Northern NSW Football held its 2023 Metro State Coaching Conference at Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility on Sunday with a record number of aspiring coaches in attendance.
More than 120 coaches from across the metropolitan northern NSW region attended the day of informative theory and practical sessions delivered by leading professionals.
The conference included practical sessions by Newcastle Jets A-League Men's head goalkeeper coach Chris Bowling, Football NSW Institute and National Youth Championships under-16s head coach Victoria Guzman, Newcastle Jets youth team head coach Damian Zane, NNSWF talent development officer Brett Angell and Central Coast Mariners A-League Women's head coach Emily Husband.
The day also included theory sessions by Newcastle Jets A-League Men's head coach Robbie Stanton, former Socceroos captain Paul Wade, Socceroos chief medical officer Ross Cairns, Football Australia community technical lead Louise McColl as well as NNSWF technical director Ryan Doidge.
Angell was pleased with the day's outcome and attendees.
"There is such a wide discrepancy and trying to pitch across the day to everyone is the ideal situation that we want from it," Angell said.
"So coaches go away and take something from each session they have observed and may give them something for their team over the coming season."
Angell hoped the number of attendees would continue to grow after another hugely successful event following the overwhelmingly positive feedback after the regional State Coaching Conference last month.
"It would be great to see it increase each year and get bigger and bigger. Hopefully they will go away and they've enjoyed what they've seen and would want to come back next year," Angell said.
Guzman was grateful to be a part of the day and be exposed to the talent in northern NSW.
"It's a great honour that I've been asked to do this. It's a great opportunity," Guzman said.
"I think there's a great opportunity and potential here in northern NSW and with the institute and the state team, we play against northern NSW all the time and it's always a great battle."
Doidge was delighted with the conference’s success.
"It's been a really great day. It's a fantastic opportunity for all coaches across our northern NSW footprint," Doidge said.
"It's really important that we do this to provide upskilling opportunities and further development for our coaches. I'm certainly looking forward to them putting some of these things into practice for 2024.
"I would like to extend a thank you to all the presenters and attendees for participating in a successful event and we hope it helps our coaches not only next season but beyond into their coaching careers."
