Whilst the season may be over, activity in and around the club is not. Here are some updates of events happening around the club as well as recognition of some of our departing members.
This week's update will cover the following items:
Trials time for Skills Acquisition Phase (SAP), Development Squad, Super League + Diamond League are scheduled for mid-November 2020 and will be held at Charles Bean Sports Field, Lindfield. This is for development teams for boys and girls from U8 to U18 age groups.
If you’re eager to have your child trial for the 2021 development teams, you can register via the button below.
Trial 1: Sunday 8 November. Trial 2: Tuesday 17 November or Wed 18 November.
For any questions about these sessions, please contact our Technical Director via email.
Congratulations to our Men's Premier League team whom played their final matches against Mt Colah on Saturday 17 October, finishing with strong wins in both grades: 6-0 in Reserve Grade and 5-0 in First Grade. Congratulations to the team on a successful season which resulted in Reserve Grade finishing in 3rd place, with First Grade finishing 5th.
A special shout out to head coach Chris Semaan whom did a fabulous job in a challenging year of building a squad for the future. Chris was ably assisted by Reserve Grade coach Aron Chapman. Chris has stepped aside from his Premier League coaching to focus on his new Coerver Coaching role, but will be involved as our Miniroos Coordinator next season.
Stay tuned for some impending exciting news on our Men's Premier League coaching set up for 2021.
A shout out to Simon O’Donnell and Scott Waugh for time taken to top-dress and lay new turf at the West Pymble Public School grounds, which are used by Miniroos teams. A stellar effort gents. Your time and effort to do so, is very much appreciated.
Always with a tinge of sadness, do we bid farewell to club stalwarts. We are sending a cheerio and sincerest thanks to the following people for their volunteer service and playing service for the club. We wish you all the best in your next adventures. May they be safe, filled with enjoyment, and always with shades of the gold and blue.
Darren Rassack
A departure of sorts, though not from the club.
After nearly 10 years of volunteering, our Grounds Manager has decided to give someone else a turn at the very important role of making sure our grounds are dressed and ready for play on match days. This has involved a lot of tuition over the years to team managers, on how to put up nets. These are some key things that he did, that enabled so many people at the club to enjoy their football.
Alex Roussos
A bon voyage to Alex, who is departing the club after 3-years as a very active Team Manager; Coordinator of Diamond League teams; and member of our Female Football Working Group.
Alex has always been happy to help out includingvarious initiatives to promote female football at the club as well as helping out with events which included his own performances at our beginning of season launch this year as a talented musician.
Alex is moving away from Sydney with his family and daughter Tallulah. They will be greatly missed, however, always welcome back at the club!
Sebastian (Seb) Bendall
Our Premier League striker is leaving the club to relocate to Europe.
Seb has been a true warrior for our Men's Premier League team helping our 1st Grade Men's Premier League team to two titles in 2017 and 2018. To cap this off, he won the NSFA Premier League Golden Boot award in 2018.
Seb has been more than just a great player and goal scorer – his approach to giving 100% every time he enters the pitch, has inspired his teammates and made him respected - and perhaps occasionally feared - feared by his opponents.
It was fitting that Seb scored two goals in his last match against Mt Colah, including a sublime final curling goal into the top corner from 30-yards-out for the final goal of the match.
Thank you Seb – you ARE West Pymble FC culture and will be greatly missed, but always welcome back to the club!
Now for a new journey that will commence within the club. We would like to welcome existing WPFC member, Aron Chapman, as the new Technical Director of the club.
Last year, Aron coached nothing short of an amazing number of FIVE teams!! These were:
U9 SAP
U10 SAP
U16 Girls Diamond League
U18X Super League
Men's Premier League Reserve Grade.
Aron will be reducing the number of teams he coaches in 2021, to just two, as he focusses more on his Technical Director role in which he is planning to implement a number of exciting initiatives for our coaches and players. Stay tuned for future updates on this.
With Darren's departure, we are seeking someone to volunteer to carry on this most-important Grounds Manager role at the club, commencing in the 2021 season.
There are a few other roles that we need to fill ahead of the 2021 season, as well.
Please click on the button below to view the role and a description. If you are interested in any of these roles, please send an email, at your earliest to both secretary@wpfc.com.au and president@wpfc.com.au.
West Pymble Soccer Club was founded circa February/March in 1957, as an initiative by Reverend Jeffries, a Minister of the Congregational Church at Willoughby, and also a part-time Minister at the Presbyterian / Congregational Church - now the Uniting Church - on Congham Road, West Pymble.
This was the first football/soccer club formed in the Ku-Ring-Gai district. As no other local teams existed, WPFC joined the Epping-Hornsby Football Association and played their first-ever competition match.
This match was played at Waitara Oval. As an inexperienced competition team, WPFC lost 6-1, with the club's first goal coming from a penalty kick in the final minutes of the game.
What originally got you into playing football and what do you like about the game?
When I started playing, boys had choice of rugby or soccer (as it was known then) - my parents thought rugby was too dangerous, so football was it!
When did you start playing for WPFC? I started playing for WPFC back in 1981 at the earliest age group available then - U7’s. My team was the U7E’s, followed by the U8E’s.
How long have you played for WPFC? I have played every year since 1981, except for a brief stint when I lived in Canberra to attend university from 1993-95, and in 1998 when I took a year off to backpack around Europe.
After junior football, I played in the all-age competitions:
1992 – MAA3
1996-2012 - Premier League squad
2013-Present - Over 35’s Division 1 Squad
What other roles (if any) have you undertaken at WPFC? In 1988/1999, when I around 14, I started coaching in U7’s. This was only for one season. Sometime after this, I did - as it was called then – the Level 1 coaching course through the Ku-Ring-Gai and District Soccer Association.
Following this, I returned to coaching for a single year, around 1991. It was gain for an U7 team. I trained two squads – one on Wednesday night before my own team training, and one on a Sunday morning.
Sometime in early 2000’s I was joint coach (with Quinton Herbert - a current M45's player) of our U16’s. That was a different challenge entirely - we had some good players but had a thin squad so often played short on players - with obvious results! The team were great, though, and I enjoyed coaching an older age group.
In 2010, I coached the U21’s - a team comprised mainly from the Premier League squad. We won the U21’s NSFA Cup competition and progressed to the semi-finals of the FNSW Champion of Champions.
Most recently I coached my daughter Hayley, in the U6 and U7's, before she transitioned to netball.
Clearly football is the sport you love; what other sports did you play and which ones did you excel at?
I played all the normal sports a boy in the 80's did - cricket, athletics, rugby (I signed up for the school team without telling Mum and Dad). An unusual one was water polo at high school. I certainly didn't excel at any but I did have more of an aptitude for football.
What do you enjoy doing away from football?
Nowadays, watching and helping my two girls (8 & 6) start out in their sporting lives. Regardless of their ability, I hope they can find the sport that they love as much as I have football.
To make the usual question a bit harder – stranded on a dessert island, what one movie and one music album would help get you through the days? I'm not sure I can restrict to one each.
Movie(s) would be either "The Blues Brothers" or "Ferris Bueller's Day Off".
Album either David Bowie's best-of "Singles Collection" or Pink Floyd's "The Wall".
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