The Football Federation of Victoria (FFV) Sports Development Program consists of five programs located in the areas of Seaford, Morwell, Fountain Gate, Yarraville and Fawkner. We currently have 94 students including 20 females enrolled throughout the program which is fantastic considering it is the first year of the program. The Football Federation of Victoria is very supportive of the program and excited about having our students involved with a number of their programs. In order to improve student’s knowledge of the game the FFV is providing a number of courses for students to undertake as part of their learning. In term one student’s have completed their Grassroots coaching license, Junior coaching license and Futsal coaching and officiating license.

Throughout the rest of the year they will complete their level 5 and level 4 Officiating licenses as well as assist the FFV with running the Melbourne Victory 5 A Side days for Primary students and Small Sided Football Gala Days for local clubs. They will also assist in the Schools Futsal Championships and All Schools Championships.

The program encourages students to be involved in a number of activities linking with local schools and community organisations to improve their skills in communication, organisation and management. Throughout the first term our programs have been involved in a variety activities providing valuable experience for themselves but also a rewarding experiences for the schools and communities involved. The activities conducted in term one include:

• Multi Cultural Sports Expo
• Music and Cultural Festival
• Moomba Festival
• Charity Day
• SSF Gala Days
• Primary School Clinics
• >Memorial Day
• Gippsland Emergency Relief Fundraiser
• School Athletics Carnival
• Melbourne Victory Player Clinic
• VSSSA Western Zone Swimming Finals
• Police Games

Students are not only involved in practical activities but also supporting organisations with administrative tasks in order to improve their understanding of the sport and recreation industry. Some of these tasks include:

• Creating Registration Kits
• Survey Graphing and Charting
• Club Evacuation Plans and Risk Assessments
• Club Overhauls

Midway through term two students will commence their Work Placements which will involve further involvement with local clubs. With the support of the FFV students have been allocated a local club in their home area which they will provide support to in the form of administration and coaching tasks. Their involvement will further develop the clubs ability to run effectively and promote the game within the local area.

In the weeks of the 6^th and 13^th of March 2009 the Fawkner Campus has undergone aquatic activities in the Fawkner Leisure Centre. These activities include basic sports recovery sessions and relaxation methods. The first session involved the teacher of the group John, taking the class for a relaxation and recovery session in the pool. John basically got the students to do a few exercises and stretches while walking up and down the swimming lane, and showed how a few exercises were to be done.

The following week  Michael Varkopoulos ran an hour recovery session, involving some simple stretches in the pool and getting the students to do a warm up outside the pool and a warm down inside the pool. This seemed to go very well as each student showed enthusiasm and was determined to complete each exercise to the best of their ability.

Next week a professional aerobics instructor will be taking the class. All the students are excited and hope it will be a fun and relaxing experience. This will continue every Friday morning involving gym sessions, group fitness centre sessions and even swimming lesson sessions.

Stephan Achilleos

On Friday the 13^th of March the Fawkner group started their Futsal competition. By picking presidents for the respective teams, they kicked off the campaign. The presidents then chose their teams using their salary cap of $50m. There were three marquee players worth $10m and all other students fit in under that mark. After the teams were chosen, they took to the court to battle out the season’s curtain raiser.

It was to be between the ‘Power Rangers’ and ‘Snitched’ .The game was fought out fiercely as the stakes were high. The first points of the year were up for grabs and it was a matter of who wanted it more. Both teams were under-manned because of modelling commitments, therefore they played with only one goalkeeper and three on court. With no substitutions, the Power Rangers fatigued more than Snitched who had possibly their best three players on the court at kick off. The Power Rangers captain Michael Varkopoulos was disappointed with the 12-5 loss but said after the game “It was a poor result from the lads, but we’ll come back stronger against ‘Ginga’ with a full strength side.”

Today’s highly anticipated game between ‘Ginga’ and ‘Snitched’ will be greeted with much excitement and promises to be something special for players and spectators alike. President of ‘Snitched’ Justin Ristevski is very confident about today’s match up saying “It won’t be an easy game today but we’ll come out on top.” President of ‘Ginga’ Sargon Barkho is also quietly confident about today’s game explaining “We have a spirited team that knows how to play together and are very balanced across the pitch. I believe we have what it takes to win today but I’m wary of the competition.”

Daniel Pizzo

All FFV students visited the International Motor Show recently. The aim of the visit was to do tasks involving the buying of a car and completing Maths and English exercises to satisfy the Year 11 program. This was a great excursion for the students to learn about how much a car really costs and to learn about loans, monthly payments and all the disciplines involved.

The assignment had 3 tasks, the first 2, which had to be completed at the venue, the third to be completed in class time, or as home work. The first task was 8 questions about the motor show. These tasks covered all different aspects of the show from details regarding its organisation to the most expensive car involved.

The second task was called Dream Car. This task asked students to pick one car which stood out to them complete some research. This involved looking into the start up expenses you would have if you actually bought the car, what extras and upgrades cost, insurance and also loans.

The third task was for all the students to present  their information in a Power Point presentation to their peers for approximately 2/3 minutes. All the FFV students Power Points were well presented and full of interesting information.

Seaford Student

On the 7/3/09, the SEDA FFV students volunteered their time to help run the blow up soccer field organised at Moomba. The train trip to Flinders street station was filled with excitement and anticipation and on our arrival our expectations were met, as a big blow up soccer field was on hand waiting for us to mould and play with aspiring young soccer players.

The Start of our coaching campaign got rolling and was a bit confusing at first. Eventually we got the hang of what the kids wanted, this being just to run around all day and preferably score as many goals as possible. We decided just to play 5 a side games all day, and this decision kept the kids happy. A big turnout helped as when one kid left we always had kids ready to join the game in place of him/her.

We played, refereed, laughed, made friends, demonstrated, coached, and corrected young kids techniques, all of this making the day worthwhile and a good time had by all. We left a good impression on the kids and on the general public as we were friendly and inviting, and this we achieved with flying colours.

Jonathon Voulgaris

During our first term in the Sports Development Program, we have under gone a number of activities. They include the Darebin 5 a side between the SEDA Football campuses, TAN Challenge, MCG Tour, Melbourne Motor Show, Coaching and Futsal Referee Courses. But the stand out activity of Term 1 was the Coaching of the grade 6 interschool sports at Caroline Springs Brookside and Creekside campus on the 3^rd of April.

The weeks leading up to the first Friday of our coaching were the planning of the sports we had to teach the students. We each planned training drills that would help improve the students in the sport they chose. The class had been split up into groups of two and were each allocated a sport such as Boys Soccer, Mixed Soccer, AFL, Girls Netball, Mixed Netball and T-Ball. Stan and Dylan had boy’s soccer and the drills they had planned for the students were dribbling, ball control and passing. 

Arian and Nick had T-Ball and the drills set for the students were throwing, catching and batting drills, followed by a small game. Both of our groups had received awesome feedback from both the students and the teachers that had been supervising both soccer and t-ball.

We gained valuable experience from this day and we are all looking forward to the next sessions with our students and the interschool competition between the two campuses later on in the term.

Stan Roumpus and Arian Memeti

On Thursday the 2^nd April, the FFV SEDA students were involved in a time trial run around the botanical gardens. This track is known to regulars as the Tan Track. This Track is known for the high profile runners that use it for training. Many elite sports people and the general public use the track including AFL star Chris Judd.

The start of the track is just a straight run, but is followed by an intimidating hill. After the hill, the track takes a winding turn followed by a series of dipping, swerving sections. After the final turn its just a straight, but long excruciating run to the finish.

The winner overall of the individual run was Yarraville groups Nathan Long, with an astonishing time of 14 minutes and 8 seconds.

After the individual runs, each SEDA group was split up into different teams, consisting of colours red, green, blue, yellow and plain. Once in teams, a relay was organised and students were required to spread around the track and run in a relay styled fashion. The eventual winners of the relay/baton race was the Yellow team by a healthy margin of 3 minutes.

Overall the day was a great success, and done in a competitive but fair manner. Well done to all involved in organising the event and students that competed.

Yarraville Student