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V>Elite Announcement

Football Federation Victoria’s (FFV) new Summer League is due to commence on October 25th 2008.

FFV has embarked on this project as its number one priority and is dedicated to ensuring a clear articulated pathway exists for talented players within the state. The Summer League is also an initiative in line with the new Football Development Plan published by Football Federation Australia

FFV’s development program, V>Elite will not continue this summer or until further notice. All current V>Elite scholarship holders of eligible age will soon begin trials for the summer zone competition, as will previous state squad representatives. These players will be joined in the trials by any other players hoping to be selected to play in the Summer League.

The Summer League provides competition for the best players within each zone and a stepping stone for club players to reach for State squad selection. All future State squad players will be selected from the summer zone competition.

One of the benefits of the new competition is that it will provide better coaching and more games for the best players within Victoria.

All information regarding the new summer zone competition is available online at http://www.footballfedvic.com.au/summerleague/

Inaugural V>Elite Program Concludes

The inaugural V>Elite program concluded on Saturday with the final training session being held at Darebin International Sports Centre. The 75 young guns involved in the program have worked tirelessly over the past 5 months training 3 nights a week improving their skills.

A small celebration was held at Darebin International Sports Centre on Saturday afternoon to congratulate all involved in the program. Parents and squad members revelled in what the stars of the future achieved throughout the program in its inaugural year, whilst having the opportunity to chat to coaches, fellow parents and squad members alike over light snacks and refreshments.

Football Federation Victoria would like to thank all the squad members for their efforts since the programs inception, as well as the coaches who have worked just as hard to help the young guns achieve excellence. A special thanks must also go out to the parents who have driven from all over the state to get their children to the program, battling through all kinds of traffic and time constraints. Without their effort the youngsters would not have reached the outstanding efforts that they have achieved.

Please stay tuned for more information when V>Elite returns!

V>Elite Making Their Mark with State Squads

After months of hard work and over 50 training sessions, the V>Elite's inaugural program will reach its conclusion this weekend. The squad has been putting in plenty of work since the programs inception late last year with many reaping the rewards, ranging from NTC and VIS scholarships to making their respective state squads.

12 of the 15 girls are still remaining in the hunt to make their respective state squad for the friendship games and national championships in July.

12 out of the 17 boys eligible for the Under 14 Boys Metro team are still training with the squad of 42, looking for a place at the prestigious National Youth Championships. A further 13 out of 20 boys eligible for the Under 13 Boys Metro team are training with a squad of 28 for the team to travel and take on our state rivals.

With the state squads nearing completion for the final roster of 16 to tour, the V>Elite program is going to have many graduates making the trip after what can be considered a hugely successful 5 month training program.

V>Elite Juggles into Champions League

Football Federation Victoria’s V>Elite program will see four of its participants involved a juggling spectacle prior to Melbourne Victory’s first Asian Champions League match at Telstra Dome on Wednesday night.

Ashley Brown, Trey O’Sullivan, Ethan McGlinchey & Peter Skapetis will all be showing off the juggling skills they have learnt so far through the V>Elite program prior to the Victory vs. Chunnam Dragons match.

It is a testament to the hard work that these four youngsters have put in since V>Elite’s inception that they have been chosen to represent their fellow V>Elite participants and the program as a whole out on the Telstra Dome pitch in front of a large Melbourne football crowd.

V>Elite is also proud to announce the following girls have been offered scholarships with with Football Federation Victoria’s National Training Centre program, which is the equivalent to the male VIS program:

Caitlin Friend
Ashley Brown
Rachel Alonso
Hanna Stewart
Emma Runnalls

These girls have shown outstanding talent and determination throughout their time with the V>Elite program and have been rewarded with a spot under NTC head coach Matthew Shepherd’s guidance.

Ange Postecoglou Departs FFV

The V>Elite program would also like to bid farewell to Ange Postecoglou who will be leaving the program after helping develop, implement and monitor the program in its short history.

The former Australian National Youth coach will be leaving Football Federation Victoria to take up a coaching role in Greece. Postecoglou will still remain involved in the program in a limited capacity as the first year of V>Elite moves towards its final two months.

“Ange will be sadly missed, his contribution in particular to the V>Elite program has been enormous”, said Head of Elite Development Eric Hollingsworth. “His coaching expertise is of the highest order”.

Football Federation Victoria would like to wish Ange all the best for his future endeavours.

Merrick earmarks Trey a Victory star of the future

FOOTBALL Federation Victoria's V>Elite program has given 11 year old Trey O'Sullivan the opportunity to train with his Melbourne Victory heroes at Olympic Park.

Melbourne Victory Coach Ernie Merrick believes 11-year-old Trey O’Sullivan will be a star of the future, inviting the V>Elite squad member to a club training session on Saturday.

O’Sullivan demonstrated his remarkable juggling skills in front of Victory’s players and got the chance to mingle with some of the Victory stars during the session.

The talented youngster is part of Football Federation Victoria’s V>Elite Program, run by Ange Postecoglou, Eric Hollingsworth and a host of other coaches.

The program was was established to provide Victoria’s potential elite youngsters access to advanced coaching and technique training.

“Trey O’Sullivan demonstrates the quality of the youngsters, male and female, growing up in Victoria,” Merrick said.

With the newly announced National Youth League beginning in August this year, Merrick said O’Sullivan, who will need to wait another five years before he’s eligible, is the type of player the club will be looking for.

“We’ll have a youth team this year and Trey is the type of player we be targeting.

“He’s very good physically, technically outstanding, and already has good tactical knowledge of the game.

“These are the qualities of the boys we’ll be looking to fill our youth team with and Trey has certainly got a big future ahead of him.”

Click here to watch O’Sullivan’s juggling skills at Olympic Park

V>Elite Continues to Develop

The inaugural V>Elite program began in December 2007 and is currently running through until the end of April.

Acting as a preparation tool for players to develop alongside other programs such as the State Squads, National Training Centre and VIS, 76 players have been undertaking 3 training sessions per week designed to challenge their football brain and their football technique.

The overall aim of the program is to achieve a better standard of football across the state and the benefits are already starting to be seen. As announced in early February, 2007 Under 13 Metro Boys captain Quinn McDonald and 2007 Under 14 Boys Country representative Luke O’Dea received full VIS scholarships, whilst four other Victorian representatives received part-scholarships.

The preparation will also benefit the state teams as the national championships approach mid-year. With the V>Elite crop training 3 nights per week currently until April, they are already getting more practice and developing their skills further to get a head start on the other states should they be selected for their state team.

With another 2 months still to run in the program, there can only be further benefits for the players involved as a bright future awaits them.