November 8th, 2023Pitch perfect..

Words: Kevin Childs | Image: Kyle Barnes

When it comes to playing soccer, many children learn bad habits. Lee Stevens wants to put them right. At 38, this Coomoora resident with two young children understands how some parents may struggle to coach their offspring.
He has set up a part-time soccer academy for youngsters in Daylesford and is pleased with the enthusiasm he has encountered, even though it only began two weeks before the latest school term.
The soccer season ends in August, leaving kids with nothing to do until February.
“That is where I come in. Parents are keen for their kids to be active and not in front of screens or on phones.”
When we talked, he has had five coaching sessions involving more than 100 children in the holidays, with local coaches helping, for which he’s grateful.
Next month it will be the turn of “little kickers” aged four to seven. Term four sees sessions for under eights and under 12s.
Otherwise, he says, his coaching is about structure and keeping it basic. When it comes to his academy, however, his passion bubbles over.
“Every child has a ball: there’s no waiting and no queuing. Make it fun and they listen. They learn and develop and, who knows, they might take it further.”
Lee runs birthday parties as well, with 90 minutes of entertainment and refreshments. A fair way from playing in front of 60,000 fans at Wembley Stadium.
His soccer story is one that possibly many from his home town of Swindon in England could but dream of. He began playing for Southampton before being chosen for England Youth, playing mostly mid-field and in defence. A scholarship took him to South Carolina, USA.
All the while he was coaching, having started at 16. “That was generally young to
start,” he says, “but I had a passion for it and wanted to give it a go. It essentially kept me involved in the game all year long.”
California drew Lee seven years later to continue coaching for Ventura CountyFusion Soccer Club, which plays in the Professional Development League, before moving to Melbourne in 2015. His Wembley Stadium game was for the FA Vase, competed for by 600 teams in the lower ranks of the English football league.
Away from the game he started working in recruitment and in 2020 launched his own Melbourne firm, Vivid Recruitment, specialising in architecture, engineering and construction.
And how does he get youngsters interested? Lee says marketing is involved and it’s important to get parents interested. “They need to see the benefits. Most of the children have mentioned it to friends (word of mouth) because they had lots of fun. Also my experience is unique for the area and this has a lot of weight.
“Generally if you keep it fun and light hearted, they are good as gold.”
His group sessions last 60 minutes and one-on-one is 45 minutes. “They’re varied sessions, but always structured with a warm up, ball skills, fun games and then small-sided games. Essentially we coach soccer fundamentals because it’s really lacking in the area and at grassroots. You are unable to progress in your game if you cannot control or pass a ball.”
Lee is also doing tailored coaching in the junior section of the national premier league. “It was meant to be small, but has taken off, which is not a bad thing.”
When he’s not coaching he straps on his gear for Daylesford Seniors, for whom he’s “scored some goals”.
Now he slips into his boots, while wearing the academy jersey, complete with ad logo (“The kids will eventually get them”). He readies training equipment. Next up is a 12-year-old, keen for a one-on-one session to sharpen his game.