Introducing our WVSC Technical Director Scott Channing!
Football has always been important in my life and an integral part of my family. My brother, sister and I all played at Melrose Soccer Club and then Woden Valley Soccer Club when it was established in 1989. My Dad coached my team and my brother’s, and I started my coaching journey as a 14-year-old coaching my sister’s U6 team through until U12s (which was actually a boy’s team as WVSC did not have any girl’s teams in the early 1990s). My sister went on to play with the ACT Academy of Sport, the Canberra Eclipse in the Women’s National Soccer League and the Matildas U-20s under Tom Sermanni. I claim that her success was the result of the coaching she received in those foundational years!
My last season with WVSC as a player happened to be the Club’s first year in 1989, I played U16s which was the oldest age group at WVSC at the time. I then spent a few years playing with Southern Cross Soccer Club which later became Shamrock Rovers Football Club in the NPL until the Club folded. Without a Club and being a uni student at the time I joined ANU Football Club and spent over 25 years playing across different divisions, from the CPL Team and then gradually progressing (or maybe that should be regressing) over the years to finish with the Over 45s Masters Team. My footballing career ended in 2023 with a knee injury and surgery.
As a coach, after my early years with WVSC in the 90s, I took a hiatus but returned to coaching when both my daughters decided they wanted to play football. Following in my dad’s footsteps, I spent many years coaching my daughters, from miniroos through to youth football. I also spent a few years coaching senior teams at the ANU. More recently, I have been coaching both boys and girls NPL teams across different clubs including WVSC, Majura FC and BellaMonaro.
When I am not playing or coaching, I like to get along to Socceroos and Matildas matches. Over the years I have experienced the heartbreak of the 1997 World Cup play-off loss to Iran at the MCG, the pure joy of Australia qualifying for the 2006 World Cup against Uruguay in 2005, the exhilaration of the Socceroos winning their first major trophy, the Asian Cup, against Korea in 2015. Most recently, I took my daughters to the history making 2023 Women’s World Cup, attending all the matches played in Sydney and Brisbane (except the quarterfinal between England and Colombia as we were in Brisbane watching the Matildas play France which was on at the same time).
It is great to be at WVSC as Technical Director, back where it all began. Football has a wonderful way of bringing people together and I am looking forward to sharing my love and passion for the game with the players, coaches and parents across the Club.