Michael Hamilton has updated us with an important announcement about the appointment of a coach who will help to guide our young Dons towards the first-team.
Alf Galustian (pictured left above with Michael) has earned a fine reputation for his coaching skills over the years and he has now been appointed as Technical Consultant at our Academy.
Of course, you can cheer on our young Dons tonight (7 pm kick-off) as they take on Leeds United with the ultimate aim of follow in the footsteps of Jack Currie and Huseyin Biler – our latest Academy graduates to progress to the first-team this season.
Book your ticket online now (£5 Adult tickets, £1 for Season Ticket holders) or buy on the night.
Below is our Academy Manager Michael Hamilton’s latest monthly round-up.
Alf Galustian
I am delighted to announce that world renowned developer and founder of Coerver Coaching, Alfred Galustain, will be joining the academy in the specifically designed role of ‘Technical Consultant’.
Alf started his career as a youth team player with Wimbledon before going onto the USA. He is the Co-Founder and International Director of Coerver Coaching.
To date, Alfred has worked as a Coach Instructor with 17 National Federations including the French, English, Japanese and Brazilian.
Alfred has also worked as a Coaches Instructor with over 50 top professional clubs, including Bayern Munich, Manchester City, Manchester United, Real Madrid , Benfica, Roma, Olympique Marseille, Juventus and Arsenal.
During the 2010/11 Season Alfred was the Specialist Skills Coaching Advisor to the Premier League. He has received an award from FIFA for 40 years of contribution to the development of the game around the world.
Alf’s expertise is world leading in terms of development and this is a major appointment for us in our evolution. I’m fortunate to have Alf as one of my professional mentors and Alf has always been very considered with who he works with - he has never been associated specifically with a club. The main remit of his role is to provide professional and technical consultation on the design of our development model as well as support us with our professional development programme for staff.
Academy restructure
Following the news that Michael Cook had left his role as Academy Operations Manager to take up the same role at Watford FC, it provided us with an opportunity to review our development structure.
We are very considered around the constraints we have as an academy and it’s always our aim to maximise our resources, in this ever demanding industry.
As a result of this review, we will be changing the structure of our existing development model, which is as follows:
- Foundation Phase (U9 – U12 age groups)
- Youth Phase (U13 – U16 age groups)
- Professional Phase (U18 +)
This will change to the following:
- Foundation Phase (U8 – U11)
- Mid Phase (U12 – U14)
- Youth Phase (U15/U16)
- Professional Phase (U18s +)
We believe this new 4-tiered structure will enable us to provide players with more specific development, provide staff with more responsibility, and also enable us to further embed our ‘Wimbledon Way’ model.
As part of the structural change, I am delighted to announce Ben Ewing will join us full-time as the Foundation Phase Manager (U8 – U11) and Nicholas Wright will transition from Foundation Phase Lead Coach to Mid Phase Manager (U12 – U14).
We are currently in the process of recruiting for a new Lead Phase Manager because Jack Matthews will leave the role to become our new Head of Coaching.
Jack has been our Lead Youth Phase Coach for the last season and a half and he has played an instrumental role in the development of our young professionals at the Club, as Individual Development Coach.
His responsibility will be to oversee the development of our coaching staff and ensure the Wimbledon Way is being lived by all age groups.
Nicholas has been part of the academy for six seasons and has been responsible for some of the innovative methods currently used in the younger age groups.
The U-12 to U-14s age groups is such a sensitive time for boys as they transition into becoming young men and with that comes the need for more individual development - Nicholas will now assume responsibility for ensure our programme support them.
Ben’s energy and enthusiasm since he walked in is the reason he has been afforded such opportunities in such a short amount of time. His knowledge of the local area and skill set as a coach will ensure we not only maintain some of the good work that has happened in the phase over the last couple of seasons, but also build upon it.
It is one of our strategic aims to provide a pathway for staff as well as players in the academy and these changes are further evidence of us investing in the potential of others.