Coach Appointments
Under 15A Darren Carr and George Houllis
Under 14A coach: George Houllis
This year the team will be coached by George Houllis, a long standing, experienced club coach. He will be assisted by a new coach to the club
Under 12 Kangaroo coach: Mark Topic
The Richmond Soccer Club would like to welcome Mark Topic as the new head coach of the 12Kangaroo team in season 2012
He has played as a goal keeper and captained the school soccer team before moving on to play for St Albans in the Victorian Premier League.
He was the assistant goal keeping coach there in 2011 and the team manager.
Mark has had great success in coaching younger age groups in line with the FFV and national curriculum and is currently working with the state under 13 futsal team as they prepare for the national championships in Canberra.
Mark has successfully completed all junior and youth coaching licenses and is currently working on the AFC / FFA C license . With his passion for youth development and enthusiasm for junior soccer, we are sure, he will be a great asset to the club .
We wish Mark and the team every success for the coming season
Under 18’s Head coach: Michael Roski
Michael Roski has been appointed as the head coach for the under 18 age group.
His role will include:
- · preparing all training programs for the 18’s teams and other coaches who will be involved in the training of these teams
- · liase between the 18’s coaches and John Gasparini on all player movements between the 18s and 21s groups
- · provide weekly team reports and feedback to Rick Wilson and the Soccer Board
The clubs philosophy is to promote and develop its own players from within the club, this has been working successfully and as the club moves forward we are promoting more and more players from our youth system.
Under 18 coach assisstant coach: George Saleh
George will be assisting Michael Roski with the 18 teams training and match days
George has been with the club for a number of years and coached our Manchester Cup team in 2011. He will be a great asset to Michael and the boys
Under 21’s Coach: John Gasparini
The club would like to welcome John Gasparini to the club after his appointment as under 21’s coach for 2012.
John played at Brunswick Zebras who were in the old National soccer League (now known as Whittlesea Zebras) where he played both juniors and at the senior level. He moved to Bulleen who had started in the VPL and won a championship with them.
His career was on the verge of a return to the National league and perhaps heading overseas, when a severe broken leg ended his plans.
After 12-18 months of rehabilitation he returned to the game he loved. He played at a number of different VPL clubs and has had the opportunity to play against many great players including, Mark Viduka, Josip Skoko, Archie Thompson, Rody Vargas, Danny Allsop, Danny Tiatto and Eugene Galekovic
Coaching
John's was the assistant to the senior coach at Bulleen where he nurtured and had a real focus on working with the younger players entering the senior arena. John has helped numerous players, some who have moved into the A league including Matthew Leckie. He has also had the pleasure of assisting four players from Bulleen who are currently in the Melbourne Hearts and Victory youth team squads.
With his enthusiasm and knowledge in helping younger players move into the senior level the Richmond soccer board feel he will be a great asset to the club.
He will be working closely with the first team coaches Michael Chatzitrifonos and his assistant Frank Catalano along with under 18’s coach Michael Roski under the direction and guidance of Rick Wilson, Jean Marc Imbert, Hemut Kalitzki and