Vale Duncan George Summers (25.08.1939 - 17.01.2021)

The death occurred in Hobart on Sunday of one of Tasmania’s most prominent former coaches, Duncan George Summers, who was 81.

An Englishman, Summers arrived in Tasmania in the early 1960s when teachers were being recruited from the UK by the Education Department.

He taught biological science at Claremont High School and Taroona High School as well as other schools in Tasmania.

Summers also coached soccer teams at the schools where he taught.

He played for Hobart Rangers but retired after cartilage surgery in the late 1960s and turned to coaching.

He coached Hobart Juventus and Olympia at senior level.

His spell at Olympia in 1971 was very brief and he was replaced by John Margaritis.

Summers, who was intensely interested in coach education, was the president of the Tasmanian Soccer Coaches’ Federation from the late 1960s until the mid-1970s and ran regular coach qualification courses each season in Tasmania.

He represented Tasmania at seminars conducted by the Australian Soccer Coaches’ Federation in Sydney.

He returned to England for a study tour, where he was a guest of Liverpool and Preston North End, and he was impressed by the training facilities at both clubs.  He also noted that both clubs had numerous coaches under the manager and brought in specialists for physical conditioning.

The zenith of his coaching career came in 1971 when he was appointed coach of Tasmania for the game against an English FA XI.

Tasmania lost 8-0, but Summers insisted on Tasmania playing adventurous, attacking football.  Fitness told in the end, however, and Tasmania’s amateurs were overrun by their professional opponents.

The game was at North Hobart on Wednesday, 9 June 1971, and despite it being a working day, the attendance was 4,500.

Summers is survived by his wife, Judy, son Douglas, and five grandchildren.

 

I almost walked alone to watch this movie, and other news snippets

Photo:  Liverpool FC before the game against Sydney FC on 24 May 2017 [PlessPix]
I had the pleasure of watching a documentary about Liverpool FC at Village Cinemas in Hobart on Sunday afternoon.

“The End of The Storm” documents Liverpool’s EPL triumph in 2019-20.

It was their first EPL title and the first league title the club has won in 30 years.

I thoroughly enjoyed it and was disappointed there was only one screening in Hobart and that it was not widely advertised.

Apparently, a local Liverpool FC supporters’ club arranged for the screening in Hobart.

There were only about eight people in attendance, but there are, of course, hundreds of Liverpool supporters in Hobart and I imagine they’ll get to watch the film at some time in another way.

Jurgen Klopp is at the heart of the film and interviews with him feature prominently in the movie.

It also features interviews with Liverpool fans in other countries, including Brazil, India, Japan, China and America.

Photo:  40,000 showed up in Sydney to watch the Reds [PlessPix]
 

Several players are interviewed at length and the movie documents how Liverpool’s aspirations were almost dealt a mortal blow by the Covid pandemic.

There’s nothing like watching football on the big screen and this movie is a perfect example of this.

Training sessions are shown and the physical fitness and athleticism of the squad is evident.  The players are lean machines and there is no sign of surplus kilos on any of them.

It was a great way to spend a couple of hours on a hot Sunday summer afternoon and it was a pity that the event was not more widely advertised.

It reminded me of the movies about Maradona and Bert Trautmann, which screened at the State Theatre some months ago and which, sadly, did not attract large audiences despite the fact the Covid pandemic had not struck here yet.

*****

New Town White Eagles will have a women’s team in the Women’s Southern Championship next season.

Shane Revell has been appointed coach and he is excited at the prospect.

There will be a ‘meet and greet’ event at 6pm at the Polish Club on Wednesday, when prospective players can meet and find out about the plans for 2021.

Pre-season training will start on Tuesday, 19 January 2021.

Revell said:  “It’s a new and exciting challenge for me and I am looking forward to it.”

*****

I wrote recently about Eli Luttmer joining Glenorchy Knights for the 2021 NPL Tasmania season.

Olympia Warriors’ Nick Mearns and Adam Gorrie have also joined Knights.

It looks as if Knights will have an abundance of riches in their playing squad and coach James Sherman’s biggest challenge could be to keep all the players happy.

Knights had a very strong squad last season when they finished second, but with the latest additions it’s going to somewhat hard to keep everyone happy by giving them game time.

I have also heard whispers that Olympia’s Ben Hamlett and Loic Feral may be heading back to their former club, South Hobart.

 

 

Romilton Amaral Rosa to take the reins at Beachside

Photo:  Romilton Amaral Rosa at the appropriately nicknamed Beachside ground of The Tropicana.

Romilton Amaral Rosa, who hails from Brazil, has been appointed coach of Southern Championship club, Beachside.

He has played and coached in Tasmania for a decade or more.

He has been away in Africa for several years and now that he has returned to Tasmania he is looking forward to the challenge of coaching Beachside. 

I spoke to Romilton about his background and the new challenge he faces.

1.   Which clubs have you played for?

I played in a local team called Estudante in my hometown in Brazil and other representative teams. I stopped playing when I was 26 years old. Later on, when I came to Tasmania I decided to play in the old Division One with South Hobart, Hobart Wanderers as well as Howrah and Hobart United. 

2.   Which clubs have you coached?

Youth teams at South Hobart and Glenorchy Knights. Then I spent a couple of years in Brazil, where I coached Estudante and Monte Formoso. I returned to Tasmania and my last experience was for 3 years with the seniors team at University. 

3.   Have you won any trophies as a player, and as a coach?

As player I won the local Brazil Independence Tournament, which was a big honour, and a couple championships. I still keep some nice pics of this era in my Facebook.  As coach, I won two championships and two cups in a row with University. 

4.   Why are you coming back to coaching?

I love football. As I cannot play anymore, the most logical thing is to work to develop players who can resemble you.  A player who can do in the field the things that you used to do. I’m always keen to see someone coming through the ranks being able to replicate that. This is my inspiration and the reason why I always go back to coaching. 

5.   What will your coaching philosophy be?

I like an attacking style of football. My source of inspiration are the Brazil teams of '92 and '96, along with the Arsenal of Henry and Bergkamp.

6.   What do you hope to achieve at Beachside?

Beachside is a 45-year-old club with the ambition to play in the NPL, which I believe is possible. We can work towards narrowing the gap and get ourselves into a position where we can compete with the NPL teams on an equal footing.  As a former University coach, I have memories of beating Launceston City once and Knights twice. We had two close games with Kingborough. On top of that, we had an epic final draw, going to 122 minutes extra time with Olympia (who were the top-league champions of that year) with four goals each.  Therefore, if Beachside is keen to recreate these conditions, I have no doubt that we will reach these goals and my hope is to be part of this history.

7.   Why did you choose to go to a second-tier side?

I think that I have accumulated enough experience to be able to coach an NPL club, but to be in that role isn’t only dependent upon me. By being away from the field for a few years, it is not easy for clubs to have confidence in someone who has never done the job on that level before. I have been through all the coaching courses which have been administered in Tasmania. As I am more interested in competition (performance) rather than development for its own sake, I am no longer prepared to coach NPL youth teams. Given this situation, I would like to take a championship team and, together with them, make a way to reach the NPL level. 

8.   How do you rate Tasmanian football at present?

I just spent four years doing volunteer work in Senegal, Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa. It is difficult to compare clubs and leagues in different states or countries. For me, the important thing is to see the progress that Tasmanian Football has gone through. Despite our issues, we have seen some breakthroughs of the Tasmanian clubs over those on the Mainland and as evidence of the quality of our players, more and more of them are going to there for trials. Also, women’s football has gone to another level altogether. They are playing an entertaining and beautiful style of football. Also, I watched a schools competition this week and I could see the kids doing some very complex combination play. The teams were very well structured, and listening to their coach’s instructions and language. It showed to me it was all sound football. So, I think this is what really counts and we are definitely moving in the right direction.