Sydney FC has increased its commitment to connecting with the grassroots football Community by appointing former A-League player Paul Reid as the Sky Blues’ second Community Football Officer.
Sydney FC has increased its commitment to connecting with the grassroots football Community by appointing former A-League player Paul Reid as the Sky Blues- second Community Football Officer.
Sydney FC spent more than 1,000 hours at Community visits during the 2012/13 season and the appointment of Reid signals the Sky Blues intention to further increase that presence.
Reid will join existing Sydney FC Community Officer Daniel Barrett in spearheading the connection with the Sydney football Community, joining Sydney FC-s A-League and W-League players at visits to junior clubs, schools and Community events.
Reid hit the ground running, attending community visits in his first week as well as playing a significant role in Sydney FC-s adidas Grassroots and High Performance Talent ID Clinics this week.
“I-m really enjoying being here as a Community Football Officer,” Reid said. “Every club I-ve been to throughout my career I-ve been actively involved in their Community Program so I really enjoy going out and teaching kids and going to clubs and schools.
“I-ve been a past player so hopefully that experience can help improve the Community Program. I know Sydney FC, and I think they have the best run Community Program in the A-League and I-d like to expand that and be involved in that.
“I-m a radiographer by trade but these opportunities don-t come up very often, so I thought I-d take it. I can always go back to radiography but hopefully I can be in this role for a very long time.”
Reid-s appointment is a significant boost to the Sydney FC Community Program but it is also in line with the recent commitment by the Football Federation Australia (FFA) and Professional Footballers Association (PFA) to offer players a career pathway after football.
“The Sydney FC Community Program is a crucial part of our fan engagement and the arrival of Paul Reid shows we are serious in putting extra resources into the program at grassroots level,” said Sydney FC CEO Toy Pignata.
“We now have two full time Development Officers working with the A-League and W-League players to take Sydney FC, the A-League and W-League to the grassroots community.
“Paul-s role is also a good illustration of the career pathways for elite football players when they bring down the curtain on the A-League career.”
Sydney FC has also employed a Community and Membership Assistant to run the Community Program administration allowing Reid and Barrett to spend more time with the Sydney FC players at Community visits.
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