State Academy coach praises Great Southern Storm program

WA State Academy coach Tony Micale has thrown his support behind the Great Southern Storm program after he and fellow academy coach Peter Sumich witnessed firsthand the local talent in a training session last Wednesday.

Micale and Sumich, both former AFL assistant coaches, were appointed coaches at the WA State Academy late last year and are in their first season of the new roles.

Sumich will coach the WA State 18s team as part of his role while Micale is the head coach of the WA State 16s.

The pair were in Albany to help upskill coaches from the Great Southern region as they ran a Great Southern storm training session.

During the training session the duo talked local coaches through a number of things including drills, training methods and identifying areas of improvement both in the team and individuals.

After the training session, Sumich and Micale then went through a presentation with specific drills, weekly planning and other coaching methods.

Micale praised the Great Southern Storm for their work in the region, saying the program was helping regional players’ transition to Perth smoother.

“It looks like a really good program here and seems to be working well,” he said.

“There is so much upside to these kids and look at the quality of their training.

“They don’t appear to be that far behind kids in the city so it’s working pretty well.”