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Scott Smith is the head S&C coach for the Melbourne Victory Football Club who compete in the A-League, Australia. Scott’s journey in high performance sport has taken him to some of the biggest football clubs in Australia such as the Newcastle Jets, Western Sydney Wanderers (WSW), Brisbane Roar FC and Perth Glory, as well as working overseas with Xanthi FC in Greece. What’s most fascinating about his journey is Scott is what is termed in the industry as a “managers guy” and over the last 10 years has been one of Australia’s most successful football coaches, Tony Popovic’s most trusted advisor when it comes to getting his teams performing at the highest level. Scott shares the pros and cons of working predominantly with the one coach as well as shares his personal highlights and lesson through his journey from starting as a gym instructor to now responsible for the strength and conditioning of one of Australia’s most successful football teams. 


Highlights from the episode…

• After receiving council early from one of his lecturers at Uni, Scott took on any opportunity he could to improve his chances of securing a job in sport, including at one point being a massage therapist. 
• In his 2nd year of Uni, Scott got his first opportunity with a professional club with the Newcastle Jets. 
• Scott shares how this opportunity required him to travel 1 1/2 hour each way for no pay all while maintaining a part time job outside the club, but strongly feels this was beneficial to opportunities he got in the future. 
• We discuss the topic of volunteering and navigating the tension between investing time for growth and not being taken advantage of.
• Scott’s first encounter with Tony Popovic via an interview he didn’t even know he was in, which eventually led to the head S&C role for WSW at age 23. 
• After his time at WSW, Scott moved to Brisbane to take the S&C role with the Brisbane Roar.
• Scott reunites with Popovic at Perth Glory after a tough period at the Roar. 
• Working with Popovic for over a decade, Scott discusses the Pros and Cons of working with one coach.
• How Scott navigates the tension between maintaining a positive relation with Popovic and not becoming a “yes man”.
• Popovic is known in the industry as keeping high standards and being a hard nosed coach. Scott talks about how he manages the stress and expectation of always being on while working with Popovic. 
• What led to Scott following Popovic overseas to one of the most volatile and unforgiving football leagues in the world in Greece.
• Scott shares his experience in Greece navigating language barriers, differences in S&C methodology and ultimately gaining the trust of a European team as an Australian who are globally considered novices in football. 
• Scott shares how he got his current role with the Melbourne Victory and what he’s learnt outside of his S&C skills that have made him successful in his roles.

 People mentioned: 

• Tony Popovic: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Popovic
• Ben Dascombe: https://www.newcastle.edu.au/profile/ben-dascombe
• Craig Duncan: https://drcraigduncan.com.au/

 
Scott Smith contact details:

• LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-smith-0448b754/

Host: Luis Resa

Contact me on:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/luis-resa-a975196b/
• Email: [email protected]

Thanks for listening and please leave a review. If you would like more information on anything mentioned in this episode simply send me an email.