Timmy Aitken – climbing the ranks in the
world of Elite Football coaching
with Matt “ Duck Man ” Austin
Lots of footballers dream of making it to the big time in Elite professional football . Not many make it . And even less people dream about entering the world of Elite Football coaching and make it .
Tim Aitken is not one of these coaches . Tim currently works in NSW Football League 1 as an assistant coach to the Bulls Academy FC squad who are competing in NSW Football League 1 . Tim has pedigree in this level as well , having previously played Super League Football with Mt Druitt Town Rangers which is the equivalent of NPL1 now . He also had a scholarship with Football Australia when he was younger .
Tim had some unfortunate health concerns in 2016 that helped kick start
Tim Aitken with the Invitation XI girls squad at nationals .
his career in coaching an Academy squad at Ropes Crossing FC in 2016 . He then he went to Blacktown Spartans and developed talented youth players U18s and eventually TD of SAP .
Paul Hubbard was the firsts grade coach at Spartans and taught Tim a lot . He also worked with Mile Sterjovski and Corey Babbington , another assistant coach , and learned from these coaches as he went along .
Mile Sterjovski immediately identified Tim ’ s talent and brough him in to work with him at Macarthur Bulls . He has been with the Bulls Academy since they started in October 2019 and was Mile ’ s assistant for four years . Tim also learnt a lot from another coach Zeljko Kalac , particularly about defending the final third . This is a big reason the Bulls Academy have the best defensive side in the league .
Tim is working with Football Australia TD of First Nations Football for Football Australia and is a proud Indigenous coach . He put together a team for U15s and 16s boys for the National Youth championships .
All the state TDs help select players . He took U15s FA Invitational XI girls to national youth championships , and they went to the quarter finals and made it to the penalty shoot outs . He travels all over the country and looks for the best talented young players in girls and boys .
Tim is an A Licence coach and is hoping to obtain his FIFA Pro Licence . He had a really positive experience with the Matildas playing against Colombia , Brazil , Spain , Costa Rica and New Zealand . They beat Colombia in the last match of the pool .
Tim has had exposure to the A League looking after players , and his role as an assistant in the academy includes session planning , tactics preparation , analysis of opponents and breaking the game down . He has a strong focus on having the best defensive side in the league . Tim breaks the play and sessions into phases on the field , looking at the field in thirds with clear information so that everybody knows their roles and can counter any attacking threats .
Tim has used the opportunity working with lots of good coaches to help form a football philosophy . There is a strong focus on technique and makes sure that players are technically correct . He likes to focus on empowering the players where they don ’ t dwell on mistakes but focus on individual meetings with players where they can improve .
He likes to encourage players to make decisions and have confidence in the team philosophy . He spent seven days with the Penrith Panthers , looking at how they deal
Tim Aitken overseeing a Bulls Academy training session .
with player errors and moving towards sticking to the team process to help develop his coaching education .
He learnt about mentality and how to bounce back from the loss and deal with it as well as surrounding themselves with family and friends . Tim looks at attributes for players like technique and awareness and attitude and work ethic to their profession . Consistency is a critical component of the success of a player .
Tim would like to end up with the head coaching role at Macarthur Bulls and long term , a move into an assistant coaching role in the A League .
Bendere Oboya – running her way to the Olympics
with Matt “ Duck Man ” Austin
Many sports people have unique stories . It is part of the make up and adds a dynamic mix of diversity , passion and love of sport that helps form the sense of purpose for athletes and how and why they can compete at elite levels .
Bendere Oboya has her own unique story , and it has helped form her athletic pathway which will see her compete in her second Olympic games in Paris . The 24-year-old was born in Gambella in Ethiopia . Her family moved to Australia when Bendere was only three after her father was a political prisoner . She fled the country for a new start with her parents and five siblings .
She grew up in Pendle Hill and began her athletic journey at an incredibly young age competing at Blacktown Little Athletics Club . On a school athletics trip to Canada at 16 Bendere developed a love for the sport .
She found herself a coach and started to train seriously which saw Bendere rise quickly through the ranks .
Credit : Athletics Australia .
She was selected for the 2017 Youth Commonwealth Games where she won the 400m gold medal . At the 2019 World Athletics Championships in the 400m she reached the semi-finals .
Bendere went through some changes and came under the tutelage of John Quinn who coaches at UTS northern Suburbs Athletics Club . He was a sprint coach to the Australian Olympic team in the Sydney Olympics . This credentialled fitness and highperformance coach worked with sporting organisations including Essendon Football Club and GWS Giants AFL Club . He was the Australian Fitness Coach for the international rules vs Ireland , Strength and Conditioning Coach in the Indian Cricket League 2009 and has been the GWS Giants Academy Director since 2015 .
In a nutshell , he knows his stuff and how to get people to run fast !
Bendere has twice been Australia ’ s
400m champion , in 2019 and 2021 , and was the Oceania 400m champion in 2019 . She was the only Australian sprinter to have run a qualifying time for Tokyo 2020 Olympics . In Canberra in March earlier this year , Bendere ran a three second personal best time of 1.59.01 for the 800m and became the fifth fastest Australian woman ever ; this earned her a Paris Olympics spot .
At the 2024 Australian Championships she finished third in an extremely competitive field with a time of 1.59.33 . In June this year , Bendere headed to Europe where she clocked a 2.02 and 2.00 in her opening races and smashed the Australian 600m best on record time of 1.25.5 ( previously held by Susan Andrews ) clocking 1.24.53 in Spain .
Only four days later she raced in Vienna and stunned the crowd with another massive personal best in the 800m with a time of 1.58.56 , defeating her training partner Claudia Hollingworth .
Running that time in the lead up
Bendere Oboya 2019 World Championships . Credit : Athletics Australia . to the Olympics sees Bendere ranked twentieth in the world in the 800m for the year but in career best form , and only sitting 18 hundredths of a second behind teammates Claudia Hollingsworth and Catriona Bissett .
With the hard training and determination that Bendere has put in her running with the help of her coach John Quinn and Australian middle distance running champion Craig Mottram by here side , there is every possibility that we will see Bendere Oboya run more personal best times and be up there competing for Olympic glory and more Australian records at the Paris Olympics .
THE HILLS INDEPENDENT theindependentmagazine . com . au ISSUE 110 // AUGUST 2024 29