Joy for Jay at Sydney FC

TALENTED teenager Jay Hirschowitz finished his first season as a Sydney FC Academy player with 29 appearances for the powerhouse club’s U16s side, which was crowned NSW Premier League Youth premiership winners late last month.

The 16-year-old Westfield Sports High School scholarship-holder scored three goals for the Sky Blues, including one in their 3-0 final round victory over Bankstown Berries on September 21, with his favourite A-League player, Sydney FC captain Alex Brosque, watching on from the stands.

But the former Maccabi and Blacktown City junior played most of his games this year at centre-back after being switched from his more familiar roles of striker and attacking midfielder by head coach Alex Watson.

“It was a huge adjustment to make, but I learnt a lot,” Hirschowitz told The AJN last week.

“The club has such a professional environment, but the coaching staff are very approachable and they really helped me get through.”

The team had 23 wins, five draws and just two losses to finish one point in front of runners-up Manly United in the 26-team league.

Importantly, they kept their opponents scoreless in 17 games and only let in 17 goals. The team scored a total of 56 goals across the 30-game season.

“I think that came down to good coaching, having a good defensive structure in place, a great goalkeeper and developing a solid back-four combination.

“Our coach kept saying to us you have to have a winning mentality – walk onto the pitch every time aiming to earn the three points.

“It was great having Brosque watching our last game – we all wanted to show him what we could do.

“He came to our last training session for the year [with goalkeeper Alex Cisak], and told us to keep working hard and make the most of our opportunities.”

Hirschowitz also played seven games this season for Sydney FC’s U18s team and for Westfield Sports High in the schoolboys’ competition.

SHANE DESIATNIK