enter season four of a club – academy partnership aimed at developing the Kiwi footballer. So far, the partnership’s pathway from junior – senior football has proved massively successful with over 90% of 2017 Western Suburbs Men’s 1st and 2nd teams comprised of home – grown academy players under the age of 18. Reserve team player – coach – mentor, Jamie O’Connor (a.k.a. the Silver Fox ?? ) throws a bit of a wrinkle in there. ?
Please pay attention to the below announcements including a super – duper important PDF (click here) for all players and parents interested in learning more about “The Olé Way” as well as more opportunities to get involved in the Olé Football Academy and Western Suburbs Club community.
We’ve decided to stick with a generic email newsletter format for this month! We hope you don’t mind.
CANI (Constant And Never-ending Improvement).
LiBTYFi (Leave it Better Than You Found it)
L3 (Life Long Learning)
DON’T EAT THE MARSHMALLOW (#1 Indicator of Success)
I AM BECAUSE WE ARE
The Olé Staff
– – –
Olé Football Academy / Western Suburbs F.C. Parent Information Seminar: Saturday, February 18th saw a fantastic turn out for the Olé Football Academy – Western Suburbs F.C. Parent Information Seminar. Thank you to those that attended! If you were unable to make the meeting, no worries, this PDF (CLICK HERE) covers everything you missed! As always, we are working hard to “step up our game” in regards to communicating, informing and educating parents about what we do at Olé. We see the parent as an integral component in holistic player development and fostering the synergy between player and academy.
Elijah Just and Josh Rogerson Shine At U17 World Cup Qualifiers: Elijah Just scored the Bicy – GOAL of the tournament, while Josh Rogerson made himself a permanent fixture in the center of defence, playing in every minute of every match for New Zealand. It was fantastic to see an Olé connection at play in securing a World Cup spot in India… “Although New Zealand were far slower to score than in previous matches, the young squad dominated possession in the New Caledonia half from the starting whistle until finally sinking their first, and the game winning goal, when Elijah Just connected with a throw-in from Josh Rogerson, finding the back of the with an acrobatic bicycle kick.”
RT 30 Eredevisie Update: After a couple of knee surgeries, a visit to Olé, and a holiday back home in New Zealand, it’s nice to see Ryan Thomas (RT 30) back in form with a nice BLAST into the back of the net against Dutch Eredevisie power house AZ Alkmaar.
Top U.S. Universities Visit Olé: Top–ranked NCAA Division I programs Butler University (RPI #14), Dartmouth College (RPI #25), Oregon State University (RPI #52) Xavier University (RPI #59), and NCAA Division III powerhouse Middlebury College visited the Olé Campus this past month to meet with staff and players.
Brian Plotkin (Assistant Head Coach, Dartmouth College) commented on his time at the academy; “Thank you for everything the Olé Football Academy Staff did to facilitate our trip to Wellington, New Zealand and for allowing us to see your players and spend time discussing the beautiful game. I was so impressed with the staff’s professionalism and the approach towards the development of the players that you work with from U8 – U9 through to the first team.”
David Costa (Associate Head Coach, Xavier University) added; “I had the opportunity to visit Olé recently and was thoroughly impressed with the quality of players, staff, and culture. Myself, along with several other university coaches, were given full access from the staff to the inner workings of the Academy and their plan of developing players on the field and people off it. The players were very professional in their approach to training and understand that development is a never ending process.The standard of training was very competitive and the players displayed the habits and quality to perform under pressure that comes with playing at a high level. Having witnessed the environment first hand, it is evident that the players are being equipped with the tools to make a successful transition into the next steps of their careers.”
Jonty Bilderbeck and Dominic Wooldridge Ink National Letters Of Intent (NLI’s): The Western Suburbs Junior – Senior pathway pair put pen to paper this past month signing National Letters of Intent to NCAA Division I schools California State University Northridge and State University of New York at Albany respectively. Congratulations Jon and Dom!
Olé Football Academy Host Families!!!: We are on the search for families interested in hosting Olé Football Academy players, Olé Football Academy Apprentice Staff Men and Women, and Western Suburbs 1st Team players. If you are interested in hosting someone please contact [email protected] immediately. Hostees are great role models for young children and ambitious footballers!
