National Technical Director Han Berger is upbeat about the future of Australia’s youngest national team after the appointment of Alistair Edwards as Qantas Joeys Head Coach, with Tony Vidmar as assistant.
National Technical Director Han Berger is upbeat about the future of Australia-s youngest national team after the appointment of Alistair Edwards as Qantas Joeys Head Coach, with Tony Vidmar to serve as assistant in addition to also being the new Head Coach in a restructed AIS (Australian Institute of Sport) program.
The two former Socceroos take up the respective posts following the departure of Jan Versleijen whose contract ended in December 2011.
Edwards primary task will be to take the team to next year-s FIFA U-17 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates.
Additionally Peter de Roo has been appointed to the newly created position of Technical Manager of the AIS Football Program.
The new appointments, combined with the AIS scholarship holders living off-site, marks a new direction for the football program in Canberra.
“We have had the chance to rethink the structure of the AIS and Joeys program, which is what we did to make up a step up in quality,” Berger said.
“We think it is better for boys that age to be in a home-stay situation. In regards the number of training hours and the quality of training nothing changes, so we believe it is a step up.”
“We really want to make a step up with the AIS program. We want it to be one of the world-s best programs which is why we restructed the situation at the top.”
Berger reserved special praise for the two new coaches, saying they have the requisite experience and style for the roles.
“Alistair and Tony have shown themselves, both as players and more recently as coaches, to be of the highest calibre and to have the right attitude, experience and personalities to be in charge of these two vital development programs,” he said.
“I look at my Institute coaches and from that group Tony stood out as one of the best. At the last three editions of the Institute Challenge, he was twice chosen as the top coach. I think Tony did a quality job at SASI (South Australian Institue of Sport), he was short-listed and provided a quality interview.”
Meanwhile, the role of De Roo will be to provide the technical and management direction to the program and the coaches to ensure that the development objectives of the program are met.