Wednesday, 20 April 2011

Meet a Little Kicker...

Name -
Jake & Zack (brothers)

Age -
Jake : 4
Zack : 2
Venues of Little Kickers around the world attended -
Gold Coast Southport
How long have you been coming to Little Kickers?
Jake : 6 months
Zack : 3 months
What is your favourite Little Kickers game?
Jake : Everything we play
Zack : Free time to kick around with my friends



What do you like best about Little Kickers?
Jake : Goal kicking
Zack : Goal kicking

What do you want to be when you grow up?
Jake : Paleontologists (dinosaurs)
Zack : Accountant or Lawyer

What's your favourite healthy food?
Jake : Carrots
Zack : Watermelon

Who is your favourite coach?
Jake : Coach Amanda (Southport)
Zack : Coach Amanda (Southport)

What do you love?
Jake : My Mum & Dad, my brother Zack & Bella (my dog)
Zack : My brother Jake

Monday, 11 April 2011

Meet a Little Kicker...

Name -
Summer
Age -
Nearly 3
Venues of Little Kickers around the world attended -
Gold Coast Southport & Burleigh
How long have you been coming to Little Kickers?
6 months
What is your favourite Little Kickers game?
Kicking goals

What do you like best about Little Kickers?
My new runners

What do you want to be when you grow up?
A good girl

What's your favourite healthy food?
Watermelon

Who is your favourite coach?
Coach Colin (Burleigh)

What do you love?
Riding my scooter and mollies (lollies)

Thursday, 7 April 2011

Meet a Little Kicker...

Rhyder attended Junior Kickers in the UK from early 2007 to the end of 2008. He then moved up to Mighty Kickers in the UK from 2008 to 2010. He then moved to Australia and continued on with Mighty Kickers from September to November. Now he is looking forward to doing Mega Kickers from the end of April 2011 in Southport.
Name -
Rhyder

Age -
5

Venues of Little Kickers around the world attended -
St Albans Hertfordshire UK, Gold Coast Australia Southport & Pacific Pines

How long have you been coming to Little Kickers?
Since I was 2. I did Junior Kickers & Mighty Kickers in St Albans England with Coach Peter, Coach Jamie & Coach Elder and my friends Sam (picture above) & Joel. Then when we moved to Australia I did Mighty Kickers with Coach Amanda and Coach Daddy.

What is your favourite Little Kickers game?
The pirate treasure that Coach Daddy plays

What do you like best about Little Kickers?
Doing drop kicks & learning with my friends

What do you want to be when you grow up?
A football player (soccer) for Australia!

What’s your favourite healthy food?
Grapes

Who is your favourite coach?
Coach Daddy (Coach Brad at Pacific Pines)

What do you love?
My mummy, kit kats, chocolate & cup cakes!

Tuesday, 5 April 2011

Meet our Pacific Pines coaches!

Want to know more about our coaches at the Pacific Pines venue? Then do read on...

We asked Coach Brad, who is the owner and also the lead coach at Pacific Pines, to tell us a little story about himself and Little Kickers. Here's what Brad had to say -

"After taking my son Rhyder along to Little Kickers each weekend in the UK for two & a half years, I saw how much he and his friends enjoyed it and how their skills not only with the football but social & gross motor skills also developed. I could see that Little Kickers was a well run, professional company that really cared about that safety and enjoyment of their students.

Abbey had just given birth to our daughter Kalaih, and as Rhyder was now nearing school age we both decided it was time to move back home to the Gold Coast. After enquiring with Little Kickers Australia about starting a new franchise on the Gold Coast, we thought it was a great opportunity to provide the same positive experience to kids at home on the coast that we had received in the UK.

Since starting Little Kickers last year I never realised just how much I would enjoy being a coach. Seeing the children light up each Saturday morning as they walk in the hall in their Little Kickers uniforms and jumping for joy with a high five when they score a goal is awesome. I love watching the children develop each week and how their parents are so proud of what they are achieving.

Every week is different and no child is the same which can be a challenge some times, but I would not change it for anything. I have never had so much fun in my life!"

Kicking along, right beside Coach Brad, is Coach Ellen, our assistant coach at Pacific Pines. Here's what Ellen told us -

"Hello, my name is Ellen Cowie a.k.a Coach Ellen. I am 22 years old and have only been living on the Gold Coast for 7 months. I moved away from my family in Coffs Harbour last August and now live in Southport with 3 other girls. We all get along well and have lots of fun together. I have just completed a Bachelor of Education Degree (Primary) and I have also just returned from teaching English in a University in Thailand, which was one of the most amazing experiences of my life to date. I've played soccer for about 15 years, as well as doing bits of coaching and refereeing. I love soccer!

Since October, 2010, my Saturday mornings have been consumed by Little Kickers and I wouldn’t have it any other way! Just a few reasons why I love coaching Little Kickers include:
- The kids are gorgeous, so much fun, enthusiastic and they all have their own quirks and personalities.
- It is so rewarding to watch the kids grow and develop their skills. Over the last couple of months I’ve noticed the children’s listening skills, communication skills, social skills, soccer skills, basic motor skills and self-control have improved so much! It’s also heart-warming to see how much their self-confidence has increased and to watch the friendships that have been built and strengthened.
- Every week is different! Some weeks are smooth sailing, other weeks are challenging. The things that the kids say and do some weeks bring a smile to my face and make me laugh. I always arrive back at home with good stories to share. I’m always learning new things, never am I bored or uninterested and never do I know what I’m in for!

Little Kickers is such a great organisation and I’m so happy to be working for and with such wonderful people, parents and children. I just hope that everyone gets as much out of my presence as I do from theirs."

If you would like to have your first free trial lesson, or enrol your little kicker into one of our Pacific Pines classes, class times are :

Junior Kickers - 8am & 10am
Mighty Kickers - 9am & 11am

Contact Abbey at goldcoast@littlekickers.com.au.

Thursday, 31 March 2011

Launching Mega Kickers - 5 years to 7th birthday

Great news... there is now no need to leave Little Kickers at age 5! We are launching 'Mega Kickers' on the Gold Coast from this Saturday, 30th April 2011, at our Southport venue.

Mega Kickers will take place outside (weather permitting) and is for 5 – 7 year olds. We will be refining their skills and will be teaching them the game of soccer. This class will be at 11am on Saturday's.

Mega Kickers was developed in response to popular demand. Many children who attend Little Kickers classes want to continue to build their skills, both physical and social, once they have turned 5. The Mega Kickers philosophy is divided into 3 core areas to enable them to do just this:

1. Play: the greatest tool for development and learning is self-initiated play, which leads to excited and vigorous participation. This in turn leads to rapid improvement.

2. Practice: activities with limited touches and turns generally will have limited benefit. Activities with lots of turns and touches will facilitate greater growth at an individual rate within a group environment. Simply put, the more you do it, the better you get!

3. Understanding: within Mega Kickers classes our coaches focus not only on teaching children how to perform a skill, but also to start building an understanding of why the skill is needed.

Mega Kickers combines a series of activities that use imaginative play, familiar games, visual skill and creative participation to engage the interest of the child and makes them gain maximum enjoyment from participating.

We have only 16 spaces available in this class and have interest from lots of our Mighty Kickers who are turning 5 in a few months time. If you would like a space in this class please let us know ASAP by either phone, email or facebook. We will be offering a free trial class on Saturday 30th April.

Wednesday, 23 March 2011

Meet our Southport coaches!

From time to time we'll give you a bit of an inside look into Little Kickers Gold Coast and the wonderful people who help make our classes a fun and memorable time for you and your little kickers.

We'd like you to get to know a little more about our coaches. We've asked Coach Amanda, our lead coach at Southport, to tell us a little bit about herself. Here's what Amanda has to say -

"I've been involved in coaching, managing and playing football for over 30 years. It's my favourite sport and I love encouraging others to enjoy the game as much as I do. I started at Little Kickers when they launched on the Gold Coast in September 2010 and whilst coaching is an exhausting role it's also loads of fun. I love seeing the smiling faces of the children each week when they come running in for their class and hearing their squeals of delight when they score a goal!

For me, coaching at Little Kickers is all about learning how to be a good sport. It's about having fun and developing gross motor skills and social skills. It has been amazing to see the progression of each child - from those who've been with us from the beginning to those who are newly enrolled. Children develop so quickly and learn new things in front of your eyes, which is always an exciting part of each class.

I love the fact that I'm a part of a program that teaches confidence, co-ordination and skills to young children in a fun, motivating way and that it is done through my favourite sport - football!"

And right beside Coach Amanda is Coach Haydn, our assistant coach at Southport. Here's what Haydn told us -

"I'm currently studying Engineering at Griffith on the Gold Coast, I am originally from the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, and football (soccer) has been a huge part of my life since I can remember!! It's taken me many places like China and Argentina and I'll never stop playing. I've been coaching since I was 16 and I still love it and that’s why I'm at Little Kickers. Hopefully all the kids get as much out of football as I have :)"

If you would like to have your first free trial lesson, or enrol your little kicker into one of our Southport classes, class times are :

Junior Kickers - 8am
Mighty Kickers - 9am
Little Kicks - 10am

Contact Abbey at goldcoast@littlekickers.com.au.

Wednesday, 2 March 2011

Burleigh venue launches this weekend

Until now, Little Kickers has had 2 venues available on the Gold Coast - Pacific Pines and Southport. Within these 2 venues we currently enrol over 150 children. We know there are quite a few of you down south a bit further, and we are launching a 3rd venue this coming Saturday, the 5th of March, at Caningeraba State Primary School Hall in Burleigh Waters.

We are launching with -

Junior Kickers classes (2 to 3 ½ years) at 8am and 10am.
Mighty Kickers classes (3 ½ to 5th Birthday) at 9am and 11am.

Classes are nearly full, so please get in touch with us at goldcoast@littlekickers.com.au if you would like to arrange a free trial lesson, to sign up your child into one of these classes, or if you would like more information.

See you there!