Tassie soccer shuffle

JULIUS ROSS | December 23, 2010 12.01am

FORMER young Socceroos captain Kurt Reynolds made technical director and development manager of the FFT.

Reynolds represents the third change at FFT in the last three weeks, following the appointment of Jack Johnston to the board last week and the resignation of competition and communications manager Michael McKenna on December 8.

Reynolds, who has been acting in the role since former technical director Steve Payne left in August, edged out a number of other strong candidates, FFT chief executive John Boulous said.

"To me, it's a logical career progression and I'm very excited about contributing to the game in my home state" Reynolds said.

"Over recent years, I've been working hard at upgrading my coaching, football accreditation and knowledge and the logical next step is to go into this role and continue to pursue a successful career in the game."

Reynolds has been heavily involved in game development and management in recent years.

He has been FFT northern development officer since December 2009, holds an Asian Football Confederation 'C' coaching licence and was senior coach of Launceston City last season - experience which should see him in good stead in the technical director's role.

Reynolds' task will be to communicate and reinforce Football Federation Australia's national curriculum, which will involve conducting and facilitating coach education courses and working on talent development and skill acquisition programs.

"I'll also be working on community coach education at the grassroots level and working on inclusion in the game - including disabled and indigenous groups," he said.

Reynolds has a formidable track record on the pitch, having played for Launceston City in Tasmania and Blacktown City, APIA Leichardt and West Adelaide in the National Soccer League.

He was also involved in the Australian Institute of Sport and, at the height of his playing career, captained the Young Socceroos at the World Youth Cup in Chile in 1987.

http://www.themercury.com.au/article/2010/12/23/195211_sport-news.html