The renowned NWSF Academy provides an opportunity for local NWSF players to participate in additional sessions to enhance their football development.
The Winter Academy is for players from U8s to U18s for all genders. Training is delivered by experienced, qualified NWS Spirit FC coaches at Christie Park.
Our session will develop players understanding of the NWSF DNA by focusing specifically on their core football actions through technical repetition and game-based training.
You can click on each of the tabs below to see video examples of what we will coach in the Academy.
Receiving the ball
When taking a first touch, try to receive the ball with the inside of the foot as often as possible. This allows us to become unpredictable to defenders and go either way with the ball.
Getting free
When on the ball, we want players who try to pass the ball to free teammates, so if you are off the ball, try to ‘get free’ to receive. We want to be able to see the ball, see defenders and see the goal as much as possible. This will help us have an ‘open body’ to receive and play forward effectively.
Running with the ball
When running with the ball, our mantra is ‘get free’, by moving the ball away from defenders, keeping it out of tackling range and taking long touches into space when possible. Doing this helps us get the ball and ourselves closer to goal to score!
Go 1v1
We also love seeing players get past a defender 1v1! Try to use skill moves being used to beat players and get forward.
Scan constantly
At all moments, you should be scanning constantly! This allows us to see when defenders are going to put pressure on us, and therefore helps us make better and quick decisions on the ball.
Poachers
The best way to score is to find poachers! We encourage players to get free in the box so they can score. We also want poachers who can score 1v0, with nobody to beat.
Attacking team tasks
Some of the key skills we want to see in attack are:
- Can you receive the ball with the inside of the foot?
- Can you run with the ball into space?
- Can you keep the ball away from defenders?
- Can you get beyond the defender in a 1v1?
- Can you get free without the ball?
- Can you be a poacher who can score 1-touch?!
Listen out for these mantras and try your best to show us what you can do in attack!
See also if you can spot all these core actions in the following video from our Spirit Mens First Grade side!
Zone rules
Zone rules are a geographical framework that helps us divide the pitch into certain areas.
As you can see, the pitch can be divided into four horizontal ‘blocks’ that are titled Block A, Block B, Block C, and Block D. It is also divided into five vertical ‘lanes’. There are two wide lanes, a central lane, and two ‘halfspaces’ in between each one.
Blocks and lanes give teams structure on how to position themselves to make attacking easier! We will, for example, ask you during gameplay to ‘get into 5 lanes’. This means we want at least one player from the team in each of the lanes of the field. This will help you ‘get free’ and get other players free to be able to pass and run with the ball more easily and therefore create poacher goals!
You can see an example of ‘attacking over 5 lanes’ from our Womens First Grade below.
Parent presentations
We held Academy parent presentations over the course of the program to provide education to our players and parents. Upcoming presentations include:
- DNA In Depth / Becoming a Relentless Player: Insights into Performance Psychology on Monday May 12, 6pm to 7pm, in Christie Park Function Room
- Inside the NWSF Academy: What we coach & how we coach on Monday May 26, 6pm to 7pm, in Christie Park Function Room
An email reminder will be sent to parents prior to these sessions.
Tips for parents
The NWSF Academy is a great opportunity to role model to your child how they should reflect on and engage with their learning during training sessions.
We recommend parents ask questions in the car ride home after training such as:
- What were you learning tonight?
- What challenges were you given by the coach?
- How did you go in trying to achieve these challenges?
These open ended questions will encourage your child to actively reflect on their training, and to recall key information taught during the session. This can help them retain the coaching points into their long-term memory. You can support this by asking follow up questions like…
- What were some of the common words the coach used in the session?
- What do you think these words meant?
- How can they help you become a better footballer?
These questions will particularly help your child become smarter and more skilful, which are two of the key words. Another word is tribal, which is about belonging to a group and being loyal & committed to that group. To encourage this attribute, other questions you can ask are:
- What are some of your friends names in training?
- What do you like about your friends?
- How can they support you to become a better footballer?
The Academy curriculum
Academy sessions focus on developing these DNA attributes in players, by core actions. This refers to specific technical and tactical actions that players learn, to help them be successful in the game.
We have developed our curriculum of core actions through extensive consultation with football experts across Australia and NSW, refining them through years of development in our footballing ecosystem.
You can see the full scope below for each age group. Click on the links to see further detail about what we are coaching, and examples of it in action from our Spirit First Grade teams!
| Week | Core football action |
|---|---|
| Week 1 | Poachers! |
| Week 2 | Run the ball away from feet |
| Week 3 | Get free by moving into a line of pass |
| Week 4 | Find free players by passing to feet |
| Week 5 | Scan constantly |
| Week 6 | 1v1 defending: get there quickly, arrive slowly |
| Week 7 | 1v1 defending: get low and delay |
| Week 8 | 1v1 defending: move your feet & win the ball |
| Week 9 | Give and go |
| Week 10 | Run around the ball |
| Week 11 | Give and go to get in behind defenders |
| Week 12 | Run around the ball to get into scoring positions |
| Week 13 | Poachers! |
How we coach it
Our coaching methodology adopts the philosophy that players learn best when they experience a wide ‘football menu’. This means they should be exposed to a wide variety of sessions across the ‘practice spectrum’, ranging from isolated technical practice to focus on core skills, to game scenarios where they can apply these under pressure and against opponents.
As a core principle of the Academy is to create safe, challenging and fun learning environments, we design our programs so that the ‘football menu’ is varied from week to week. There are also some core ‘DNA exercises’ that become familiar to players so they can focus on applying what they have learnt from week to week.
This is also aligned to the two gameplay sessions which have a specific technical & tactical focus linked to the cycle of learning.
Academy stories
We are very proud of our pathway from Academy!
As you can see, the Academy forms part of the talent foundations whereby players can progress towards development programs at Spirit FC, as well as towards NPL First Grade and A-League academy environments.
Rubi Sullivan is one such example. From NWSF club Hills Hawks, she joined the Academy in U8s, before progressing through to Spirit’s Mixed Juniors and Youth program. She captained our Boys U14s team to a Football NSW Youth League Premiership and Championship! She made her Womens First Grade debut at 14, before joining Sydney FC. She’s now a proud member of our Womens First Grade squad while continuing to represent her country in national team squads.
