The management committee has announced the appointment of Sean Whitworth as the coach for the Under 17s for season 2015.
We spoke to Sean to find out a bit about himself. Sean is a self employed property developer/builder involving construction of small residential unit complexes.
He grew up, and spent the majority of his life, in Aspendale in Melbourne Victoria.
Sean mentioned that though he has been away from the game for a long time he has recently rekindled the passion to become involved again. His footy background includes:
- Junior football at Mordialloc Braeside FC in the Bayside area of Melbourne whereheI played from U12’s through to U15’s experiencing 2 x premierships
- U16 at Edithvale/Aspendale FC in the MPFL where he played in a premiership
- Recruited by Melbourne FC in 1980 and played there till 1983 with U19’s and VFL reserve games playing in a premiership win over Geelong and a G/F loss to Fitzroy within that time. He mentioned that during this time he was fortunate to have been coached by the ‘best in the business’ at that time - Ray ‘Slug’ Jordan and Ron Barassi.
- He represented the VFL U17’s in 1981 and the Vic Metro ‘Teal Cup’ team in the same year alongside future stars of the game like Dermott Brereton, Chris Langford (Haw), Chris Connolly and Adrian Battiston (Melb), Paul Roos (Fitz), Bernard Toohey (Geel, Syd)
- In 1982 Sean was traded to Sydney SMFC but did not enjoy the pre season and decided I wasn’t prepared to move to Sydney, so only played a few senior practice games that year before resigning
- 1985 saw him head North to play with Coorparoo in the QAFL in the year that followed Jason Dunstall’s departure to Hawthorn
- 1986 saw me at Sandringham in the VFA before a severe shoulder injury ended that season early against Prahran never to play again for Sandringham.
- 1987 saw me at Highett FC in the Southern Districts League in Melbourne where I went to play with a few mates just to have some fun
- 1988 saw me back at Edithvale/Aspendale and short stints at Kilcunda/Bass and Tyabb before retirement in 1990
In 2007 Sean relocated to Yeppoon on the central coast of Queensland. Sean decided to move the Sunshine Coast this year (2014) and has long term living intentions in Peregian Beach. I have a wife and 3 children, Sheldon who played in the U16s this season, Lawson who played in the U14s and Kennedy his little girl.
Seans coaching philosophy is simple; to develop the necessary ball/game skills and game awareness to a level that is of a ready ‘acceptable’ standard to start to embark on senior careers. The U17s group has experienced recent success in regards to last season’s (2014 U16’s) premiership victory. Sean acknowledges that, while there is often an ‘expected’ replication for the following season, he will be concentrating on all the skillsets that they should be professing as they move toward senior careers. He sees this more necessary than overall team performance in a win/loss journey.
Last Modified on 26/03/2015 11:01