Ryan O'Keefe appointed MSA AFL Head Coach
Dual AFL premiership Sydney Swans player Ryan O’Keefe has been announced as the new Western Jets under 18 coach and Head Coach of the Maribyrnong Sports Academy AFL Program.
Dual AFL premiership Sydney Swans player Ryan O’Keefe has been announced as the new Western Jets under 18 coach and Head Coach of the Maribyrnong Sports Academy AFL Program.
The full-time position will see the 2012 Norm Smith Medal winner incorporate the Jets’ under 18 head coaching role with a football academy program role at Maribyrnong.
After his 286 game AFL career ended in 2014, O’Keefe has spent the last four seasons in coaching roles at Adelaide FC, joining the Crows as a midfield development coach, before spending the last two seasons as the clubs’ SANFL coach. O’Keefe replaces Torin Baker at the Western Jets and Sports Academy, after he accepted a development coaching role at Hawthorn FC.
In what is becoming a trend over recent years in the under 18 coaching ranks, O’Keefe will join the likes of Daniel O’Keefe (Geelong Falcons), Craig Black (Dandenong Stingrays), Marc Greig (GWV Rebels) and Leigh Clarke (Oakleigh Chargers) as former TAC Cup players who have returned to coach in the competition.
“Ryan O’Keefe will be making a return to the competition he was drafted from close to 20 years ago at the Calder Cannons and will bring a unique mindset of being able to relate to and understand the needs of players at this level, and what will be required of them at that next level as they progress,” AFL Victoria State Talent Manager Paul Hamilton said.
“The players at both the Western Jets and Maribyrnong Sports Academy will benefit from having such an experienced person at the helm, who will be able to utilise his knowledge of playing at the highest level, and coaching at state level in the SANFL.
“O’Keefe – as a level four coach - will play an important role in helping further develop players in our under 18 system, but also those who are aspiring to take their game further with the Sports Academy, spending time on their skills on and off the field.
Hamilton said the under 18 competition is providing a strong pathway for coaches to develop their skills.
“The pleasing aspect is our competition is creating a talent pathway for not only players, but also coaches with Craig Black (Collingwood), Jeremy Barnard (East Perth – WAFL) Daniel O’Keefe (Geelong VFL) and Torin Baker (Hawthorn) all progressing to state-league or AFL coaching roles at the end of the 2018 season.
“We will continue to provide these opportunities for our coaches, with recent appointments Nick Cox (Dandenong), Josh Bourke (Sandringham Dragons), Mark Brown (Murray Bushrangers) and Rhett McLennan (Gippsland Power) all having fulfilled assistant or development coaching roles in the under 18 or 16 system before being appointed head coaches.”
Three Maribyrnong Sports Academy students were drafted at the recent NAB AFL Draft, with Calder Cannons Jack Bytel (St Kilda) joined by Western Jets pair Zak Butters (Port Adelaide) and Buku Khamis (Western Bulldogs) on AFL lists. The trio continue the links to the College in the AFL, with former students such as Kayne Turner (North Melbourne), Peter Wright (Gold Coast Suns) and Touk Miller (Gold Coast Suns) also having been drafted from the school / TAC Cup in the past, while former cricketer Guy Walker has joined the Melbourne FC this year as a Category B rookie.
Maribyrnong Sports Academy Director Mark McAllion says Ryan brings a wealth of experience into the program.
“It's very exciting to partner with AFL Victoria and the Western Jets to have someone with Ryan’s experience both as a player and a coach join the Academy’s coaching ranks,” McAllion said.
“Torin Baker did a fantastic job in developing the program over recent years and we now look forward to Ryan taking it to an even higher level, in conjunction with Assistant Coaches Scott Lucas, Leon Harris, Martin Walsh and AFLW head coach Bree White
“The Academy’s AFL student-athletes are definitely very fortunate to be coached and mentored by such high quality individuals.”
Listen to Ryan’s interview with Andy Maher on SEN.
Boots and Balls arrive in the Tiwi Islands.
The delivery of Boots and Balls was completed last week to the kids of Xavier College on Bathurst Island in the Tiwi’s.
The delivery of Footy Boots and Balls was completed last week to the kids of Xavier College on Bathurst Island in the Tiwi’s. The delivery was made possible with the help of Downer Group Indigenous , Diversity and Inclusion specialist Moana Matthews and the AFLNT.
Moana has provided us with this report on the day…
Good morning all,
Greg Farmilo and myself completed the delivery of the boots and balls to Xavier College on Friday. Lance (Tess’s husband amongst many other hats he wears) kindly picked us up in the school bus after landing in a rather small plane.
We went on to the school with the boxes of goods where we were greeted by the warm and welcoming staff at Xavier Catholic College. We were taken on a tour of the college which was very impressive and met some of the students and more teachers along the way.
School assembly was called for 10am where the kids and a few camp dogs gathered in the gymnasium. Sadly due to Sorry Business, many of the students were away due to a death in the community the day before. Tess addressed the students in supplying the beautiful back story as to how this initiative all came about and passed over to Greg and myself to share a little about Downer and how/why we came on board.
We then got to the fun part of ripping boxes open to see who could fit what, it really was first in best dressed…..but there was certainly no shortage of Downer socks, with 100 pairs in supply….socks for everyone!! We pumped up the balls (electric pump thankfully) and before we knew it, footy’s were flying off the end of footy boots and red socks everywhere, the kids loved it.
We had great media coverage on the Thursday with the publication in the NT News and the story was in the news reel every hour on the hour throughout the day over the 2 main radio stations. I am still receiving messages from the public asking if I need any more boots!!!
On behalf of Greg and myself, a big thank you to all of you who made this happen – we were simply the lucky ones who got to see the kids faces on the receiving end for all of your hard work and big hearts. Tess had asked me to ensure we pass a very appreciated thank you to the staff and parents of Maribyrnong Sport Academy, but most of all to the students – outstanding young sportspeople and leaders.
What a beautiful way to close out 2018 😊
MSA Students learn an important life skill
Moving out of home can be daunting enough for any young adult, but when you could potentially move to another state or country and away from your family support network, it helps to have some basic life skills under your belt.
Maribyrnong Sports Academy provided an opportunity for six of its student/athletes to learn basic cooking skills which will definitely come in handy as they make the transition from home life to the life of a professional or college athlete.
MSA dietitian Ola Luczak says it’s important for kids to know what they need to do to stay at their peak fitness “ As our Athletes make the transition in senior sport the need for their body to refuel on a more regular and healthy basis is critical. It was fantastic to have the opportunity to work with these young guns and teach them basic cooking skills to support what they had already learnt from their families.”
“A would like to also thank all the team at Maribyrnong including Rebecca Kerwin for the support during this important life class. I’m really happy to know that these boys will leave school with the confidence and skills to create their own healthy meals.”
The student athletes learnt how to cook a variety of balanced meals which included all the food groups and nutrients. Some of the recipes included Lasagna, Roast Pork and Vegies, a Chicken Curry with Apricots, Turmeric rice and Berry and Yoghurt Meringues.
Three of the six boys have been recently drafted to AFL clubs including Zak Butters who is heading to Port Adelaide, while Lucas Plapp is residing in a house in Adelaide as part of the AIS Olympic cycling squad.
To download Ola’s tips for home leavers and some basic recipe’s click here.