CENTRAL Coast Mariners National Youth League coach Tony Walmsley has been impressed by the commitment of junior players and coaches during his Central West tour.
Walmsley was in Orange on Wednesday night to run a training session with the Western NSW Mariners FC Under 15s side.
Yesterday he put the Western NSW Mariners FC under 18s through their paces in Dubbo as part of a coaching education session.
The Western sides play in the Football NSW Super Youth League competition and regularly travel to Sydney to take on their metropolitan rivals.
“The commitment is huge to play in the Sydney competition. It’s fantastic,” Walmsley said.
He said the distance the players covered on a weekly basis to train and play could be a great attribute in the future.
“In some ways it’s a big barrier, but then if they can overcome it and they break through and become the next Archie Thompson, they’ve got that inbuilt strength,” Walmsley said.
“It’s a big commitment from the coaches too. I take my hat off to them.”
On Wednesday night Walmsley spent 90 minutes working with the under 15s on their attacking play.
“I didn’t want to make it too tactical because they’re not my team,” he said.
“We kept it to core habits. We worked on them recognising certain cues and situations to make them wiser and make better decisions. They were great.”
Yesterday’s session in Dubbo was about Walsmley’s passion - coach education.
