Wesley has worked hard over the last 8-10 years at building a Futsal club from the ground up. Titans Futsal started with 1x team of 7x players and has now reached a peak of 157 registered players with 17x registered teams. He is a volunteer, never taking a cent for his coaching at the club, but instead offers his coaching & care out of the goodness of his heart. Wesley hasn't had a holiday in over 4 years, working at the club year round, additional to his full time 50-60hour shift work week.
Wesley coaches at his non-profit community club that he has built to promote futsal to kids & young adults of all abilities. Wesley is an incredible role model to our Futsal kids. On an average week he gives 15-20hrs of his time to coaching & spending time supporting the youth players. His coaching philosophy is to first build good people before building good athletes & puts an emphasis on building a sound work ethic & good character, within a family-like environment. Wesley works tirelessly to find new opportunities for his players to stay involved in Futsal, looking for tournaments, challenges, coaching roles, refereeing - in an effort to build the next generation of leaders in sport. Wesley also works closely alongside Waibop Futsal to offer frequent advice regarding how to progress the sport in our region, how to keep the youth engaged and push them to the next level, creating a fair and competitive Futsal region in NZ. Quite often his work goes unnoticed and unrewarded. Recently Wesley has had multiple surgeries on his eyes due to an eye cancer, meaning that for weeks his eyes are patched up and he can't see properly, can't drive, or work - but he has still made sure that someone picks him up & drops him off at Futsal trainings so that he can be with the kids and make sure that they are all okay & tracking along. He is selfless and truly cares about each individual one of his players.
Titans Futsal Club, Waibop Futsal, NZ Futsal, St Johns College, St Joseph's Chanel school, Hamilton Wanderers Sports Club.
Wesley has had a massive impact in the Waikato & around NZ in the past year. In the last 12 months Wesley has helped multiple of his players find full time employment by providing employment himself or by references & word of mouth. Each week he mentors a number of youth into becoming coaches themselves. He has helped players through depression, given them constant support, an outlet through sport & kept a lot of them out of trouble. Parents often bring him their 'trouble children' and Wesley has never turned any of them away. He finds a way to give them a sense of responsibility & purpose for their life. You will often find him going to watch his players football games on the weekend, taking time out of his limited free time to attend their school events etc to show his support to his players. Aside from this, Wesley also has a gift for coaching & is incredible at getting top results with his teams. Since Titans started, his teams have been top of the leagues, he has won multiple awards at multiple tournaments & has had great results at the Youth Nationals tournament. His dynamic style of coaching has hugely increased the level of competition in the sport which has revolutionized the game of Futsal not only in Hamilton but in the youth space across New Zealand. The quality of the game & players has noticeably increased since Wesley & Titans has been on the scene.
I truly think Hamilton would be at a loss in the Futsal scene if Wesley were to stop coaching, or stop being involved with the sport. He has a genuine love for the game, but more than that - he has a genuine love for the kids that come through his doors. He puts so much effort into getting to know each player and what makes them tick. The kids feel like they are being invested in, that they have a purpose & that they are valued. Our children are lucky to have such a role model in Wesley. Someone they can trust and confide in outside of their own family. Wesley has brought the best out in so many players, he has a way of helping players to realise their potential and getting them to their best. I honestly believe that the NZ squad will one day be made up of the youth players he is currently coaching. He is making waves in the Futsal scene, and us parents are just lucky enough to be a part of that journey. Wesley has created a true Futsal family in the Waikato, and it continues to grow with every year he coaches. I just hope that he is one day recognised for his hard work in the sport and with our children.
I know that he is making a positive difference in peoples lives. It's all us parents can talk about on the sideline. How he can put so much unpaid time and effort into our children and never ask for anything in return. Our kids are so well looked after at Titans thanks to Wesley and Jenny. They feel confident, they are thinking bigger, and learning discipline & morals that we all try to instill in our kids. Titans doesn't do much advertising for their club - but word of mouth spreads like wild fire, and the growth in the club over the past few years is enough to know what a difference and positive change that Wesley and Titans are having in the community around them. Parents are excited to be involved in Titans, the kids never complain about training - they want to be there, they want to see Wesley and Jenny, they want to be involved and engaged in the sport. Wesley is starting a new wave of Futsal players, coaches, referees and managers in the Futsal scene.
