Essendon Royals thriving in Community Premier League
Essendon Royals have made a splash in the Community Premier League competition in 2024.
The new competition commenced in 2024, with Essendon Royals as one of 12 clubs entered into the league.
This Football Victoria competition provides a space for aspiring Junior Girls NPL clubs to compete in an environment that provides a higher level of competition than the Community Kanga competitions, and allows clubs like Essendon Royals who have a senior NPLW program to provide a greater level of development for their junior girls.
The Royals are currently leading the Under-13 and Under-15 leagues, and our Under-17 side sits in a very respectable fifth, with the program fostering a new generation of Royals women talent for our Under-20 and senior NPLW sides.
Royals Under-17 CPL coach Adam Cimino has been coaching at the club for two years and says he has enjoyed the challenge of taking what was supposed to be an under-16 team into the under-17 CPL environment.
“It was a bit of a surprise that the team I was coaching was in the CPL environment because the club just got granted access to that league this year. I was originally coaching a group of under-16 girls, so to have that team sort of play up into a division and an age group was pretty exciting. I was also able to sort of test their capabilities and help them in their next stages of football development,” Cimino said.
“It’s been an exciting season to date. We were fourth at the halfway mark with some pretty good results. The top four or the three ahead of us are powerful teams. They’ve probably been developed a lot better than my particular team, but we’ve put in some really strong performances across the group. We’ve been on a good run of four or five wins in a row and made the first half of the season pretty successful.
“We’re hoping to continue that again in the second half of the season. The girls are having a ball, and I enjoy the team. The aim is to develop a little bit every week, and that’s pretty much how we develop week by week.”
The program was recently boosted by the wonderful support of Cinch Skin, which sponsored the acquisition of a new Veo 3 camera dedicated to our CPL program.
Adam expressed his gratitude to Cinch on behalf of his fellow CPL coaches and their players, describing the addition to the program as a real eye-opener.
“First of all, the coaches were super grateful to have the ability to record the games week in and week out,” he said.
“The Under-13s set it up at the start of the game, we record all the games and then we pack it up, upload everything and hand it back to the 13s during the week, so it’s another good example of all the coaches and squads working together.
“For my squad in particular, visually being able to show players and the team certain parts of the game has been an eye opener in the first 3-4 weeks we’ve been recording, they’ve never had the opportunity to watch themselves play so week in week out come Sunday night or Monday morning, I send the link out to the whole team, the response from the back has been extraordinary, they love going back and watching the setup.
“As part of the weekly training schedule, I extend my Friday session to include 30 minutes of game review. I’ll pick a theme, and we’re able to at least discuss and visualise some things for next week’s development.
“It has been overwhelmed by the fact that we have the opportunity to use it and the acceptance and willingness to review that within the group as well.”
Cimino says his team and all the girls in the CPL program have been inspired by the success of the senior women. They are in the midst of a historic NPLW campaign for the club, following back-to-back promotions and a title-winning VPLW campaign last season.
“I think even last year, when the women wrapped up the VPL, it was a bit of an eye-opener for them. They’ve got some great female players to look up to and sort of see week in and week out when they play at the club. NPL has probably propelled that even more, and we’ve got the Under-20’s NPL as well, with whom we are pretty close as a team.
“We have a couple of the Under 20s come into our team and play with us on weekends. And so the exposure our girls get to that NPL environment is he is really good, and it happens regularly. So I think this year is a little bit more of a it’s a development year for them still. I’ve got a lot of players who aren’t even really turning 17 to some degree. I’ve just had a girl turn 13, and she’s playing in the Under 17s.
“We still sort of look at it as a development year for them, but we are also close enough to the NPL women’s actions to be able to get that week-in, week-out access to the game, and even when we train on Friday nights at Cross Keys, we can see them face to face.”
Cimino – who played Victorian Premier League football himself with Green Gully where he made 45 league appearances between 1995 and 1997 – is one of a crop of coaches who are all pulling in the same direction in doing everything they can to prepare their players for the year ahead.
“Our CPL group has good relationships between all the coaches in the 13, 15s and 17s. But also in those tiers, especially for my team just above it, the (Community) Under 18s, even though they’re not NPL, we’re still pretty close to those teams,” he said.
“Even though the CPL is supposed to be a better competition, we still look at it as a stepping stone to playing under 18s or even in the Royals’ State League 3 side, to some degree.
“We talk quite regularly among all the coaches. We know what’s happening in each of the teams. I think that good communication among all the coaches allows us to prepare better for situations week in and week out where we have players coming in from other teams, players moving up, and players developing from within teams.
“I’ve had 12 under-15 girls from the under-15s play for us this year, which is good because we’re able to foster the development of the youth across the age groups.”
Cimino says he’s enjoyed the challenge of transitioning from coaching in the male game to the female game.
“As far as coaching goes, I started coaching at Avondale with the Miniroos boys and then moved back to Green Gully with the Miniroos,” he said.
“Before actually switching to women’s football, I had the opportunity with my middle child to help her team out a few years back, and I enjoyed it.
“I think the difference between female and male footballers from a technical perspective is very big, though. However, females’ attitudes towards the game are a lot more positive. They enjoy it, they focus more, and are more open to learning.
“So, after coaching, my daughter came to the Royals. I’m in my second year here. I got my C license. Hopefully, I can continue my coaching journey into the NPL if we get it next year through the junior ranks.
“But I think my focus for the time being is within that 13-to-17-year range because I think that’s the most growth and development you see. I’m happy where I am. The club is great to me; it’s a great community environment.”