Monthly Archives: March 2020

Football Federation Australia (FFA) today advised that, after considered discussion with its nine State and Territory Member Federations and assessment of developments today, sanctioned grassroots football competitions and associated training would be suspended for the next four weeks.

The decision will take effect from 12:00am on Wednesday, 18 March 2020 until Tuesday, 14 April 2020.

The decision comes as the latest in a series of measures being introduced by the FFA to combat the ongoing spread of COVID-19 following the announcement of its COVID-19 Guidelines yesterday and places the concerns, health and wellbeing of the Australian football and wider community as the highest priority.

FFA Chief Executive Officer James Johnson explained that while disappointing, reducing community gatherings would help slow the spread of the virus and that this was the driving factor in the decision. 

“Our decision today follows extensive discussions with all of Australia’s nine State and Territory Member Federations, taking into consideration the latest feedback from all levels of the football community,” Johnson said. 

“We are also taking into consideration the ongoing response by both the broader international and Australian communities which is evolving almost on an hourly basis now. 

“We also recognise that there have been some recent material developments which have changed the landscape significantly, including the decisions made by the Victorian and ACT Governments to declare States of Emergency late yesterday afternoon. Today, more schools, universities and also public sporting facilities have announced that they will be closing so we have had to respond quickly to this.

“It is very regrettable that grassroots football will not proceed for the next month, but as a good and responsible citizen, we recognise that our game of approximately 1.96 million participants, has a significant role to play in slowing the spread of the virus. 

“More Australians play grassroots football than any other team sport in the country and we have been able to listen to the voice of our community, through the establishment of the National COVID-19 Working Committee and our Guidelines, who have expressed a desire to contribute more to the nation at this time through a unified and Whole of Game response.

“As a game we need to be responsive and agile in how we deal with this situation, and we are working together around the clock to deal with this challenge. We will continue to assess our position regularly to ensure that it is reflective of the most accurate state of affairs and views of the game.

“I would like to acknowledge how Member Federations have worked so constructively with FFA, through the Working Committee and established Guidelines, to arrive at what is right for our players, coaches, officials, their families and the wider community. We are meeting on a daily basis and will continue to do so, taking into account the latest Government medical advice and community sentiment.”

FFA will continue to communicate new developments in the lead-up to 14 April 2020.

source: Tom Tsamouras

It was not the most polished performance but Merewether coach Scott Ellis was heartened by United’s 2-1 victory over Newcastle Olympic on Sunday as Adamstown seized top spot with their own one-goal win against defending champions New Lambton.

Olympic have been widely tipped as Herald Women’s Premier League title favourites and opened the season with an 8-0 rout of Mid Coast.

They dominated possession in their round-two match at Darling Street Oval but it was Merewether who struck first on the counter attack through Ellie Butler around the 30-minute mark.

United goalkeeper Alison Logue then denied Olympic’s Jemma House twice before sending one of her kicks long to be nodded into space by Katy Gray for Lori Depczynski to pick up and calmly slot past advancing shot-stopper Hillary Anthony-Benson for a 2-0 half-time lead.

Georgia Little put Olympic on the score sheet 10 minutes into the second half.

“We’re a long way from the finished product,” Ellis said.

“We gave the ball away a lot when we shouldn’t have … but we were pretty lethal on the counter attack, which I was really happy with.

“It was one of those grinding wins where the girls worked really hard to shut down their threats, and they’ve got a lot of them. We needed this to see exactly where we are.”

Olympic coach Harmonie Attwill felt her side dominated but were not “as clinical as we needed to be”.

“We didn’t finish as well as we could have or should have,” Attwill said. “We got in behind a lot but we just couldn’t put it in the back of the net and obviously when you’ve got Al in goals it makes a difference.”

Jets striker Jenna Kingsley is expected to make her first appearance for Olympic next weekend.

Adamstown backed up their 4-1 win over Thornton in round one by beating the Eagles 2-1 at No.2 Sportsground on Sunday.

The back-to-back victories propelled them to six points, two ahead of second-placed Merewether.

Rosebud led 1-0 at half-time after New Lambton’s Kate Heap scored into her own goal around the 10-minute mark. Kimmy Trappett made it 2-0 with a long-range effort from just outside the box around the 70th before Eagles captain Stacey Day scored shortly after from a corner.

Adamstown coach Ryan Campbell described the match as “a good challenge” for his young side.

“It was probably one of those ones where we looked like we were a bit worried about playing New Lambton, so it was good to get a result,” Campbell said. “I don’t think it was our greatest performance but I think they probably needed to get a result like that to start to believe they’re actually going to be competitive.”

Sophia Laurie and Ellie Brown scored as Warners Bay opened their season with a 2-1 victory over Mid Coast in Taree on Sunday. The Panthers led 2-0 at the break. Chelsea Hall scored for the hosts.

The round-two match between Broadmeadow and Thornton scheduled for Friday night at Magic Park was postponed as a precaution after an unwell Magic WPL player awaited test results for coronavirus.

The player was cleared of coronavirus on Sunday and Magic’s rescheduled round-one clash with the Panthers is set to go ahead at Magic Park on Tuesday night.

Points: Adamstown 6, Merewether 4, Olympic 3, Warners Bay 3, New Lambton 1, Thornton 0, Magic 0, Mid Coast 0.

Source: https://www.newcastleherald.com.au

A great day for Newcastle Olympic’s first ever Women’s Premier League home games, if not being reflected on the scoreboard.

U14s and U17s struggled against strong Merewether teams, only for our Reserve Grade to storm home with a thumping win.

First grade dominated their match and if possession and field positioning determined the winner, we deserved six points. Two goals on the break sunk our brave girls, who threw everything at them in the second half, coming up one goal short. We’re already looking forward to the reverse fixture.

First grade WPL: Merewether won 2-1
Reserve Grade: Olympic won 10-0
U/17: Merewether won 5-1
U14: Merewether won 8-2

NPL YOUTH:

In four games played on Saturday in wet conditions at Cooks Square Park in Maitland, Newcastle Olympic Youth NPL teams dominated in their first game of the 2020 season.

U13s lead 3-0 but a spirited Maitland team fought back to level the score in the second half and to run out 4-3 eventual winners. U14s, U15s, and U16s completed formalities with little resistance.

 U/13: Maitland won 4-3.
 U/14: Olympic won 11-1.
 U/15: Olympic won 7-0.
 U/16: Olympic won 5-0.

U12s NET:

Newcastle Olympic vs Kahibah on Monday 16^th March at Harold Knight Oval, Gateshead

Kick off at 6.30pm

U9s, U10s, U11s SAP:

U9s Blue Team:

We started off very slowly and went down 1-0 early. Valentine were worthy leaders and gave a very good account of themselves. We improved and became more aggressive as the half went on and lead at halftime. A good half time talk and a big improvement in our passing and running off the ball saw us take control of the game and we ran out winners. Best on the day were Jude Lewis Mat Cahill and Kai Hodgson.

U10s Blue Team:

The blue team played some lovely football in their game against Valentine yesterday. After an even first half, the boys passed their way through Valentine in the second half, scoring some fabulous team goals in the process. The final goal of the match started with the goal keeper and ended 10 passes later with a cross and header to round out a great day.

U10s White Team:

Another positive performance by 10’s White. First half was a tight affair with both teams battling to gain control of the game. The boys created many chances, forcing some scrambling defence and quality saves from the opposing keeper. The second half saw an improvement in all thirds of the pitch, despite the deteriorating weather conditions. The boys were able to build on their 1-0 lead by crafting out a 9-0 final result. Coaches Mark and Peter were really happy the way the boys listened and adapted their play after the half time break, while still playing quality football.

U11s Blue Team:

With what we know was going to be one of our hardest games of the season it was very impressive to see the boys come away with a well-deserved win over the Jaffas.

 With some outstanding individual runs, ball movement creating great team play they could not get into the sheds quick enough to sing the Olympic Team song once that full time whistle was blown.

 Well done to two of our new boys Nate & Henry (Goalkeeper) who put their nerves aside to come up against their old Team Mates.

 Well done to all the Boys, Dean & Jono  

U11’s White Team:

It was our first game of the season today, we welcomed 3 new players and are very proud of the effort from all of the boys. Throughout the game we dominated both possession and field position. With players moving to their second or third preferred position in the second half, it was exciting to see that the boys are willing to learn and adapt to multiple roles. We will continue to teach the boys to play in multiple roles and improve their understanding of the game. On the rare occurrence when needed today it was great to see our goalkeeper using the skills he has been working on at training.

source: Tom Tsamouras

U15s Newcastle Olympic in action. Photo: S. Priestley

In four games played today in wet conditions at Cooks Square Park in Maitland, Newcastle Olympic Youth NPL teams dominated in their first game of the 2020 season.

U13s lead 3-0 but a spirited Maitland team fought back to level the score in the second half and to run out 4-3 eventual winners. U14s, U15s, and U16s completed formalities with little resistance.

U/13: Maitland won 4-3.
U/14: Olympic won 11-1.
U/15: Olympic won 7-0.
U/16: Olympic won 5-0.

Source: Tom Tsamouras

Newcastle Olympic have been widely tipped as premiership favourites and coach Harmonie Attwill believes playing league heavyweights Merewether at Darling Street Oval on Sunday will show them how their Herald Women’s Premier League season is shaping up.

United have featured in four of the past five WPL grand finals, winning three. They have lost several key players this year but drew 3-3 with defending champions New Lambton last weekend while Olympic were 8-0 winners over Mid Coast.

“We’re approaching the game with an open mind, knowing it will be definitely a challenge and knowing that Merewether are always a tough side to play against,” Attwill said.

“But the girls are looking forward to that challenge. It will give us a real indication of where the squad sits in relation to the rest of the competition as well.”

Jets striker and multiple WPL leading scorer Jenna Kingsley is not expected in action for Olympic until round three.

Goalkeeper Alison Logue returns for Merewether after being unavailable in round one and midfielder Sarah Bergin is set to make her first appearance for the club. The former Irish youth international missed round one while waiting for an international clearance.

United coach Scott Ellis was equally viewing the match as a gauge for their season.

“Everyone is super keen for this game because it will give us a measure of exactly where we’re at,” Ellis said.

“We definitely had some weaknesses last week but I’m positive we can put in a good showing and, if we can come out of this one with a draw or better, we’ll cement ourselves as one of the likely top-four teams, which is where we want to be.”

Ellis said Merewether will need to be tighter defensively and more composed in the middle of the park.

“Defensively, we weren’t tracking runners very well and that allowed New Lambton to play one-twos all over the park and that can be extremely damaging,” he said.

“That really just comes down to individual discipline and co-ordination as a group. The other thing was we rushed a little bit in midfield and that meant we gave the ball away a little too quickly.”

The game is at 3pm.

Source: https://www.newcastleherald.com.au/story/6676891/wpl-why-olympic-coach-harmonie-attwill-is-keen-to-play-merewether/?cs=7580

Youth NPL:

Maitland vs Newcastle Olympic on Saturday 14^th March at Cooks Square Park, Maitland

U16s kick off at 3.00pm

U15s kick off at 1.20pm

U14s kick off at 11.40am

U13s kick off at 10.00am

U12s NET:

Newcastle Olympic vs Kahibah on Monday 16^th March at Harold Knight Oval, Gateshead

Kick off at 6.30pm

U9s, U10s, U11s SAP:

Lake Macquarie vs Newcastle Olympic at LMRFF on Sunday 15^th March

U11s kick off at 4.20pm

Valentine vs Newcastle Olympic at LMRFF on Saturday 14^th March

U10s kick off at 9.10

U9s kick off at 9.10

Source: Tom Tsamouras

After a great win away at Mid Coast in Taree in Round 1 of the Herald Women’s Premier League competition last week, Newcastle Olympic take on Merewether at Darling St Oval. This will be a historic day for the club because all four WPL teams will be playing at home for the first time! It is a great opportunity for the entire Newcastle Olympic community to come out, watch and cheer on our players for the first time on home soil.

On Saturday our Youth NPL teams travel to Cooks Square Park in Maitland in Round 2 of the Youth NPL competition. After being washed out in Round 1 last week, the boys will be eager to begin the season on a winning start.

Herald Women’s Premier League:

Newcastle Olympic vs Merewether on Sunday 15^th March at Darling St Oval, Hamilton

1^st Grade kick off at 3.00pm

Reserve Grade kick off at 1.00pm

U17s kick off at 11.15am

U14s kick off at 9.45am

Youth NPL:

Maitland vs Newcastle Olympic on Saturday 14^th March at Cooks Square Park, Maitland

U16s kick off at 3.00pm

U15s kick off at 1.20pm

U14s kick off at 11.40am

U13s kick off at 10.00am

U12s NET:

Newcastle Olympic vs Kahibah on Monday 16^th March at Harold Knight Oval, Gateshead

Kick off at 6.30pm

U9s, U10s, U11s SAP:

Lake Macquarie vs Newcastle Olympic at LMRFF on Sunday 15^th March

U11s kick off at 4.20pm

Valentine vs Newcastle Olympic at LMRFF on Saturday 14^th March

U10s kick off at 9.10

U9s kick off at 9.10

Source: Tom Tsamouras

BLUE DOOR CAFE

Newcastle Olympic Technical Director Alex Tagaroulias recently announced the club’s intention to create their own Football Academy. The Academy (NOFA) would provide supplementary training to those Olympic players who were not part of NNSW Football’s Talent Support Programme (TSP).

Similar to the NNSW TSP, NOFA’s programme would be for 10-weeks duration and would be offered to all SAP/NET/NPL players in the 10-15 years age groups and WPL players in the 14-17 years age groups. NOFA would also provide supplementary training to younger age groups (6-9s) through a Skill Enhancement Program (SEP), and the 16s age group would be able to undertake supplementary training with the senior teams (mainly 18s) on a rotation basis.

Finally, NOFA will run a summer program for SAP age players (9-12s) from within and without the club during the off season.

If all of the above wasn’t enough, today, it gives me great pleasure to inform our football community that the official sponsor of NOFA for the 2020 season will be BLUE DOOR CAFÉ.

Blue Door Café is situated at 363-365 Hunter St, Newcastle and the Cnr Watkins St & John Parade, Merewether and is open 7 days a week. For further information about what it offers, please visit:

The effect of this sponsorship is that it enables NOFA to provide the latest in sports equipment and uniforms for all the participants.

NOFA’s programme begins in approximately three weeks.

Any player who hasn’t yet enrolled or who would like further information can contact Newcastle Olympic Technical Director Alex Tagaroulias on 0497897716.

source: Tom Tsamouras

Newcastle Olympic began Round 1 of the 2020 season with an emphatic victory 8-0 over Mid Coast in Taree today. The goals, Jemma House 3, AleishaClifford 2, Jessica Evans, Sophie Phillips, own goal.

Newcastle Olympic WPL:

Mid Coast vs Olympic on Sunday 8^th March 2020 at Taree Zone Field

First Grade Olympic won 8-0

Second Grade Mid Coast won 1-0

U17S Olympic won 2-1

U14s Mid Coast won 2-1

Today the U14 girls made history becoming the first WPL team to represent Newcastle Olympic FC and score the club’s first women’s goal.

Newcastle Olympic Youth NPL:

Olympic vs Mid Coast on Saturday 7^th March 2020 at Darling St Oval

All Newcastle Youth NPL games were washed out.

Newcastle Olympic u9s,10s, & 11s SAP

All SAP games in Weston and Maitland also washed out.

source: Tom Tsamouras

All scheduled Round 1 Youth NPL games at Darling St Oval today against Mid Coast have been cancelled due to the heavy rain Newcastle has been receiving over the past few days.

It is hoped these games will be rescheduled on a spare weekend.

Under 11 SAP Olympic vs Maitland has also been cancelled.

source: Tom Tsamouras

Newcastle Olympic WPL First Grade

Newcastle Olympic WPL and Youth NPL begin Round 1 proceedings of the 2020 season this weekend against Mid Coast. Olympic’s u13s, u14s, u15s, and u16s Youth NPL welcome their counterparts from Taree on Saturday while our four WPL teams travel to Taree on Sunday.

Newcastle Olympic WPL:

Mid Coast vs Olympic on Sunday 8^th March 2020 at Taree Zone Field

First Grade kick off at 3.00pm

Reserves kick off at 1.00pm

U17S kick off at 11.15am

U14s kick off at 9.45am

Newcastle Olympic Youth NPL:

Olympic vs Mid Coast on Saturday 7^th March 2020 at Darling St Oval

U16s kick off at 6.00pm

U15s kick off at 4.20pm

U14s kick off at 2.40pm

U13s kick off at 1.00pm

Newcastle Olympic u12s NET

Olympic vs Charlestown 6-0 trial game played on 3/3/2020

Newcastle Olympic u9s,10s, & 11s SAP

U11s Maitland vs Olympic on Saturday 7^th March 2020 at Cooks Square Park

kick off at 1.00pm

U10s Weston vs Olympic on Sunday 8^th March 2020 at Rockwell Automation Park

kick off at 11.20am

U9s Weston vs Olympic on Sunday 8^th March 2020 at Rockwell Automation Park

Kick off at 10.10am

source: Tom Tsamouras