SOCCER
STATE 4 club Mentone has the youngest senior coach in local soccer circles after the recent appointment of 32-year-old Matias Cantavenera. He has been part of the Panthers’ senior squad since leaving Chelsea at the end of the 2019 season but the midfielder is unlikely to be playing coach next season. “I might play in the thirds but I can’t see myself playing in the seniors or reserves,” Cantavenera said.
But that’s furthest from his mind right now as he embraces the excitement at tackling his first senior coaching post.
“When Jason (Grieve) said he was leaving I felt this was a great time for me to take my first senior gig. “I applied for the job and got it which I’m really thrilled about and I had great backing from the players which helped me hugely in getting the job. “Everyone’s really excited for me, everyone’s really pumped.”
The players not only knew Cantavenera as a teammate but also as a coach. Midway through last season Grieve spent seven weeks in his native Scotland for family reasons and Cantavenera filled the breach. “I had a really good time doing it, I got on really well with the players and we had some really good results.”
Cantavenera was born in Argentina and came to Australia when he was 10. Football was in his blood given the sport’s status in South America and he progressed from the juniors at Chelsea through to senior ranks. A friendship prompted his switch to Mentone after the 2019 season and as he got older he moved back to a central defensive role.
“I think you get to observe more than if you were playing in midfield which is more all action. “I’ve played against pretty much all the teams that are in our division and coached against many of them so I’ve got a really good handle on what State 4 is all about. “More importantly I’ve got a good idea of what our players are about and how to get the best out of them.”
Cantavenera has also coached at junior boys NPL level as an assistant to Caleb Vaughan at Dandenong City and he has signed up his friend as his assistant. “I wanted Caleb because he’s probably the person who knows more about football than anyone I’ve ever met. “He’s done the equivalent of his C (coaching) licence and B licence in England and he’s taken coaching seriously for a while now. “As soon as I even thought about going for this job there was no-one else I wanted to do it with me.”
Cantavenera’s father Claudio will combine the roles of strength and conditioning and goalkeeping coach while the reserves coaching staff is yet to be appointed. As for the senior squad few changes are expected. “I want to keep all of the players to be honest. “They are all good players and we have a great keeper which is so important. We’re a good club. The people here are good to be around and there’s no negativity on the social side of things which is important for the playing environment.”
Cantavenera has targeted a couple of new signings as he’s keen to add to the depth of his squad. “I’d like to strengthen at centre back and we need more depth in goalkeeping. “There’s obviously some really good players around and if we can grab one or two that would be great.”
It’s commonplace for new coaches to set firm goals for their team and if pressed about the upcoming season the word “promotion” usually features in their response. Not so with Cantavenera. He may be young in coaching terms but he’s canny enough to avoid setting himself and his players up for failure.
“I don’t want to set any targets yet simply because it’s better not to have a large target on your back. “You can end up putting too much pressure on yourself if you fail to reach your targets early on in the season and suddenly you can find yourself in a very negative space. “That’s when things become difficult. “All I will say is that we definitely need to work on our fitness and if we can play the kind of football that works for us and everyone has a good understanding of their roles then we’ll have a team that’s capable of doing some good things in State 4.”
In other news a number of local clubs have held their annual presentation nights as the awards season gets into full swing. Chelsea’s presentation night was held at Rossdale Golf Club on Saturday and senior men’s Player of the Year was Dylan Scott with Jarrah Clear runner-up. Scott and Luke D’Alessandro shared the Players’ Player award and the Golden Boot winner was James Stinson who scored 17 goals in 12 games. The reserves Player of the Year was Mitch Hammon with Liam Pavlov runner-up. Hammon also snared Golden Boot honours while Will Patrick won the reserves Players’ Player award.
Chelsea’s Coach of the Year award was won by former senior player Will Ong who guided the club’s State 4 women’s team to promotion. The women’s Player of the Year was Matilda Blyth and the Players’ Player award went to Makayla Bader. The Young Player of the Year was Sophie Jackson.
Skye United held its presentation night at Southern Golf Club recently and here is a list of the many award winners acknowledged on the night:
2024 John Ramsden Men’s Player of the Year Travis Mitchell, 2024 Laa Chol Women’s Player of the Year Abby Johnston, Senior Men’s Best and Fairest Marcus Collier, Senior Men’s Best and Fairest Runners-Up Emmanuel Scarlett and Benjamin Lund, Senior Men’s Player’s Player Marcus Collier, Senior Men’s Player’s Player Runner-up Emmanuel Scarlett, Senior Men’s Golden Boot Marcus Collier, Reserve Men’s Best and Fairest Liam Attard, Reserve Men’s Best and Fairest Runner-up Callum Hope, Reserve Men’s Player’s Player Sebastian Stevens, Reserve Men’s Player’s Player Runner-up Joseph Martin, Reserve Men’s Golden Boot Sebastian Stevens, State 2 Women’s Best and Fairest Chiara Ferra, State 2 Women’s Player’s Player Abby Johnston, State 2 Women’s Player’s Player Runner-up Jasmine Jaber, State 2 Women’s Golden Boot Jasmine Jaber, State 4 Women’s Best and Fairest Ta-Ley Robinson, State 4 Women’s Player’s Player Sophie Clarke, State 4 Women’s Player’s Player Runner-up Amba Tennant, State 4 Women’s Golden Boot Sultana Salihee, Metro 7 Best and Fairest Craig Nielsen, Metro 7 Best and Fairest Runner-up Josh Gribling, Metro 7 Golden Boot Danny Welsh, Over 35s Best and Fairest Michael Putson, Over 35s Best and Fairest Runner-up Stuart Putson and Over 35s Golden Boot Michael Putson.
Here is the list of award winners at the recent Somerville Eagles presentation night held at Functions by the Bay:
Senior Men’s Best and Fairest Conor Mcfall, Players’ Player Nick Simmons, Coach’s Award Tom Hennessy, Reserves Best and Fairest Sam Beadle, Players’ Player Max Watson, Coach’s Award Conor Phillips, Senior Women’s Best and Fairest Verenise Sookun, Players’ Player Tay Culwick, Coach’s Award Jen Camilleri, Thirds Best and Fairest Cameron Dingley, Players’ Player Devlin Lee, Coach’s Award Caleb Anderson, Fourths Best and Fairest Lachie Ashton, Players’ Player Guil Ribeiro, Coach’s Award Flynn Smallacombe.
Somerville also had a number of club awards announced on the night:
Golden Boot Max Watson (25 goals), Best U21 Coby Vowels, Most Improved Male Josh Simmons, Most Improved Female Jessica Postema, President’s Award Caleb Anderson, Best Club Person Haley Wilson, Life Membership Craig Bozelle.
Mount Martha held its presentation night at the Mornington Civic Bowls Club last weekend and the award winners were:
Senior men’s Best and Fairest Daniel Bancroft, senior women’s Best and Fairest Kirra Greenwood, reserves men’s Best and Fairest Tyrone Pennet, senior men’s Players’ Player Daniel Bancroft, senior women’s Players’ Player Meredith Read, reserves men’s Players’ Player Dylan Elliot, senior men’s Coach’s Award Davey Jones, senior women’s Coach’s Award Libby Aylett, reserves men’s Coach’s Award Max Counsel.
First published in the Frankston Times – 15 October 2024
