The National Football Camp grew by over 100% after its first year. Now the camp is gearing up for its third run and event organisers say it’s a year of consolidation on 2018 growth. The event, run by the NIAS is an inclusive soccer camp assisted by Brian McCarthy, the head of Newington College’s football program in Sydney. 

McCarthy has an extensive history at the top level of football with 12 years of top international football involvement at four European Championships, three World Cups, and the 2012 Euro Finals with the Irish national team. 

McCarthy is bringing six of his fellow coaches from Newington to assist with the camp. They will be splitting up the duties and working alongside our high-performance SAP coaches from the Northern Inland who will also be assisting.

The NFC runs from January 20 to the 23^rd. Accommodation options are on offer at the St Alberts College for the Under 11-17 athletes and the camp will be run at Sport UNE. 

The camp has opened the age groups and in 2019 they are offering a junior option. U5-10 football athletes can join the camp from 9am to 3pm for specialised training session and game-based activities to help them improve and develop. The is in addition to the pre-existing U11-17 age groups.

“The unique point of difference that the NFC offers is that being inclusive, anyone from around Australia can join us and develop their skills and love for football under a coach with international experience at the highest level, the FIFA World Cup,” NIAS CEO James Cooper said.

Brian McCarthy will again be holding a “Coaches Clinic” on the Saturday evening before the camp. This is an open event for any football coaches that are interested in learning from his in-depth experience. For any coaches that are interested in participating in this clinic please contact the NIAS office on (02) 6766-2526 or James.Cooper@NIAS.org.au

For more information on the camp, go to- www.NIAS.org.au and click on the National Football Camp tab.

A big week for the NIAS “Inverell RSM” AFL program. Kicked off with an Umpires course, implemented by AFL NSW/ACT. It was the first of its kind and developed 35 new level 1 accredited umpires for the Northern Inland. A lot of the male athletes will this weekend be training with the “Northern Heat” a combined squad from AFL North Coast, AFL North West NSW, and AFL Northern Rivers. This training session will include fitness testing tailored to AFL run by Matt Pine (Former Sydney Swans strength and condition coach) as well as including match play.