With eminently qualified duo David Davkovski (technical director) and Tommy Giuliani steering the ship, selected youngsters will gain access to top-level coaching aimed at gathering the core skills set out in Football Federation Australia's National Curriculum.
The academy is an amalgamation of two previously-running programs, the Skills Acquisition Phase Program and the Representative Squad Program, with the academy sides to get game experience through the SJSA as well as competing at the Victorian Country Championships.
Technical director Davkovski said exposure to qualified coaching was the key driving factor behind the academy's establishment.
“We thought we'd join the SAP (Skills Acquisition Program) and squad programs, which just gives the kids more of an opportunity to be around Tommy Giuliani and myself as C and B licensed coaches,” he said.
“Tommy is also a Victorian state coach, and we just want to give as many kids as possible the opportunity to experience that coaching.
“The program is basically just trying to address the main things Football Federation Australia puts forward in its national curriculum. It's nothing special, but it's definitely centred around promoting the four key skills of first touch, striking the ball, running with the ball and one v one.”
While the academy's lowest age group is under-nines, Davkovski identified a need to continue kicking off soccer careers as young as possible.
“My philosophy is the younger the better,” he said.
“Over time we'd love to get into that discovery phase as young as five, but that is a medium to long-term goal.
“Getting kids coming in at 13 or 14 can be quite challenging to manage, whereas starting at seven or eight definitely gives the fundamental skills to be coachable moving forward.”
But while the academy picks the cream of the crop, it is not possible without the hard work of the SJSA in providing a brilliant platform on which all the region's young football enthusiasts can ply their trade.
Davkovski said the local association deserved all the credit in the world.
“The SJSA is just raising the bar, on top of the good work they have already done,” he said.
“If you go down there on a Saturday morning, it is unbelievable to see all the kids out there, there's got to be close to 2000 kids. It's just unbelievable and those guys deserve a massive pat on the back.”
Trials for under-11 and under-12 boys and under-12 and under-14 girls will be held on November 6 and 13, while under-13 and under-16 boys trial on November 18 and 25.
