Christian Layland, a coach at ACU FC, has been selected as a finalist for Community Coach of the Year at the NSW Community Sports Awards.
The NSW Community Sports Awards, presented by Sport NSW, recognise outstanding achievements and contributions to community sport in NSW – with 2023 seeing the largest number of nominations in the history of the event.
Layland, a former professional coach with Central Coast Mariners and Western Sydney Wanderers, joined his team as a player back in 2020 but after tearing his calf muscle in pre-season, he was asked to stay involved with the team as head coach.
Following two seasons of Covid disruptions where the team won promotion but didn’t win the title, the team found themselves in Division 11 in 2022 where they won both the league and the grand final in dominant fashion.
After making club history with the Division 11 team, Layland took on the challenge of coaching the Australia Cup team. ACU has entered the Australia Cup every year of their history but had never won a game.
Selecting the best players from the various teams at the club, Layland formed a squad of 40 who committed to a professional environment to give the club their best chance of making history and becoming the first ACU team to win a game in the country’s national cup competition.
Bringing professional standards from his time at Mariners and Wanderers, Layland looked to develop these players and prove that players from a range of divisions can win games in the national competition with the aid of coaching methods that are typically only available to teams at elite levels.
With over 1,300 combined hours of work, the players bought into the process and exceeded expectations with:
- Four contact sessions per week (comprising two trainings, one gym session, one pre-season game)
- Ice baths and contrast showers
- Homework
- Video analysis
- AIS-approved supplements
- Pre-hab, injury prevention, and gym sessions (created in cooperation with Australian Catholic University’s strength and conditioning faculty)
For context, many of the players in this squad had never played high-level before, and when the team won their Round 2 match (4-0 against Fairfield Eagles), there were four players in the squad – including two goal scorers – who played in the 17th tier of football in Australia.
Incredibly, the 16 players who took the field came from five different teams: eight from Division 1, four from Division 12, two from Division 4, one from Division 9, and one from Sunday Division 1. Three of the seven coaching and management staff were players from the Women’s Division 3 team.
While coaching, Layland used the sessions and matches to help mentor four up-and-coming coaches to aid their development. They included people who coach both men’s and women’s football, with two of them coaching at other clubs.
While both the Div 11 and Australia Cup team experienced extreme success on the field, it’s the broader benefits through the mentorship of other coaches and development of players in other teams, which will have a long-lasting and far-reaching effect in improving standards, playing ability, and enjoyment across the board – not just in a single team or club.
The winner will be announced at an awards ceremony at CommBank Stadium later this month.
Image credits: Alen Delic, David Jordan, and Dom Trimboli
