For a group of young soccer coaches a normal Tuesday training session with their junior charges took on a touch of “Magic” on Tuesday. Well known soccer identity Mr Magic, Richard Mitchell was in town to hold a coaching clinic with Stanthorpe City and dropped in on a the junior coaches taking as they put a group of 10, 11, 12 and 13-year-olds through their paces. The junior coaches earlier this year completed a grassroots coaching course under the guidance of Mr Magic and followed that up with a more advanced Level 1 course. hey also assisted in the Simply Magic Clinic held in Stanthorpe during the recent school holidays.
The junior coaches (aged from 14 to 18) hold coaching sessions for youngsters aged from six to 15 in two sessions each week and their mentor was impressed with what he saw.
This is the next generation of coaches and Richard Mitchell is convinced that the future of the round ball game in Stanthorpe is in good hands. “The signs for the sport in Stanthorpe are excellent,” he said. Among those coaches coming under scrutiny were Ernie and Allison Hernandy, Will and George Merritt, Holly Hitchener, Grace Manahan and Matt Purcell. Mitchell liked what he saw and said Grace Manahan was typical of the group. When asked had she got her particular coaching drill from a book, she replied, “No, it’s just something I worked out myself”. “Those kids are working hard for Grace – she has done really well,” Mr Magic said. Of course there were a few blokes who hardly fit into the junior coaching ranks but who were equally as happy to be assessed along with the children; Brett and Steve McEvoy and Ian Dopson.
