EDUCATION plays a massive part in any football club. Melbourne is no exception.

Whether it’s backline coach Jade Rawlings working closely with young defender Tom McDonald out on the track, co-captain Jack Grimes guiding Dean Kent in his first few days at the club, or dietician Jo Shinewell teaching the players about nutrition, education is a constant at the football club.  

So it comes as no surprise that Melbourne has taken its education to another level, implementing a new course, titled: MFC high performance group Certificate IV in Sport Development.

Or, as senior coach Mark Neeld termed it, Melbourne’s own version of a “footy university”.

This week, the in-house course was launched by Neeld, who handed it over to development coaches Andrew Nichol and Paul Satterley to oversee.

Neeld said the program was an important part of developing its emerging players and utilising the experience of the coaching department.

“A number of our footy department staff, including the coaches, have extensive education backgrounds,” he told melbournefc.com.au.  

“They’ve written an education program for the players, and it’s been approved by SEDA (Sports Education Development Australia).

“We’re rapt with the program, and I’m really pleased that there has been a lot of work put into it. We have an educationally valid program, which can be delivered on site by professionals.”

The high performance certificate is believed to be the first in-house program run by an AFL club, which offers credits towards some university courses - if that player chooses to pursue a career in sporting related avenues.

The Melbourne development group will gain a level three certificate in sport and recreation, once it has completed the course, which will be conducted once a week, and will continue into the 2013 season. 

Players are expected to perform and complete a variety of assessments to gain their accreditation.

It’s different from 2012, when the club ran two programs - SEDA and a high performance course.

Both programs covered similar units, yet the players did not gain a qualification from the high performance course despite acquiring sound knowledge.

Player welfare manager Craig Lees suggested to the coaches that the two programs should be combined.

“[I thought] it was worthwhile to utilise SEDA’s education with the knowledge of our coaches, who then came up with this course,” he said.

“For the past two months, [SEDA's] Dan Norton and I have been working at the course structure and now we are very pleased with the outcome.”

From there, Satterley and Nichol developed the course’s content in consultation with SEDA - a program initially founded by Melbourne great Robert Flower, who remains on the board. Previously, SEDA has helped to link
Melbourne players with formal qualifications and employment.

Football manager Josh Mahoney said the ability to integrate the SEDA course with a tailor made Melbourne program was the ideal scenario.

“We have been very happy with our relationship with SEDA and their ability to deliver meaningful and rewarding programs for our players,” he said.

“Last year, our development coaches - Aaron Greaves, Paul Satterley and Andrew Nichol - developed an internal program based on educating our players on high performance thinking.

“As a result of discussions between SEDA, MFC player services manager Craig Lees and the development coaches, the MFC high performance Certificate IV has been established.”

Satterley said the course would continue to build on the foundations set up this year.

“In 2012, our focus as development coaches was to educate the players on preparation, performance and recovery, and what 'elite' looks like in all these key areas,” he said.

“We were fortunate to have a number of quality speakers [come to the club], including Darren Cahill, James Tomkins and Charlie Walsh - all successful people in different elite sporting environments to share their stories and experiences.”

Nichol said the course would be all encompassing, and not just football related.  

“Some of the topics to be covered include leadership, developing a personal trademark, time and risk management, brand education, goal setting and club history, with a view to enhancing the performance of our players,” he said.

“The moment a new player walks into the Melbourne Football Club, we see it as an opportunity to teach elite habits and standards that will help prepare them for their football career.

“We would expect that what they learn will also develop skills that could benefit them away from footy.”