The Weston Workers Bears Football Club are very pleased to welcome Jacob Richards as our U16s coach for 2021.
Jacob brings a wealth of experience to the position and the club having played youth football at Barnsley, Cardiff and Broadmeadow Magic, before moving to Townsville where he started playing senior, 1st grade Football at 16 years of age.
After high school he was provided the opportunity to Study and play Football in the United States Collegiate system spending four years working towards a university degree in Business Management whilst continuing to play College Football. Here he spent two years studying and playing Football in the State of Iowa at Iowa Central Community College (top ten in the nation at the time) in the NJCAA, before transferring to the American Institute of Business (Also in Iowa), a College in the NAIA athletic division. It was here he the chance to play with and against some of the best players in the country, in two of the stronger Football Conferences in the US for the respective divisions at the time.
After completing his studies Jacob moved back to Townsville for a year where he played half a season with the North Queensland Fury in the QLD NPL before moving to Melbourne for work.
During this time in Melbourne he was an assistant coach with the Bulleen Lions Under 20's team in the Victorian NPL.
Jacob is currently the manager at IAM 360, the organization that sent him to the US to study and play college sport. He works with young male and female athletes everyday helping them achieve their dreams in the US and loves to help young aspiring athletes develop within their sport.
Now as part of the Bears coaching ranks Jacob, with his experience and knowledge on and off the park, will not only take the U16s but work with the senior coaches to assist youth players transition into senior football at the Bears or beyond.
From everyone at the Bears, welcome to to the club and we wish you every success in 2021.
