Albany treated to stack of soccer activities as part of the week-long Festival of Football

Soccer fever was well and truly in swing for the Great Southern Festival of Football in Albany last week with a stack of activities taking place across the week-long event.

The festival began on Monday with a club development workshop held at Albany Soccer Pavilion.

On Tuesday the first school clinics were held, including a visit to Mt Barker Community College, followed by a coach education MiniRoos course at the soccer pavilion.

On Wednesday a level-four referee course was held at the pavilion followed by a coach education skilled training course with part two of the referee course taking place on Thursday.

The four NPL clubs hosted a free open training session at Retravision Stadium on Friday with NTC and Glory preparing for their respective matches between 5pm and 6pm, while Sorrento and RedStar trained between 6pm and 7pm.

The Glory and NTC side invited three local players to join their training session with Polonia’s Harry Knowlson and Caledonians’ Oliver Trichilo both training with the Glory while Mt Barker’s Libby Morris pulled on the boots for a session with the NTC.

A representative scratch match was contested between a Great Southern Soccer Association under-23 squad and a senior squad before the NPL matches.

The Albany Junior Soccer Association also hosted a visit from Football West and Perth Glory representatives before the NPL matches kicked off on Saturday morning.