⬅︎ Back to BASL mid season review

Coach Paul, working with his fellow fantastic Under 10s coaches, Jason and Ali, have taken the time in their busy holidaying to answer some questions about the season so far.

What have been the highlights of the season so far?

A big highlight has been watching the team gel and find their groove together, which happened remarkably quickly in the scheme of things. It’s been great to see individual players, and the team as a whole, make such fantastic progress in such a short time. 

Perversely, the heavy defeat against Strathfieldsaye Yellow in our 4th game was another highlight because it became a real turning point. Things got real and the bitter taste of defeat lit a fire under the team. After this game, we switched up the tactics and worked on the weak areas. The lads responded so well and came out strong in the next game with an emphatic win. And we’ve been banging in the goals ever since.

By my count, we’ve scored 40 goals in 9 matches…so we’re averaging more than 4 goals a game. That’s some highlight!



Also, I’m sure I speak for everyone when I say Rich’s pre- and post-match reports have been a highlight outside the games. The reports are hilarious and a joy to read, indelibly capturing a series of memorable vignettes of our first season. I’ll be going back to re-read these in the years to come. 

Any goal of the season contenders?

There’s quite a few contenders for goal of the season already. 

Mackie’s audacious lob from the half way line in match 2, and Angus’ Olympico – straight in from a corner, from the same game, are both right up there.

There were also some excellent team goals in match 7 that we’ve analysed in great detail (since Rich managed to capture them on film). One of these involved a slick sequence of six passes, including a beautiful through ball from Mackie, a delightful one-two between Ed and Jim, and the move was capped off by Charlie H with a quality cut-back and finish from a tight angle. 

And at the other end of the pitch, there have also been plenty of contenders for save of the season. In match 5, the opposing team caught us on the counter attack and beat our defensive line. It looked like a sure-fire goal as their striker took aim, but Lucas made an incredible, epic diving save and pushed the ball beyond the post. Remarkable. His diving saves are already legendary.  

Some thoughts on our travelling supporters?

Overall, the parents have been brilliant. Their support at training and games has been incredible — it seems we’re all getting a kick (pun intended) out of seeing our kids play and fly the flag for Woodend.

If we are to name names, then Kian’s Dad, Ali, is top dog when it comes to enthusiasm, loudness and involvement. He’s hugely passionate about the game, likes to go ‘all-in’ with training, and is a decent player himself. So much so, that we had no choice but to draft him into the coaching team.

Special mention also goes to Jamie’s Dad, Ryan, who is not the loudest voice, but is ever present, and always lends a hand with training. Complete legend.

Can you share any coaching insights?

As the season has progressed, we’ve tried to uncover natural positions player by player during the games. This way, we can play to the strengths of individuals and find the ideal position that will give them maximum time on the ball, build their confidence and consistency, and help them to stay in position.  Most players naturally gravitate to a specific area of the pitch, or a specific role, so we’re trying to steer into that. It also helps us to build structure and rhythm as a team week-on-week. That said, we’re always looking to push players out of their comfort zone and build their overall game – we don’t want to pigeonhole players, we’re just trying to manage their development carefully and progressively.



Tactically speaking, the main switch we made in the first half of the season was to the team formation. In the first three games, we used a 3-3-2 structure – a blindingly obvious place to start when playing 9-a-side, with 3 defenders, 3 midfielders and 2 strikers. But we soon realised that we needed more players up front to create ‘overloads’ on the counter-attack, and to have more players ready in the box to get on the end of crosses. We also seem to have more natural forwards than holding or defensive midfielders, so switching to 3-2-3 formation was a no-brainer. And it seems to be working thus far! Look out for more elaborate formations and outlandish tactical roles later in the season – who’s up for false nines and inverted fullbacks?



In training, we take the opportunity to shift things up, giving the kids a chance to experiment and play different roles. After every game, the coaches debrief and talk about the skills and areas we need to work on. This forms the basis for drills on a Wednesday night.  We try to make it as fun as possible and minimise the amount of standing around waiting for turns. The drills are so important to help kids build core skills, but it can be really hard to maintain focus, as the kids just want to play games!

Were there any particularly memorable games or moments for you?

Match 3, our first away game at Castlemaine was a real experience for the kids. I recall discussing with Charlie H the ‘home advantage’ that professional clubs experience, down to vocal home fan support, familiarity with the pitch and stadium, and the absence of long-distance travel. Whilst the ‘vocal fans’ factor is not really a thing at u10s level in BASL, we did have to contend with a bigger pitch, heavier ball, and a wannabe professional referee. Plus, the Castlemaine parents were somewhat overbearing at times – Jason was reprimanded by a couple of overzealous parents for running the line and shouting encouragement to our team. Did they not know he is a national treasure? Do they not know he once played against Maradonna? Honestly. In the end, the game was a thriller – we scored 2 in the first half, then they came back and beat us 3-2. 

Match 9 was also memorable – it was our first ‘return fixture’ i.e. the second time playing a rival team in the league. We played Kyneton White in our inaugural game, and we held our own in our first outing, but they looked solid. The second time around we outclassed them and looked like a proper team. At the end of the match, the opposition coach told me he couldn’t believe how much we had progressed, and that the team cohesion was better than most other teams they had played.

For more match day memories and a view of games ahead don’t forget to jump into the Spond 💦⚽️

Coaches’ half season player report

Thoughts for the rest of the season?

We’re really excited for the rest of the season—there’s plenty to look forward to!

We expect to see more goals, more creative celebrations, and even more brilliant teamwork, especially those goals that come from slick passing and everyone getting involved. We’ve also got some tricky away games coming up, which will really test the team and push us to play our best. On the training pitch, we’ll be working hard to sharpen our core skills—passing precision and power, finishing, positioning, strength on the ball, and tackling with a bit more bravery. We’ll also be looking to crank up the intensity at training…and maybe, just maybe, we’ll convince the kids to spend a little less time shouting and a little more time actually listening. Stranger things have happened!

View the GameDay schedule to see what’s ahead

⬅︎ Back to BASL mid season review