SKOKO NEWS

Josip's team are in the middle of the winter break in Croatia. They return to the premiership on the 22nd of February and are currently sitting 2nd on the ladder. They return against the league leaders Dinamo Zagreb who they are currently one point behind.

Jenna McCormick

Each week we will try to profile one of our athletes. The first player under the spotlight next week will be Jenna McCormick. Stay tuned for more information.

The Round Ball on Facebook

Jobfind joins as a Sponsor

Duncan Kirk Returns

Duncan will reume his work with the under 15 boys squad and the girls squad. He will take the last 30 minutes with the girls and the warm up for the boys. We are delighted to be working with Duncan and look forward to again having him as part of the team.

Please check out Duncan's stretching tips at the link below.

http://www.dknt.com.au/stretching_tips.pdf

Fitness and Conditioning for Keepers

The second training session for Keepers will be held Sunday Feb 1 at Grant High School starting at 9.00am. For further information please contact The Round Ball.

TRAINING CANCELLED

All training sessions this Thursday January 29 are cancelled due to predicted weather temperatures of 44c.
Cheers

Hot Weather Policy

We are currently in the process of establishing a Hot Weather Policy that will guide our training sessions and fixtures. We will advise you of the policy when it is finalised.

the round ball Foundation

In 2007 we established The Round Ball Foundation and last year set aside over $750 to donate to local soccer juniors through The Round Ball raffle.

The concept of the foundation is simple, through the contacts generated by the show, prizes are gathered, a raffle is conducted, funds are collected funds then distributed across the local community.

We are keen to prove that as locals we can dig deep and help ourselves to develop and strengthen our own soccer community. “We are very keen to help out and contribute to the development of soccer across the region. We are passionate and have been trying to help out for along time now, this is the best way that we can help out”.

South West Games

Soccer boasts 700 players: South West Games to host 70 teams from two states
BY PETER FLETCHER

SOCCER will kick off a week ahead of the South West Games in Warrnambool to accommodate a record field of teams.
Competition organiser John McMillan said soccer would be held over consecutive weekends for the first time.
Juniors are scheduled for Saturday, October 25 and Sunday, October 26 at Harris Street Reserve, followed by women on Saturday, November 1 and men on Sunday, November 2.
The games will be officially opened on Friday, October 31, ahead of two weeks of sporting competition.
Hosted by Warrnambool Wolves Soccer Club, the seven-a-side soccer competition has attracted 70 teams from across Victoria and South Australia.
McMillan estimates about 700 players will participate, which he says makes soccer the biggest sport of the games.
"That's not bad when we started off the smallest," he said, recalling the search for an opponent about 20 years ago when he first assembled a Warrnambool team to play at the games.
"People want something different and that's where we came up with the seven-a-side idea. It's just grown from there."
The South West Games soccer gained metropolitan media exposure about a decade ago and Melbourne teams have made the trip to Warrnambool ever since.
Others travel from Geelong, Ararat, Ballarat, Stawell, Mount Gambier, Horsham, Colac and Lara.
The Wolves are represented across all grades by 17 teams.

I was very proud of both our squads that participated in The South West Games.
It was our first real competition and provided a great chance to see how we have developed during the FUTSAL program.
Both sides were filled with under age players with players as young as 10 playing in our under 13 squad and only 2 boys in our under 15 squad.
The under 13 squad went through the entire day undefeated until they came across the home team Warrnambool Wolves in the final and went down 2 goals to 1.
The under 15s lost one game in the group stage and went on to reverse the result in the grand final defeating Horsham in the final on penalties.
Thank you to all players and parents for making it such a special day.

2008 Sponsors

THE ROUND BALL
WOULD LIKE TO WISH ALL THEIR SPONSORS AND SUPPORTERS A
VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A
HAPPY NEW YEAR

SMB CIVIL
CAFFE BELGIORNO
JOBFIND CENTRE
THE COMMERCIAL HOTEL MOUNT GAMBIER
JOSIP SKOKO AND FAMILY
5GTR FM
ADELAIDE UNITED FC
FARMERS UNION
EDDIES FURNITURE
McCORMICKS BUS SERVICE
A J’S AUTOMOTIVE SERVICES
DALKAR ENGINEERING
OLLIE & MILLY
GRANT HIGH SCHOOL
McDONALD PARK SCHOOL
ELITE CARPET CLEANING
MORRIS DICKINS AND FAMILY
MARCUS JONES PHOTOGRAPHICS
BOUNCE BOOKS
HYLAND FOX SIGNS

SMB Civil Signs On

2009 Press Release

The Round Ball Profile

This year The Round Ball celebrates its ninth year of supporting football across the Limestone Coast and in that time we have remained committed to our goal of assisting to build a strong football culture throughout the region. We believe that this can only be achieved through more open and regular communication with like football cultures that can offer valuable advice, coaching and other resources. We believe that a strong football culture is based on a solid grass roots football structure, extensive and accessible community and junior football programs, clear player pathways for all players, a competitive, challenging and even football league, and a representative team structure that inspires the region on the highest stage. Over the past several seasons we have brought the European Football Institute to Mt Gambier four times, successfully co-ordinated Josip Skoko’s return to the region to be presented the keys to the city, played in integral role in the development of Bushvision and are in constant contact with innovative football programs and exciting guests.

We are keen to assist the development of Football across the Limestone Coast.

Thank you for your continued support.

The Round Ball Team

Travis Dodd

Fresh from taking his place in the first Australian side to reach the quarter finals of the Asian Champions League, Adelaide United captain Travis Dodd made the trip to the South East to kick-off Reconciliation Week.
• The Round Ball co-ordinated the entire event and worked with the Education Department District Office, the City of Mt Gambier Council and Jobfind to enable the widest audience possible.
• Pictured: Travis Dodd and Emma Hay (DECS) as a guest of the Pangula Mannamurna Aboriginal Health Service.

SOCCER HISTORY VISITS
MT GAMBIER

Adelaide United has become the first Hyundai A-League side to make the quarter-finals of the AFC Champions League by recording a 0-0 draw with Changchun Yatai in China on Thursday and only hours after the final whistle the victorious captain boarded a series of planes that would return him to Adelaide and then today, his final destination, Mount Gambier.
So how can it be that the captain of the first team in Australian soccer history to achieve such a milestone can be in Mount Gambier only days after such a monumental achievement? “It has been over four months in the making and in fact if you count the initial idea to bring a high profile football star to Mount Gambier, we started planning 9 months ago” states local soccer enthusiast and Director for Coaching for The Round Ball, Scott Dickson.
“Travis Dodd is at the top of his game and is a current superstar of the A League and Socceroo, when the opportunity arose to bring a current player his name was the top of our list. He is an outstanding athlete who displays leadership both on and off the pitch and added to this is the fact that he is Indigenous. When we started to discuss dates, his management indicated that he had this week free and it coincided with Reconciliation Week, the fact that history was made on Thursday night no one could have predicted but it shows we have luck on our side”
With the match rescheduled due to the three day period of national mourning, which started last Monday in China after the earthquake, it was a rushed trip home for the squad. However despite the fantastic result the catastrophic nature of the disaster wasn’t lost on Dodd on who commented on the disaster before the kick off.
“And that is one of the reasons we wanted to bring Travis. He is articulate and well spoken, he is passionate about his culture and is an advocate for the Indigenous Community.” said Dickson. The fact that we have been able to arrange Travis to come in contact with over ten local schools and provide several opportunities for members of the wider community to meet him I think we have done a great job. Without the help of the Mount Gambier City Council, the Limestone Coast District Office, Jobfind Centres and the Blue Lake Caravan Park we would not have been able to pull it off and I am very grateful for their support.”
Aboriginal Education Co-ordinator for the Limestone Coast Emma Hay is keen to promote the historic event and has extended an invitation to the entire community “To 'kick off' Reconciliation Week Celebrations a free community breakfast will be held at Pangula Mannamurna, Commercial Street West, Mt Gambier. Breakfast will available from 8.30am with Travis being officially welcomed to Boandik Country from our local Aboriginal elders and youth at 9am. All members of our local community are invited and welcome to attend.”
The tour of the Limestone Coast will commence today with the community breakfast and then he will visit McDonald Park Primary School, Melaleuca Park K7 Schools, and the Nangwarry School cluster and then the next day he will visit Grant High School, Mount Gambier High School, North Gambier Primary and Mulga Street Primary.
Tuesday night will see the showcase event, A night of Inspiration with Travis Dodd and with only a handful of tickets remaining for the event at the Linksview Golf Club at 6.30 pm, it is clear to see the event has captured the communities imagination. Dickson conclude by saying “Nearly everyone we asked has supported the iniative and the results speak for themselves. It may be an overused cliché however it is true in this case Football really is the winner.”

The Round Ball History

The Round Ball began in 2002 as a radio show on 5GTR FM community radio and after a successful first season headed to 5SE to be part of the Thursday night sports program.
• The Round Ball returned to 5GTR FM in 2005.
• In 2006 links with the local television station Bushvision were made and a world cup show and local Western Border Soccer Association matches were broadcast.
• The Round Ball can now be heard world-wide on the 5GTR FM website.
• The Round Ball is Mount Gambier’s only soccer specific media source.

In 2006 also The Round Ball registered as a business and a coaching program was added to the CV.
• The Round Ball met with the WBSA and a club development program was established in order for local WBSA to access additional coaching.
• In 2007 The Round Ball contacted the FFSA to inform them of the Community Coaching Program.
• In late 2007 The Round Ball approached the WBSA to discuss options in regards to supporting one another.
• In November 2007 The Round Ball Academy commenced with 16 members.
• The Round Ball is a community football program that caters for the need to provide a different coaching opportunity to that which is currently offered.

In April 2008 The Round Ball establishes the Futsal Development Program with the endorsement of Futsal SA.
• Term 3 Futsal commenced in July with 82 juniors participating.
• The Round Ball is set to commence season 2 of the Summer Training program and currently caters for 112 juniors.

Josip's Christmas Letter

Late last year Josip Skoko sent a Christmas letter to the round ball.

Dear Roundball participants and parents,

I write to wish you and your families a Safe and Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year. I have had a great year, firstly successfully finishing off the 2007/2008 season with Wigan FC in the English Premiere League, before moving to my old club Hajduk Split in Croatia at the summer break. The 2008/2009 season has so far panned out very well. Hajduk currently sit second on the ladder one point behind league leader Dinamo Zagreb. We are also in the semi final of the Croatian Cup, so our hopes of a double trophy (league title and cup title) remain very alive.

Scott keeps me informed of your successes and it makes me proud that your teams wear my name. Remember to always enjoy the game. Have fun and never focus too much on results. Celebrate your wins, take away lessons from your losses. If you focus and give 100% every single time you step onto the pitch you will always be able to carry your head high, no matter what the result. Always remain disciplined in all areas of your life and listen to your coaches at training, your teachers at school and your parents at home. If you are humble you will always be happy. All that said, congratulations on remaining active and embracing football. Congratulations to your parents who encourage and support you, as it is a great commitment in this busy world.

I hope to see you all sometime soon and remember to stay safe during the holidays.

Warmest Regards,
Josip Skoko

SCORE LIKE SKOKO

In a massive boost for The Round Ball’s up and coming Futsal Development Program, former Mount Gambier Socceroo and current English Premiership midfielder with Wigan Athletic, Josip Skoko has not only given his unconditional support to the initiative he has put his name to it!
The Skoko Squad will be the collective name for the grassroots program and will comprise the Skoko Squad, the under 10 cohort and the Skoko Kids, the under 10 cohort.
Scott Dickson, Director of Coaching for the Round Ball believes that the Skoko name will create the foundation for excellence for our Player Development Programs.
"We are delighted to have gained the support of Josip. He has played at the highest level for over a decade now and he understands what is needed to develop as a country player. The path he has traveled from attending St Paul’s Primary School and playing at Bishop Road to marking the likes of Steven Gerrard, Ronaldo and Cesc Fabergas in the English Premiership is one we should all admire."
Skoko who is in the final year of his contract at Wigan Athletic is currently in contract negotiations however it is possible he may chose to move on to gain more playing time. "I had contact with Josip last week and despite the fact he loves the Premiership and Wigan he said that as he is coming to the end of his overseas playing career he may move to mainland Europe for one final time" said Dickson. "I have been blown away with the support that Josip has offered The Round Ball and he is keen to assist us in any way he can. His support for this program is conformation that we are doing a very good job.
The Round Ball Futsal Development Program will commence next week with the under 12 and under 14 cohorts set to commence on Monday May 12 and the Skoko Squads, the under 10 and under 8 cohorts set to kick off on Saturday May 17, both at Grant High Schools Gymnasium.
Dickson believes the program will enable a rapid development in foot speed and skill and is quick to point out that Futsal has, for a long time now, been regarded as the grass roots coaching program in Brazil and has assisted in the amazing speed of Ronaldinho, Cristiano Ronaldo and most of the current and past Brazilian stars.
"Futsal has an emphasis on improvisation, creativity and technique, its skills are easily transferable to conventional soccer and in the middle of Mount Gambier's wet winters how good is that we can improve our skills inside" Dickson adds with a smile.
Futsal is a five-a-side game played on a basketball-sized pitch with a weighted ball and is highly regarded as the impedance for change in many footballing countries.
"We are keen to assist in developing soccer across the region and we think Futsal has a part to play. There is no where to hide on a Futsal Pitch, the game makes you more composed and due to that you want the ball more so you can do something with it. It is challenging due to space and the weight of the ball and decision making is paramount. It is believed that Futsal is a platform to allow players to use invention and game understanding to not only develop but to get out of trouble. After all Football is all about problem solving."

Josip Skoko Bio

Josip Skoko (born 10 December 1975 in Mount Gambier, Australia) is an Australian football (soccer) player of Croatian heritage. He is a midfielder who is currently playing for Hajduk Split.

Club career

Early career
Skoko's family is of Croatian descent. He previously played for Hajduk Split (1995-Oct 99), Racing Club Genk (1999-2003) and Gençlerbirliği (2003-05). In 2002, Skoko captained the Genk side to the Belgian First Division championship. He was also an integral member of the Gençlerbirliği team, which progressed into the latter stages of the UEFA Cup in 2004.

Wigan
Skoko joined English Premier League club Wigan on a free transfer at the beginning of the 2005-06 season, although he has failed to maintain a regular place in the first team. On 7 January 2006 Skoko signed for Football League Championship side Stoke City on loan until the end of the 2005–06 season.
In the 2006-07 season, Paul Jewell showed renewed faith in Skoko giving him an extended run in the side. The transfers of Jimmy Bullard and Graham Kavanagh to Fulham and Sunderland, respectively, in the summer of 2006 left a gap in Wigan's midfield and this led to him becoming a mainstay in the Wigan Athletic midfield, partnering Paul Scharner and Denny Landzaat. He signed a new contract deal keeping him at Wigan until 2008. However, at the end of the season it became clear that Skoko had played his last game for the club. The two main reasons were because he did not play enough games for Wigan to trigger a clause in his contract and also the impossibility of receiving a visa for his stay in England due to his international retirement with Australia. It was decided in May 2008 that Skoko's contract would not be renewed and he was subsequently released by Wigan.

Hajduk Split
Due to various work permit issues when playing in Europe, it took a longer than expected time for Skoko to put pen to paper with a club of his choice. However, on July 21, and after several weeks of speculation, Skoko had finally signed a two year deal with former club Hajduk. The decision, he said, took only minutes for the club and himself to agree terms. Skoko is relishing the chance to return to the side he made more than 100 appearances for between 1995 and 1999, with a club he describes as "a second home"

International career
Skoko was a member of the Australian National football team for ten years, from 1997 to 2007. He made his debut for Australia against Macedonia in 1997 and was a mainstay of the Socceroos side from then on, participating in two World Cup qualifying campaigns. He also represented his country at the 2000 Olympics.
In November 2005, Skoko came on as a substitute in Australia's playoff victory over Uruguay to qualify for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He also captained Australia against Bahrain in an Asian Cup qualifier in 2006.
On 25 May 2006, Skoko scored a cracking volley from 25m for Australia in a 1-0 friendly victory over Greece in front of 95,103 spectators at the MCG in Melbourne, which he regards as his greatest national team moment. He was selected in the squad for the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
After being named in the Australian side for a friendly match against Argentina on 11 September 2007, Skoko stated that the game would be his home farewell from international football. Skoko ended his international career 51 minutes into the match in Melbourne when he was replaced by Grosseto midfielder Carl Valeri.

MUPC Draw

Group 1 Adelaide City Campbelltown City Gawler Beverley Lions Northern Demons
Group 2 Modbury Noarlunga United Enfield City Playford City Plympton
Group 3 West Adelaide Western Strikers Adelaide Comets Salisbury United Gambier Centrals
Group 4 Para Hills Raiders Panthers Toros
Group 5 Cumberland United Croydon Adelaide Cobras Sturt Thunder
Group 6 Adelaide Blue Eagles West Torrens Birkalla Pirates White City Woodville

the round ball Blog

Well here it is the round ball Blog! This is the second time that we have had a go at a blog and now with the success of the Community Football Development Program it is time to try again. This blog will keep all parties associated with the round ball up to date with our progress.

Public liability reforms welcomed

South East sport and recreation leaders have welcomed State Government reforms to ease the burden of public liability requirements on community groups.
Consumer Affairs Minister Gail Gago has announced the Fair Trading Act will be altered to allow users of recreational services to sign a waiver excluding liability for death or personal injury except in cases of reckless conduct.
“Under the new legislation, consumers will be covered for reckless conduct, so if someone knowingly supplies them faulty equipment and they are injured they will be covered,” she said.
“But operators will be freed of the red tape they are finding confronts them in the current system.”
Limestone Coast Railway’s Bill Towner said public liability was one of the key obstacles that led to Mount Gambier’s heritage tourism train service ceasing to operate over recent years.
He said the railway group no longer provided services, but still paid more than $1000 a year on insurance, largely to cover a day of activity per week under the Work for the Dole program to maintain its depot.
“The changes would help no end,” he said, adding easing of the insurance burden could prompt consideration of a returning the “red hen” cars to the tracks, but it would probably be too hard to overcome other factors now that the service had stopped running.
“Being two years out of service, it would be hard to rekindle,” he said.
“But a drop in public liability would be a bit of a load off. We were prepared to pay insurance, but it was phenomenal; we were paying thousands.”
Mount Gambier Harness Racing Club president Phil Wood said that, like many local sports bodies, his group secured public liability insurance through a national association of similar organisations.
“We’re pretty lucky,” he said, adding the changes would help smaller clubs left to fend for themselves.
“No matter what you do these days, public liability and regulations have taken a lot of the fun out of sports and made it hard on volunteer groups.”
Round Ball Community Development Program coaching director Scott Dickson said public liability costs had to be passed on to his customers, with more than 10pc from fees going towards insurance.
“Anything that is going to potentially reduce costs for families and lead to them seeking additional use of facilities and sports coaching or development would be a fantastic asset during these financial times,” he said.
“A significant decrease in our costs for soccer coaching for children would certainly open the door for more people to access our services and others like it across the region.”
JASON WALLACE

Centrals to compete in Manchester United Premier Cup

The Manchester United Premier Cup is a competition for teams of Under 15 year olds. This year Gambier Centrals have been nominated to play in the South Australian leg of the competition. The winner of the SA leg will then compete against the winning teams from around the country and New Zealand. The winner of these play offs will then be flown to the UK to compete against the top 20 clubs at Under 15 level in the world at Manchester United in England with the finals to be played at Old Trafford.Imagine travelling around the world whilst playing football. It sounds alright doesn't it, but the Manchester United Premier Cup (MUPC) is no kick about. This is where some of the finest U-15s football is played as talented youngsters come up against the best of the best from around the world.This year the MUPC will expand to include playoffs in South Australia and ACT, with the winners to battle against the best from New South Wales, Victoria, Northern NSW, Queensland and New Zealand.The MUPC gives talented under fifteen year olds the chance to show off their skills and come up against other young footballers from around the globe. They get to play on an international stage and meet and compete with the best of their class.MUPC started out as a regional tournament in 1993 and has grown into one of the largest and best known football events of its kind. Over 1,000,000 players have taken part, with over 9,000 teams from more than 40 countries competing this year. That's some serious football.The MUPC is jointly sponsored by Nike and Manchester United as part of their commitment to grassroots development.Nike and Football Federation SA are also very pleased to announce our involvement in the Manchester United Premier Cup. Nike and FFSA will invite 1 under 15 team per affiliated club to compete in a March tournament to determine the South Australian representative in the Pacific finals to be held in Melbourne April 09, all expenses paid.The winner of the Pacific finals will travel to Manchester England all expenses paid to compete in the world final.The event will be held at the Adelaide City Junior Soccer Club corner Greenhill Road and Unley Road, Adelaide.