Welcome to the third Champions Chat of the season! If you missed last week’s edition, then be sure to check it out on your zone website.

Round Two Wrap Up

We've put together a wrap up of the entire second week of the VCL. Click here to check it out. We're looking for people who are interested in writing a weekly wrap up on their zone, so if you think that sounds like something you'd like to do, get in touch with your Zone Admin. Also, if anyone fancies themselves as a shutter bug, we definitely want to hear from you! Upload your pics on the VCL Facebook for everyone to enjoy, and be sure to email a few of your best each week to communications@footballfedvic.com.au. Our VCL veterans will remember the yearbook we put out at the end of last season, and this can't happen without everyone sending us their high resolution photos! Say Cheese!

 

Beat the Heat

With summer just around the corner and the chances of playing in the heat increased, the need for sun safety is now more of an issue. Obviously we encourage slip, slop and slap but with playing sport in hot conditions there are a few more things you need to be aware of, the most important of which is stay hydrated.

Whether it’s in training or game play it is vital to keep drinking water to keep your body and health at its best – the general rule is that if you are feeling thirsty its already too late, so always have a water bottle nearby and don’t be scared to stop to get a drink at any time – coaches, parents and players should all be aware that hydration is of high importance and that the old mind-set of “training without drinking gets you used to the game” only does damage to your body.

FFV and match officials will always have a safety first approach on hot days to protect you, the player. There may be times when it will be too hot to play and that some re-scheduling will be necessary – remember that this is for your safety, and although inconvenient we appreciate your understanding and cooperation.

 

Heard it on the Sideline

Huge thumbs up to the parents on the sideline at a certain Zone last weekend who were overheard questioning why a keeper had booted a long ball out from a Goal Kick.

Cries of “What’s he doing… aren’t we supposed to be playing it out from the back!” were overheard by one of our scouts.

Great to see that our parents are learning a bit about the importance of the National Curriculum.

The same parents were terrifically encouraging when the keeper did, in fact, play out from the back!

Eye Spied

New Melbourne Victory National Youth League coach, Darren Davies, was spotted at a few VCL games on the weekend.

Suitably impressed with the quality of players and the skills out there, Darren is very keen to spend a bit more time watching the VCL and has agreed to give us a detailed report on his observations in a later edition of Champions Chat.

For now, his advice is to keep working on your passing and stick to the National Curriculum.  We reckon that if you fancy playing for the Melbourne Victory Youth League team one day, it would be wise to follow these words of wisdom ‘cos its Darren that you’ll want to be impressing down the track!

Cheap Flights to Mildura

Is your gala weekend at Mildura? Feel like taking the luxury route? We’ve found some cheap flights from Melbourne on www.Lastminute.com – we won’t go into details but if you’d rather avoid the drive then shop around and you may just find some low fares (the ones we found were $74). Loving life (:

Player Profile

This week’s player profile is Liam Burns who plays for Wimmera South Coast Hawks. Click here to read all about him, and you never know – perhaps during the season you will get the chance to tell your story on the website!

Stat Attack

Interested in how many clubs are represented in the VCL? Of the 320 Victorian clubs, 175 of them have at least one of their winter players taking to the field for their VCL zone in the summer, which equates to 54 percent of all clubs. Click here to find out more :)

We are watching you

We’re watching you – No need to be worried, we’re only checking you out on match days! In fact, in the first two weeks we’ve observed 224 teams! Seeing as there are only 84 teams it means on average each team has been watched 2.5 times with more than one observer per game at times. So when you play, keep in mind you are being watched and make sure to follow all the technical and respect points :) Want more? Click here!

No Pay No Play

FFV and the Zones have a ‘no pay, no play’ policy… so with a handful of players in some Zones still to pay their fees, it’s important for other players and coaches to know that any players who have yet to pay going into this weekend will not be eligible to play, and if they do play, the penalties could be pretty harsh!

If you’ve not yet paid your fees, please contact your Zone URGENTLY to discuss making payment because it would be awful to see a team lose points because they have played an ineligible player.

Mind your Language

Talented Player Development Manager, Les Bee, says he’d love to see everyone in the VCL mind their language! Instead of saying ‘kick it’, he says we should all be replacing the word ‘kick’ with the word ‘pass’. Coaches and parents, see if you can focus on using the term "pass" and encourage all efforts to "pass" rather than aimlessly "kick" the ball. All good football players appreciate a good pass.

 

Good luck this weekend,

The team at Champions Chat