The Central Coast Mariners Academy (CCMA) is the

youth system In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team if they show en ...

Central Coast Mariners FC Central Coast Mariners Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Gosford, on the Central Coast (New South Wales), Central Coast of New South Wales. It competes in the A-League, A-League Men, under Professional sports lea ...

based in , Australia. The academy teams play in the

National Premier Leagues NSW The National Premier Leagues NSW is a semi-professional soccer competition in New South Wales, Australia. The competition is conducted by Football NSW, one of the two organising bodies in New South Wales (the other being the National Premier L ...

competition, the top flight of the NPL NSW system. Senior players occasionally play in the academy side, as in the case when they're recovering from injury. Lucas Vilela is the current academy first grade coach. They train at the

Central Coast Mariners Centre of Excellence Mariners Centre of Excellence is the training ground and academy base of Central Coast Mariners, located in Tuggerah, Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainl ...

and play their home games at Pluim Park.

Academy team history

First Academy (2012–2014)

Central Coast Mariners Academy was formed as a joint venture between the Mariners and Central Coast Football to provide a junior development pathway to the NYL and A-League sides. Prior to 2012 the academy existed solely as a junior side; however in 2012 it was accepted to participate in the New South Wales Premier League. In October 2012 the club announced that Joey Peters had been appointed as senior coach. The club finished tenth from twelve clubs in its first two seasons. CCMA prided themselves on producing talented young players and providing a pathway for Central Coast Mariners in the Hyundai A-League. Based on appearances for CCMA 15 year old Daniel McFarlane earned trials in the UK with Swansea City and Birmingham City. Patrick Zwaanswijk signed up McFarlane up for the CCMA in the National Youth League. Local players Steve Whyte, Josh Forbes, Bradley Wilson and Nathan Verity also made sufficient impressions in the NSWPL season to earn them a contract in the NYL squad. Following disputes between the Mariners and Central Coast Football over technical and financial aspects of the program, the

Football NSW Football NSW is the governing body for soccer in the Australian state of New South Wales, with the exception of the northern regions of NSW (the governing body for which is Northern New South Wales Football). Football NSW is a member of the nat ...

licence to run the representative side on the Central Coast was handed back to Central Coast Football in August 2014 and the Academy program was closed.

2015–present

A competitions review conducted by Football NSW in 2015 recommended that academy sides from

Sydney FC Sydney Football Club, commonly known as Sydney FC, is a professional association football, soccer club based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. They compete in the top-tier men's league in Australia, the A-League Men. Established in 2004, ...

and

Western Sydney Wanderers Western Sydney Wanderers Football Club (colloquially known as Western Sydney, Wanderers, or simply as WSW) is an Australian professional association football club based in the Western Sydney region of Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in t ...

be included in the National Premier Leagues NSW competitions, with the inclusion of a Central Coast side to be determined between the Mariners and Central Coast Football. The Mariners subsequently applied for entry to the NPL and SAP in August 2015 and were accepted from the 2016 season onwards, replacing

Central Coast FC Central Coast United FC, is a semi-professional soccer club, based and located on the Central Coast of New South Wales. For the 2024 season, the club's senior teams will compete in the NSW League Two competitions and the clubs youth team will com ...

. The Mariners won the 2020 NPL2 premiership and grand final, as well as the 2022 NPL2 premiership, securing their promotion to the 2023 NPL competition.

Players

Current staff

Head Coaches: Staff:

Honours

Youth * NPL 2/NSW League One Premiership **Runners-up:

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

**Premiers:

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

**Champions:

Under-23s *

Y-League A-League Youth, formerly known as the National Youth League and Y-League is a defunct Australian national soccer youth developmental and under-21s league, founded by Football Federation Australia and later run by the Australian Professional Le ...

Premiership **Premiers: 2009–10, 2011–12 **Runners-up:

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

Academy * Football NSW League One Youth U-20 Premiership **Premiers:

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

**Runners-up:

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

**Champions:

* Football NSW League One Youth U-20 Championship **Champions:

* Football NSW League One Youth U-18 Premiership **Premiers:

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

**Runners-up:

* Football NSW League One Youth U-18 Championship **Champions:

**Runners-up:

Notable academy and youth team players

The following list of youth team or Academy players have been capped in a full international. Players still currently playing for the club are in bold. Other still active players are in ''italics''. * ''

Anthony Caceres Anthony Richard Caceres (; born 29 September 1992) is an Australian soccer player who plays as a central midfielder for Sydney FC and the Australia men's national team. Career Central Coast Mariners Caceres made his A-League debut for the Cen ...

'' * ''

Mitchell Duke Mitchell Thomas Duke (born 18 January 1991) is an Australian professional soccer player who plays as a forward for club Machida Zelvia and the Australia national team. Duke was born in Liverpool, New South Wales and played youth soccer with ...

'' * ''

Bernie Ibini-Isei Bernie Alpha Ibini-Isei (born 12 September 1992), also known simply as Bernie Ibini, is a professional football player who plays as a striker or a winger, and most recently played for Singapore Premier League club Lion City Sailors. Born in ...

'' * ''

Garang Kuol Garang Mawien Kuol (born 15 September 2004) is a professional soccer player who plays as a winger for club Newcastle United. Born a South Sudanese refugee in Egypt, he plays for the Australia national team. Early life Kuol was born on 15 Se ...

'' * ''

Josh Nisbet Joshua Nisbet (born 15 June 1999) is an Australian professional soccer player who plays for Roda JC and the Australia national team. He can play in several positions including defensive midfield, winger, attacking midfield or as a forward. C ...

'' * ''

Mathew Ryan Mathew David Ryan (born 8 April 1992) is an Australian professional soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper for club Lens and captains the Australia national team. Born in Sydney, Ryan played youth football for Marconi Stallions, Blacktown C ...

'' * '' Lewis Miller'' * ''

Gianni Stensness Gianni Ryan Stensness (born 7 February 1999) is an Australian professional soccer player who plays as a centre-back for Norwegian Eliteserien club Viking FK. A former youth international for New Zealand, Stensness plays for the Australia nationa ...

'' * '' Jackson Khoury'' * '' Quentin Cheng'' * ''

Trent Buhagiar Trent Anthony Buhagiar (born 27 February 1998) is a professional footballer who plays as a winger for Singapore Premier League club Tampines Rovers. Born in Australia, he represents the Malta national team. Early life Born in Gosford, Buhagiar ...

'' * Brad McDonald * '' Jesse Curran'' * ''

Charles M'Mombwa Kokola Charles William M'Mombwa (born 14 March 1998) is a Tanzanian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Maltese Premier League club Floriana. Born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, he plays for the Tanzania national te ...

References

External links

{{Central Coast Sports Teams National Premier Leagues clubs A-League Youth teams Association football clubs established in 2012 2012 establishments in Australia Central Coast Mariners FC Sport on the Central Coast (New South Wales) Soccer clubs on the Central Coast, New South Wales Soccer academies in Australia National Premier Leagues NSW

Academy team history

First Academy (2012–2014)

2015–present

Players

Current staff

Honours

Notable academy and youth team players

See also

References

External links