New South West talent program to be launched

A new talent program to provide greater development opportunities for players and coaches in the South West region is being launched by the West Australian Football Commission in partnership with the South West Academy of Sport.
 
The program launch will be hosted at Leschenault sporting complex on Thursday, May 31 with the support of Harvey-Brunswick-Leschenault Junior Football Club.

Training sessions will then take place on Tuesday nights at Capel Oval for the remainder of the 2018 season structured in line with the WAFL Colts and WA talent development program.

Independent head coach Josh Rayson will lead the sessions with WAFL Colts assistant coaches from South West zoned clubs East Perth, Peel Thunder and Swan Districts. Sessions will focus on skills and individual player development in an approach consistent with the WA Talent Pathway.
 
Rayson, who is a former WAFL 14s and 15s Development Coach, will launch the program on Thursday, May 31 together with WAFC Talent Pathway Manager Mick Ablett and WAFC State 16s Academy Coach Tony Micale.
 
The launch will include a forum from 5.30pm-7.30pm featuring presentations, a question and answer session, and an educational segment for community coaches and administrators.
 
WAFC Executive Manager Talent & Football Operations Scott Baker said the program was designed to provide greater opportunities for regional players, coaches and administrators to access elite talent programs whilst reducing the impact of travel.

“We see this as a great opportunity to support community clubs and players in the South West and ensure we have a collaborative approach to talent development in line with the new WAFC talent development model,” he said.
 
“It will cater for WAFL Colts and 16s players currently on WAFL Club lists so they have one less trip to training in Perth each week, whilst also providing an opportunity to engage additional talented players in the region that haven’t yet been exposed to a high performance training environment. 
 
“This will act as a vehicle to get more talented players into WAFL programs and broaden the talent pool, as we understand it’s not always easy for regional players and families to travel to Perth due to time and financial constraints.”