Capital Football can today confirm the coaching staff that will look after the ACT teams for the Girls National Youth Championships (NYC) and Girls National Training Centre challenge (NTC) in 2019.
Phil Booth will lead the U/14 Girls at NYC, assisted ably by Patrick Mills, while Eddie Senatore will be assisted by Talal Safar while in charge of the U/15 Girls side.
Belconnen United’s Antoni Jagarinec will lead the U/17’s to NTC, his third NTC but first as a Head Coach.
Jagarinec will be assisted by former Canberra United Academy coach Matthew Moore, who he has been keeping an eye on the NPLW with ahead of squad selection.
Jagarinec and Moore, along with Capital Football Technical Director Scott O’Donell, have been keeping an eye on the NPLW Capital Football for players to join their squad in 2019.
While the NPLW Capital Football is a smaller league relative to other states, Jagarinec said the benefit is that younger players are challenged earlier and provides a strong pool of NTC-age eligible players to pick from.
“It’s great for the younger players because the gifted footballers get to challenge themselves in a high-intensity environment earlier than players in most other states.
“From my perspective, this means that the quality of the eligible players for NTC is on show every week in first grade and gives us a strong chance to pick the best team.”
While the NTC is a hotly contested competition featuring some of the best young female footballers in Australia, Jagarinec said that regardless of the results, the experience it provides young footballers is second to none at that age.
“The experience to play in these kinds of tournaments provides huge value to these young athletes as they progress through their football journey,” he said.
“They get an opportunity to put themselves in the spotlight in a high intensity environment and infront of national team staff to possibly gain selection.
“Previously at NTC’s the final game of the week is split between all the states and players have the chance to go outside their comfort zone and play with players from other states, which is an invauable experience.”
O’Donell congratulated all the coaches on their appointments and stressed the importance of the tournament’s for youngsters in the region.
“I would like to congratulate the coaches on being appointed and wish them all the best for the upcoming girls NYC & NTC,” he said.
“I would also like to thank the clubs and their respective coaches and Technical Directors for recommending players for selection.
“I have made it clear to all coaches, that I want the best possible players to be representing the ACT and I am sure they will have the teams in good shape for the upcoming national tournaments.
“These tournaments provide a great opportunity for our girls to play against some of the best players in the country, and in front of the FFA national team staff.”
