Central Coast United and Terrigal United F.C have joined together to allow more Central Coast players the opportunity to play at the highest level, linking the pathway between community football and the representative level. The partnership will begin with friendly matches set for November 5th at Pluim Park (Age groups U13-U16)
Central Coast United is unable to gain visibility to the community level footballer as they cannot watch every game in all age groups across the coast. Developing partnerships with community-based clubs will broaden their visibility to the local footballer who may have the potential to play in the Football New South Wales, National Premier League competitions.
Central Coast United now have a unique opportunity to provide local players with a pathway right the way through to the professional level. With CCU and Central Coast Mariners collaborating, a child can come from local football enter CCU, and then progress to the elite level of an A-League Academy.
By partnering with Terrigal United F.C, CCU would like to build the same relationship with all Central Coast local community clubs.
General Manager Matthew Crowell on the partnership: "We are delighted to partner with Terrigal United FC When they reached out and said they wanted to help and support the pathway, I was thrilled, as this is what I've wanted for a long time. In my eyes, we would like to form these relationships with all the local clubs on the Central Coast and would welcome the conversations. We are not here to compete with them, we are here to work with them and give every single aspiring child or adult a chance to play representative football. It is very difficult for us to get to the local games, so having partners that can help us identify more players is a huge benefit for us as a football club. Terrigal has a superb youth program that is run by Richard Ellis and Troy Pegler and by working with us, hopefully, it can help their program become even better."
Technical Director Richard Ellis added: "The partnership between Terrigal United and Central Coast United is a very exciting initiative. This union will ultimately be beneficial for players of all abilities on the Central Coast, including those who aspire to play football at the highest level. Through CCU's collaboration with the Central Coast Mariners, this link provides a clearer pathway and player development continuum, while also ensuring that our grassroots players have access to facilities and higher standards of coaching. We look forward to working with Matthew Crowell and his team, to ensure our junior football players continue to develop and enjoy the Beautiful Game."