If you’ve only recently been introduced to the local football community in Canberra, whether through the involvement of your children in MiniRoos or juniors, or perhaps dusting off your own boots for a come-back, you could be forgiven for asking, “Who are the White Eagles? Where have they suddenly popped up from?”

The truth is that we have been engaged and represented in the upper tiers of Canberra football for 33 years! Admittedly much of our early focus and energy was on our men’s teams, as was the general focus of football in these times.

We have made various attempts over the years to establish a women’s program, but this was before the recent Matildas success shining a much-needed spotlight and sparking significant, and overdue, interest in the women’s game.

Reflecting on our original incorporation documentation from 1992, the club was established to provide vehicle for the Serbian Community to come tother, to celebrate and share our culture, and to coordinate the involvement of senior and junior teams in the local Canberra competition.

Over the last three years, the club has sought to invest and broaden our focus from the top tier men’s competition that we could sustain, to taking a more youth oriented and inclusive approach. We had firm goals of ultimately fielding our own teams in local junior competitions, however we knew this would require planning, coordination and significant effort and was not going to happen overnight.

Rather we needed long term and deliberate planning to enable sustainable growth. Starting small and manageable, we initially targeted our efforts towards members of the Serbian Community through our Little Eagles program.

Distinct from the elite pathway programs and academy set-ups that dominate the football landscape, our program is about inclusion and providing an introduction to the game for children of all ages and abilities in a supportive environment with a focus on enjoyment.

It was originally intended as a vehicle to gauge interest, introduce children to the game, establish a core base of junior players, and help build momentum and community support. This would help us shape our goals and ensure our forward plan was realistic and achievable.

The popularity of this program exceeded our modest expectations and allowed us to accelerate the introduction of a small number of teams, working closely with the Woden Valley Soccer Club who have been extremely supportive and accommodating with their inclusion of our teams within the MiniRoos competition they host.

Coupled with the way the club is organised, the standards we set ourselves, the principles we adhere to and the culture we are building, recent years have seen our junior ranks swell, attracting players from outside our community who align with our philosophy and want to be part of what we are building.

There have inevitably been some growing pains, and it would be disingenuous to imply we have managed to keep everyone happy in every instance. But we are all learning as we go and genuinely looking to make the experience as enjoyable as possible, for children and parents alike.

We are committed not only to the development of our players and supporting their footballing aspirations, but also the up-skilling of our volunteers through the coordination of access to Capital Football Foundations of Football coaching course and the subsidisation of further coaching qualifications where interest exists.

This investment in our people aligns with our philosophy to professionalise our program, provide our volunteers with core skills and the confidence to provide engaging, positive, and inclusive training sessions, while also achieving a personal qualification in recognition of their donation of time and effort as club volunteers.

Without volunteers, community clubs such as the White Eagles would not be able to operate successfully or scale in line with our own club ambitions. In alignment with this intention, the White Eagles have coordinated with Capital Football to host a Foundations of Football Course on Monday 19 May and Monday 26  May.

While intended to offer internal personnel an opportunity to lean skills and take the first steps towards accreditation, it will be open to the general public to attend and is a great opportunity to learn valuable skills that will equip attendees with key principles designed to elevate training sessions to accelerate development while also providing techniques to simplify delivery to reduce management overhead.

Over the last few years, we have experienced consistent and sustainable growth which we believe is a testament to our approach and philosophy, and importantly a much needed confirmation for our volunteers that we are doing something right and our efforts are being noticed and appreciated.

Our junior registrations have grown from approximately 50 players across five teams, to now being in excess of 100 players over ten teams and seven age groups. As we build our player base we are constantly looking to broaden our product offerings, seeking to enter competitive teams in increasingly higher divisions and we look forwards to competing in the Kanga Cup 2025 in two  age groups. This is the first time that White Eagles has entered a team in the Kanga Cup since 2005.

Looking at our women’s program where we are perhaps similarly not an established brand, we are committed to putting in the ground-work to elevate our profile and attract more players. While investing in our people is a core long-term strategy, we recognise where we need to bring in external help to supplement the capabilities we have.

This year we have appointed an experienced and respected coach in Katrina Alexander who is bringing a deep understanding of the women’s game and invaluable perspective on player management that simply can’t be taught in a course.

It is critical to the overall ongoing success of the Club that these types of astute appointments, which have been made over the years in the men’s program, continue to be supported in both the women and youth programs with equal measure to show we are committed, we are serious, and we are building the foundations for long term and sustainable growth.

In the Community football space, we have also made a long awaited return to the Masters competition, fielding two teams in the over-35s, while we have also entered a Capital League Open team this year

We are extremely proud of what we have achieved to date and the course we are looking to steer the club. It is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our volunteers and sponsors that the growth we have experienced has not come at the expense of our desire or ability to push our senior men’s team once more into the NPL.

While early days, our squad has come together well, and the results cross the board from the opening rounds of the CPL indicate it is going to be an extremely competitive and hard fought season ahead. However, we believe we are well positioned for the challenges ahead and we are confident we will succeed.

On behalf of the committee, I need to recognise and thank all of the club staff, volunteers, community, and supporters. Importantly, I would also like to recognise our players (and parents) who, amongst a sea of competing options, have entrusted the White Eagles Football Club with their personal development.

This is not a responsibility we take lightly, and we welcome feedback on how we are delivering and suggestions for how we can improve and continue to exceed expectations.

Words: Mark Stoya (Club President, Canberra White Eagles)