THE REASONS BEHIND DOMINANCE
LEADING junior Australian rules coach Chad Owens says a concentrated talent pool and professional programs are behind Gold Coast’s dominance of football in Queensland.
Gold Coast teams took out six divisions at the state finals over the weekend – primary male (Gaven State School), primary female (Varsity College), junior male (Helensvale State High School), junior female (Park Ridge State High School) senior male (Palm Beach Currumbin State High School) and senior female (Miami State High School) competitions.
Owens, who helps run the football academy at Palm Beach, said he wasn’t surprised Gold Coast schools were thriving.
“Gold Coast only has two schools who have big football excellence programs, Palm Beach and Helensvale,” Owens said.
“Southport now offer something and Varsity does as well. But in Brisbane it’s a bit more spread out.
“Geographically it’s a bigger place and the talent is spread more while competing with the private schools.
“Our program (at Palm Beach) is really well run. It’s a holistic program and the kids not only do footy, they do yoga, strength and conditioning, video analysis.
“They do a lot of things professional clubs do.
“We take the kids on a trip to Melbourne where they play against Melbourne schools and give them the experience of flying down the day before, sleeping in a motel and playing the next day. We try to replicate the top level as much as we can.”