Our Coaches
Great coaching is about more than knowing football. It is about understanding the player in front of you.
At ARETE, our coaches are here to teach, challenge, encourage and create an environment where players have the confidence to think, decide, try, make mistakes and learn. We want coaches who set high standards while never losing sight of the fact that they are working with young people, each developing in their own way.
We believe the coach doesn't need to be the hero of the player's story. Our role is to provide the environment, knowledge, feedback and opportunity then help players take increasing ownership of their football.
That means our coaches must be prepared to learn too: to reflect on their own impact, adapt to the individual and continually ask a simple but important question:
“What does it feel like to be coached by me?”
Excellence · Character · Potential
Coach Dave
Dave believes good coaching starts with the child in front of you.
His approach has been shaped by a varied background across football, the Army, youth development and leadership, alongside continued education in coaching, talent identification, technical direction, psychology and safeguarding.
For Dave, coaching is about knowing the player, teaching the game well and providing the right level of challenge. Players should have the confidence and freedom to think, decide, try, make mistakes and learn.
He believes development isn't something a coach does to a player. The coach provides the environment, teaching, feedback, challenge and opportunity the player does the work and owns the progress.
Dave has grown his football education through FIFA, Football Australia, The FA and ISSPF, including studies in talent identification, technical direction, coaching, psychology, game-model development and safeguarding.
But qualifications are only part of coaching. Dave believes coaches should keep learning from the players in front of them and continually reflect on their own impact.
One question sits at the heart of his approach:
“What does it feel like to be coached by me?”
Coach Dan
Dan believes young players develop best when they are given the confidence to play, explore and learn the game for themselves.
His approach has been shaped by more than two decades working with junior players across community, school, academy and representative football, alongside his own experience playing at state, national youth and professional level.
For Dan, good coaching is about understanding the player in front of you, teaching the game well and creating an environment where players can make decisions, solve problems, try things and learn from mistakes.
His coaching journey has included roles with Avoca FC, Central Coast Grammar School, East Coast Soccer School and the Central Coast Mariners Academy, as well as working in coach education and development.
Dan has continued to develop his own coaching through Football Australia, US Soccer and The FA, and holds both the Football Australia C and B Diplomas.
But experience and qualifications are only useful if they improve the experience of the player.
Dan's role at ARETE is to help create an environment where every player is given the opportunity to learn, be challenged and discover where their football might take them.
Because we don't know how good they can become. Neither do they. Shall we find out?
The question isn't only, “Are they becoming a better footballer?”
It's also, “Who are they becoming along the way?”
That's the ARETE Way.