Spencer's new priorities

Late last year Matildas Assistant Coach Spencer Prior was announced as the new coach of the Young Matildas (Australia's U20 side).  Despite the talent in that age group, recent AFC campaigns have found the U20s struggle to qualify for the major tournament; the U20 FIFA World Cup.  


Prior taking Matildas pre-game warm up | TWG

This year Prior is intensely focused on achieving that recently illusive World Cup qualification.  We caught up with Prior to chat about the next stage in his coaching progression.  

First of all congratulations on your new appointment. Your first head coach position, did you ever imagine it would be with a junior women's team?

In all honesty, it's not something I've really thought about. Ultimately they are just footballers that are keen to develop. So whether male or female the approach will be the same. I've already been working with lots of these players in the Matildas.
 
The Young Matildas have been unable to qualify for the last three U20 WWCs, what are the challenges that face you in achieving that goal?

The challenge ahead is one that we're all really looking forward to. Having watched the last U20 Finals in Japan (2012), we can see how difficult it is to qualify through Asia with Japan, DPR Korea and South Korea all making the quarter finals.

That said we have a very good group to work with. I believe we now have more players that have experience of playing against Asian opposition and have a better understanding of the requirements needed to be successful.
 
What is the first area you will be looking to address?

[Our first] camp was really important to get to meet each other after our successful first NTC challenge which allowed us to identify some new faces that we haven't seen before. I also felt it important to outline the program for the year and how I will be looking to build things up ahead of the Asian Championships.

I was really pleased with how the camp went and we even had a run out against a strong Canberra team (which included 5 Young Matildas' players in their team).
 
It's a talented pool that are playing at multiple levels, how will you be addressing overload?

How fantastic that we are now talking about young female footballers getting overloads.  I obviously will have regular consultation with the players and their NTC coaches to keep on top of this. However with women's football now being an all year round program, I believe we are well and truly moving in the right direction.
 
What excites you most about this new position?

I think the link we now have between the Matildas and the U20s is something really exciting. This allows us to have continuity between the programs, so that when players move up to the seniors, they already have an understanding of what we look for both on, and off the pitch.

It's a different challenge for the players that have been in the Matildas, with different expectations put on their shoulders from people outside the program.

We must remember these are kids, that although they have broken into the senior squad, are still developing both as footballers and most importantly as young adults.

What are the short term and long term goals?

With the W League season finished, we will start our preparation for November 2, when the AFC U19's Women's Championships begin. The long term goals are to get through the Championships are take the Young Matildas to the U20 WWC in Canada 2014. We know it will be tough, but we will be ready.