Michael Beauchamp first became involved with AC United around 6 years ago, when his son joined to play U/5s. The reason why he chose AC, was mainly due to the fact that his neighbour Nick Stojcevski, AC United’s Technical Director who has been with the club for 16 years, spoke so highly of the club, and the family environment that it has, which was great for our kids to be a part of.
Michael’s first role within the club was when he coached his son's Under 8 boys team for a couple of years and this year, he put his hand up to coach his daughters Under 10 girls team, as her previous coach had to relocate for work.
AC United are very privileged to have Michael coach the Under 10 Ladies team, it's not often that we get to work with a coach that has represented Australia at the World Cup with iconic players such as Tim Cahill and also played at National and International level for teams such as 1FC Nürnberg in the Bundesliga and Western Sydney Wanderers in the A-League.
Michael said playing football before has certainly helped with his coaching sessions and he feels that he sees some things differently on the field. Michael said for anyone who is looking to be involved with coaching at a park football level, who doesn't feel comfortable to put there hand up as a volunteer, there are some grassroot coaching courses or even youtube/google have more than enough information on training sessions to build up enough confidence to take on a coaching role. AC has provided some fantastic coaching resources and has Coaching Coordinators available to help along the way.
Michael said, for the age he’s coaching, it's more about seeing the girls develop their confidence and love of the game, as well as the "want to win attitude", which can help them in other parts of life.
A good memory of Michael’s time so far at the club, was seeing the development of his sons team throughout the seasons, with the help of the other coach Leo, with regards to their confidence, as individuals and as a team, and he's already seeing that same improvement with his daughters team, even though the season had a rocky start.
Michael said like many of us the short answer, as to why he took on the coaching role, was due to the fact his daughter asked him to coach her as her previous coach moved on.
Michael mentioned that sometimes, it's hard to coach your own child, as they can find it difficult to see you as their coach, but at the end of the day, the game and life in general, is all about creating quality lasting memories with and for our kids.
Thank you Michael for the Volunteer role you play at AC United! We are very lucky to have you in the AC Community!
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