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Post by dibo (pron. "DIB-OH") on Sept 22, 2007 10:07:23 GMT 10
mariners stepping up their efforts on the north shore: Football fever hits Knox
Crystelle Coulon
21Sep07
Central Coast Mariners Troy Vidmar, Dean Heffernan, Nigel Boogaardd and Nik Mrdja train Knox students Chad Cowley, Scott Shedden and Mike Urwin.
KNOX Grammar School was host to A-League football team the Central Coast Mariners on Tuesday, when the students flocked to Knox 1 oval to watch the footballers train.
Master in charge of football at Knox, Stephen Roche said he was pleased with the turnout.
``The whole school turned up to watch, including our prep school,'' he said.
``The boys were able to see a professional team train and that's a great way to promote the game.''
Three of Knox's first XI soccer players, Michael Urwin, Chad Cowley and Scott Shedden got the chance to train with the professional footballers.
``It was a really good experience, the type of game they play is so different, it's a lot quicker and more intense,'' Shedden, captain of football at Knox, said.
``It's also great to see that the professional players are still happy to get involved with younger kids.''
Soccer is a booming sport at Knox, with the school boasting 50 football teams.
``Although we're known as a rugby school, I think soccer is definitely taking over,'' Shedden said.
The Knox first XI came second to Sydney Grammar School this season, but with Knox's high-profile coaching staff including five ex-international players and one-time socceroo Milan Blagojevic the young boys being trained through the ranks look to have a very promising future. SFC fans not happy either! ;D notice as well - 50 football teams at knox! jeepers! top stuff mariners! |
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Post by Bearinator on Sept 22, 2007 10:25:05 GMT 10
Looks to me like Nik just kicked that ball. Not happy.
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Post by yellowcake on Sept 22, 2007 10:31:45 GMT 10
Looks to me like Nik's hopping on one leg and chucked the ball up ;D  |
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Post by ~Floss~ on Sept 22, 2007 11:18:49 GMT 10
It's good that the SFC forum-ites are ripping into their own club for not doing this, rather than ripping into CCM for beating them to it.
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Post by Perm on Sept 22, 2007 12:12:13 GMT 10
it looks like the person next to the camera man on the podium is pegging a ball at a million miles an hour at Mrdja.
Nik jks jks
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Post by countryhick on Sept 22, 2007 17:24:28 GMT 10
Good work Mariners.
Anf 50 teams?? WTF? Thats ridiculous. I hope they keep their foot in the door at that school. We could pull some serious talent out of there with that sort of coaching staff at the school and just the sheer number of candidates
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Post by omni on Sept 22, 2007 17:49:40 GMT 10
Yea that's some insane coaching staff! Who would have thought it Knox as a football heartland.
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Post by midfielder on Sept 22, 2007 18:37:23 GMT 10
Proves two things, First Union is heaps big trouble as Knox is their heartland and in massive numbers they have lost it to football. So soon all those advertising dollars going to union will start to move to football.
Second it shows how poor the Sydney FC board are they have no mud on their boots and also shows how good are board is.
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Post by curious on Sept 22, 2007 19:15:12 GMT 10
How do you know how many Union teams they have & if the numbers have varied?
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ceburoo
Local league player
Posts: 52
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Post by ceburoo on Sept 22, 2007 20:23:29 GMT 10
One thing about Knox is the involvement of the parents there. Who knows there could be some new prospective club sponsors (or more Board members) among those parents who would appreciate the interest shown by Mariners going to their school and spending time with their kids.
Who knows what new talent could be unearthed both on AND OFF THE FIELD, at a school with 50 football teams.
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ceburoo
Local league player
Posts: 52
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Post by ceburoo on Sept 22, 2007 20:41:25 GMT 10
How do you know how many Union teams they have & if the numbers have varied? I have just spoken to a student at Knox and Rugby is still the number one team sport there although he agrees that football is making inroads but the tradition of Rugby at Knox remains strong. |
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Post by Pete on Sept 22, 2007 20:53:18 GMT 10
Firstly, great work by the Mariners to identify this opportunity.
I looked at the Knox website. They are a full educational school, so kids from kindy all the way through to Year 12 go there. They have a Prep School and a Senior School. They play school team sports on the Saturdays. And while the dominant football code would be Rugby Union, obviously a lot of boys there won't be playing that code for a variety of reasons. Given all the age groups going to the College, it's no wonder they can have up to 50 teams.
If Knox is anything like my old High School (which had a strong Rugby Union tradition and were very biased about it), they will conduct compulsory trials for Rugby Union under the guise of P.E. and pick kids out who have an aptitude for the game. The others can play what they like....
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Post by brett on Sept 23, 2007 10:38:40 GMT 10
"Troy Vidmar" hahahaha!
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Post by bakery5 on Sept 23, 2007 13:49:40 GMT 10
Firstly, great work by the Mariners to identify this opportunity. I looked at the Knox website. They are a full educational school, so kids from kindy all the way through to Year 12 go there. They have a Prep School and a Senior School. They play school team sports on the Saturdays. And while the dominant football code would be Rugby Union, obviously a lot of boys there won't be playing that code for a variety of reasons. Given all the age groups going to the College, it's no wonder they can have up to 50 teams. If Knox is anything like my old High School (which had a strong Rugby Union tradition and were very biased about it), they will conduct compulsory trials for Rugby Union under the guise of P.E. and pick kids out who have an aptitude for the game. The others can play what they like.... On the website did they said anything about apple chapel ;D |
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Post by Pete on Sept 23, 2007 14:00:39 GMT 10
On the website did they said anything about apple chapel ;D I only had a glance at their website, couldn't recall any mention of apple chapel. Given this is a full boarding school and an old school tie type of school at that, I shudder to think what this apple chapel is about.  |
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Post by bakery5 on Sept 23, 2007 14:04:21 GMT 10
On the website did they said anything about apple chapel ;D I only had a glance at their website, couldn't recall any mention of apple chapel. Given this is a full boarding school and an old school tie type of school at that, I shudder to think what this apple chapel is about. Involves 2 boys and an apple stick thing. |
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Post by greenpoleffc on Sept 23, 2007 19:59:19 GMT 10
Rugger buggers old chap :-)
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Post by Andy on Oct 5, 2007 14:44:25 GMT 10
The second page of this article by Mike Cockerill siggests we are about to gain more of their territory, Manly-Waringah and Granville in particular. Once again, SFC fans aren't too happy. |
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Post by countryhick on Oct 5, 2007 20:01:44 GMT 10
Neither of those links work. THe SFC one cause I'm not a member..can we have a run down please?
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Post by Andy on Oct 28, 2007 0:59:58 GMT 10
Interestingly, as the Mariners bed down their expansion plans, they haven't dared stretch their tentacles to the north. In the past few months, the Mariners have moved aggressively into northern Sydney - agreements with the Ku-ring-gai and Gladesville-Hornsby associations have been signed, while similar deals with the Manly-Warringah and Granville associations are close to being finalised. The non-exclusive deals will involve promotional opportunities, coaching clinics, coach education and - most significantly for the Mariners - a scouting system which could channel talented youngsters into their academy.
That's a quote from Mike Cockerill's atricle I mentioned above.
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