Connells Point Rovers set to shake up State Cup
After grinding it out in the qualifying stages of this year’s Football NSW State Cup, only a select few football clubs have progressed through to the last hurdle: the State Cup Finals.
Remarkably, one club will be represented in four different age groups at Football NSW’s Home of Football, Valentine Sports Park this Sunday, a rare achievement given that over 500 clubs from across NSW had entered this year’s competition.
The St George Football Association’s Connells Point Rovers have stood out amongst the rest, with their 13 Boys, 14 Boys, 16 Boys and 18 Girls teams gunning for their respective state championship title.
Connells Point Rovers’ Senior Vice President Shane Chapman is enormously proud of the four teams that have reached the Finals.
While the club is certainly one of the strongest in the State, Shane puts the Rovers’ achievements down to some basic foundation elements that provide opportunities for all footballers.
“We’re just a very good community club that draws together some good teams, with really great coaches who are very dedicated to what they do.
“If people want to get into representative football and they want to come and develop their skills, we’re more than happy to let them come because we’re open to anyone.
“We’ve got almost 1000 people at the club and we’ll encourage anyone who wants to join… we’ve got a mixture of teams that are very competitive to ones that are out there just to have fun. Majority of the time, we want to encourage our players to have fun.”
Through utilising an online coaching resource called Ajax, Shane says the club provides the various Rovers’ coaches with some handy tips for their team’s training sessions.
“It involves a whole heap of training modules and coach development resources… it’s about providing a good quality service to our coaches if they want to participate.”
Chapman stated that the tight-knit culture between the players and coaches of the four Rovers’ outfits plays a big part in their success.
“The 18 girls have been one of our most consistent performers since they came together at around age 12, so they’ve developed into a really strong team and have always competed well at all competitions.”
“The 13 boys are the current state cup holders of last year, so they’ve got a really strong team too.”
With the finals just days away, the excitement is building for the Connells Point Rovers teams as they look to clean sweep the Finals and cap off a stunning tournament for the club.
During the State Cup Finals, Football NSW will make use of balls supplied by Deploy Football. An Official Ball Sponsor of Football NSW, Deploy Football product can be purchased online through The Football Corner website. Football NSW would like to thank Deploy Football for their ongoing support of our beautiful game in New South Wales.
-By Harry Easton
