Sunshine Coast F.C. is delighted to announce that Tom Bateman and Ben Wilks will now hold the positions of Head of Football Operations.
Tom, who holds a UEFA B Licence in both football and futsal, has been with the club full-time for the last three seasons and will now be responsible for the leadership of our youth sides as we look to develop our players and coaches to their full potential.
Ben is also a long-term member of staff who currently holds an AFC B Licence and has a high level of coaching experience in both the USA and Australia.
Sporting Director Melvyn Wilkes said, “As the club continues to evolve and grow, we are thrilled to announce our successful application and admittance into the newly launched Junior Premier League (JPL) in Australia.
Our affiliation with the English FA has also been accepted, allowing us to compete in the JPL UK and the National Football Youth League (NFYL) at U16 and U19 levels, respectively, in 2025. This marks a very busy and exciting period for our staff.
We are fortunate to have Tom and Ben, who are extremely familiar with the football ecosystems in both Australia and the UK.
Additionally, we are bringing on more staff to our full-time academy who possess similar experience and familiarity within Australia and Europe. This ensures our exciting programs will continue to flourish as we welcome new players from all over Australia to our academy within the next couple of weeks.
We look forward to this dynamic phase and are committed to providing our players with unparalleled opportunities for growth and success on and off the field.”
We would like to thank Alex Butt for his contributions to the club and wish him well in the future.
