The Club would like to thank Coach Rick Larson for his three week guest appointment to take charge of the U11 Kangaroos. Rick contacted the Club a couple of months ago to seek involvement and was generous enough to take the players while regular coach Dave Bennett attended a family wedding in the UK through the second half of February. Rick signed-off with the players in impressive style guiding them to an 8 - 2 thrashing of Ashburton last Sunday at the Darebin International Sports Centre. His assessment is that Australian kids are very skilful and technical for such a young age and he is learning much about our sports culture to take back to the USA.

Rick is Head Coach of Men's Soccer at Schoolcraft College in Michigan. He is currently on study leave based in Melbourne and is actively recruiting up to 4 international players (18 to 24) to take back to the USA on a sports scholarship. He has been in discussions with coaches of the FFV and Victorian Institute of Sport and attended the A league Grand Final to watch Melbourne Victory's historic win. Although Rick has attained the North American Soccer Confederation 'A' Licence, Rick will next head to Canberra to participate in the new Asian Confederation 'B' licence course to continue knowledge building and networking.

Rick will be around at various Victorian Premier League and U21 Reserve games to continue scouting over the next couple of months. We thank Rick for his valuable contribution to our U11s and wish him the best of luck into the future with his career.