Canberra United Coach Robbie Hooker

Former Socceroo, Canberra Cosmos player and now Canberra United and Assistant Matildas and ACTAS Coach Robbie Hooker talked about his plans as boss of the newest team in town. Should girl's play with boys? Who will we sign and more.....

Canberra United W-League Coach Robbie Hooker fronted up to the Nearpost Radio (98.3fm) this week. Chris Gottaas and Russ Gibbs asked him a few questions on the job ahead and all things Women’s football. Here’s part of what Robbie had to say.

What are your thoughts on the new Westfield W-League about to start in October?

It’s a great opportunity for all female players throughout the country and locally to put their hand up to try and get involved and try and make the next step from local to national competition and then maybe onto Young Matildas and the Matildas selection.

What is your first priority as Coach?

First priority is to sign some players. Some of the local Matildas players are some of the first we are aiming for. There is a window of player registration that goes from the first of this month to September 19th. To sign as many players from the designated players list (60 players) as we can, no matter where they are from.
And also to get some staff onboard. We’re looking for an Assistant Coach and Team Manager.

Are there any restrictions on signing players?

No not really, there are some restrictions on the two New South Wales based Clubs in terms of how many they can sign from NSW, but we can sign as many players on that designated players list, there are 60 players on that list.

Obviously the players on that list from Canberra we are looking at keeping them but we need to find as many players on that list to attract to Canberra to join us. That is going to be ; there are 8 clubs and most players probably won’t want to move from their residential home.

Realistically there are only 8 or 10 players on that list who may wish to move.

Why would players want to come to Canberra?

One attraction maybe that because I’m coaching the team and I’m the Assistant Matildas Coach that may attract some players to Canberra. It’s a bonus for the club and for the players playing for this club I believe. Also Lydia Williams, Caitlin Munoz and Amy Chapman are regular starters for the Matildas so we have a good foundation to build a team around.

That is one of the first questions other players may ask, “Who have you got playing,”
Also players need to be realistic about their opportunities at other clubs. Canberra United can offer starting berths to players of that calibre.

I’ve spoken to two or three players who have shown a key interest in coming here. That would add to the depth to the squad.

How competitive can Canberra be in this league?

There are two groups of four. You play each team in your group twice and the other teams once. But there is only one league table. Technically you could finish fourth in your group and still make the semi-finals.

We play Queensland (Roar) twice which will be difficult, Central Coast (Mariners) twice which is the second tier from NSW. Melbourne (Victory) twice and and the other teams once.

We’re competing against 4 or 5 teams for 4th position so we’ll probably be somewhere around there.

What will the new National League do for the Women’s game?

This, hopefully, will take the game to the next level. There are no International games over the next three months. So this will keep the players playing ticking over so when they come back into Camp next February so they have some foundation. And this is an opportunity for some players on the fringes of the Matildas squads to showcase their talents.

You’re also the ACTAS Coach can you tell us about that?

ACTAS is a National Training Centre (NTC). It is funded partly by FFA, ACTAS and Capital Football. Each State has a NTC. The program is designed to feed into the National teams, Under 17, Young Matildas, Promising Matildas,( a developing squad) and Matildas squads.

We feed into that national system so we need to get players into our ACTAS program from the local area and to have appropriate programs underpinning ACTAS. So when they come to ACTAS we need players that are already good players, know what football is about, technically aware, tactically aware, so we can build on that rather than start from scratch.

How does a player get into ACTAS?

There are a variety of ways. I usually go to the National Youth Championships U15 and U17 and keep and eye on the ACT players there. I keep an eye on the Capital Football Academy teams, invite players to come and train with us. I watch the Women’s Premier League games. I’m quite happy to take recommendations from Coaches, particularly Academy, and the Technical Director. Through all those mechanisms decisions are based.

Around October/November we are thinking about players we have watched all year and assess if they have the requirements for next years ACTAS program.

So a young Canberra girls wants to to be a Matilda?

I would think girls (aged 9-14) who are good at football, generally speaking, want to play in Boys football because they adapt to the pace quicker and want to play a quicker tempo or more physical game. And Boy’s football provides this.

Quite often you find girls who play in boys teams do so because they find girls football too easy. Unfortunately it’s just the nature of the beast.

But it depends on the individual. Depends on their maturity, will they fit into the boy’s teams from a social point of view. Some mature quicker than others, some want social interaction but as a general rule boy’s football will assist girl development. The technically better players, will generally you’ll find, gravitate to better teams.