Jack Bolton
Jack Bolton
SEQFPL Under 14s Co-Coach
Football Queensland (FQ) is pleased to announce Redlands United Futsal Club’s Jack Greenland and Jack Bolton as the Volunteers of the Month for November and December.
Greenland and Bolton, both 17 years old, are co-coaches of Redlands’ South East Queensland Futsal Premier League (SEQFPL) Under 14 boys team.
The coaches were nominated by Redlands United’s SEQFPL Head Coach Andy Greenland, who acknowledged the maturity they’ve shown at the beginning of their young coaching careers.
“Both boys completed the FQ Coaching Certificate course and have shown a high level of professionalism in their roles as coaches,” Greenland said.
“With minimal input from senior coaches, the boys have looked to get their team into the SEQFPL semi-finals and take their team all the way to the end.”
Greenland and Bolton have played futsal together since they were 10-year-olds, going on to play throughout high school and at Redlands United as teammates.
Currently the boys play together in the youth SEQFPL team at Redlands United and completed their FQ Coaching Certificate course together before taking on the role of co-coaches.
Greenland believes their experience playing together at the level they have has prepared them for their first coaching role.
“They know the game really well – technically they’re really good because they’ve played at a high level,” Greenland said.
“The senior coaches don’t need to get involved at half time, they just stand back and listen.”
Pocket and Mojo, as they’re affectionately known, have even inspired two younger boys at the club to coach next year.
Jack Greenland said coaching together after playing as teammates for so many years has been a great experience.
“It’s been awesome, I’ve been enjoying it a lot,” Greenland said.
“We have heaps of knowledge of the game together so we can help each other when it comes to our coaching.”
Bolton agreed, saying the experience of coaching with his teammate and friend has been a valuable one.
“It’s great, especially when our team wins games,” Bolton said.
“When we coach our players to do specific drills or movements and they do it on the court and it works out and we score a goal; it’s a great feeling seeing that what we have trained for has worked.”
When it comes to the challenges of becoming a coach, Greenland said it has been hard at times to switch his mentality from that of a player to that of a coach.
“Sometimes it’s hard to explain a situation because you know it from a player’s perspective, but it can be hard to transfer it and communicate it as a coach,” Greenland said.
“It is definitely easier to coach if you’ve played on the field though – you know what the players think when they’re on the field.”
Bolton believes their young age has been an advantage when it comes to coaching their Under 14 team.
“Because we’re pretty young as well I think the players can relate to us, but at the same time they still give us respect when it comes to playing and training,” Bolton said.
“We’ve learnt specific tactics from futsal coaches at the club, so we’ve been able to coach the young ones first-hand with specific movements and drills.”
For Greenland, the highlight of the season has been the experience he’s had getting to know the playing group they’ve coached.
“Overall, my favourite thing would be the team,” Greenland said.
“It’s been really fun so far and I’ve mostly just enjoyed building a relationship with my team.”
Bolton said his experience coaching has impacted the way he sees the game as a player, and he’d be keen to continue coaching next year – with Greenland by his side, of course.
“As a player you don’t see things coaches do,” Bolton said.
“Some things that can work you don’t see as a player, so coaching has really changed me as a player as well, looking around and seeing what can happen on the court.
“I would like to coach next year with Mojo still; if the opportunity arises it would be great to coach again next year because this year has been pretty fun.”
