Fenech appointed CQ officer

Joe Fenech and Geoff Foster attend yesterday’s press conference to confirm Fenech as the CQ development officer.

Allan Reinikka

JOE Fenech's appointment as the Football Queensland development officer for Central Queensland is hardly a surprise but finalising the agreement was a welcome result.

At a press conference at Jardine Park yesterday, Fenech expressed his delight at being able to start in his new position after last week being confirmed as the new Cougars coach for the 2012 season.

With the Cougars brand the flagship for Central Queensland, it was considered logical the two positions should have a very close association.

Now he is ready to tackle the other areas of coaching demanded by the region.

"I am genuinely excited as it is an opportunity to work with coaches of all age groups," he said.

"There are a lot of hardworking parent volunteers but we need quality coaching during their (players') development.

"Often the children are not taught the correct techniques and they form bad habits which are hard to correct."

One of the main things Fenech intends to do in Central Queensland is to work on coach education

He sees the development of young players as occurring in various stages, with the very youngest age groups developing their game in a fun environment while learning some of the basic techniques.

"Ages four to five, it is the co-ordination skills and then from six to 11 are the formative years where they learn techniques," he said.

"After that it is a little more serious and we bring in a few tactics."

While the aim of the area is to develop excellence, Fenech is also aware that not all players want to follow that path and is keen to work with clubs to ensure players who prefer a more social form of the game are also well catered for.

However, the improvement of the quality of football in CQ is a necessity and Fenech knows there are a number of ideas in the region that will need to be altered if the game is to progress.

He said he had some philosophies where a club coach gained recognition when his players made the Cougars or went even higher.

"The Cougars are the shopping window to the A-League," he said.

Fenech is in weekly contact with the Gold Coast and Brisbane Roar and sees the recommendation of local players to those clubs as a measure of success for the area.

Having come from a club environment, he is also aware that clubs also want to succeed.

"Without the clubs there would be no rep teams," he said.

Fenech also made a promise to be a tracksuit coach and be readily available in the capacity of mentor for the region's coaches.

"I like to be hands-on," he said.

Although set to start, officially, on Monday, Fenech will be at Norbridge Park tomorrow morning to overlook Centre of Excellence training.

Foster sees plan come together

IT was a smiling Geoff Foster who fronted the media yesterday to formally announce the appointment of Joe Fenech.

"This is the final part of the promise I made to the Central Queensland football community to provide quality administration and quality coaching," he said.

"There was no doubting the football credentials of (previous CQ development officer) Washington Gonzales but the communication skills were not available.

"Joe will set out to improve the technical proficiency of all players registered in the region."

The challenge for Fenech was a large one, the chief executive of Football Queensland admitted, but the expectations of the state body were realistic.

An area where improvement is required, and results measured, is the number of coaches gaining accreditation through courses.

"I have got every confidence there is lots of talent in Central Queensland, we have just not been able to drag it out," Foster said.

The accreditation of coaches is a part of a long-term objective of the FFA and FQ, although Foster admits plans are still a couple of years away.

"Compulsory accreditation remains the ambition and is on the board but I don't envisage it coming in until 2013 across Queensland," he said.

Under such a scheme a coach would need a suitable licence to be in charge of a football team.