Central Coast Mariners proudly joined Star 104.5 in their Back to School week, here is a wrap up of what we got up to.
Gina and Matty’s Breakfast Show went on tour to celebrate Back to School week, with guests from The Amazement Farm & Fun Park, East Coast Juices as well as ourselves.
The Mariners had player and staff representatives at every day throughout the week, visiting Central Coast Grammar School, Berkeley Vale Public School, Woy Woy Public School, Wyong Christian School and East Gosford Public School.
3500 students throughout the week had the opportunity to meet their Mariners idols, get photos, signed merch and posters, take advantage of an exclusive store discount and even win Mariners’ prizes with our football skills challenges.
Day 1 – Evans, Gomez, Wenzel-Halls and Wilson kick week off at CCGS.
Monday morning rain was never going to be enough to dampen spirits at Central Coast Grammar School as the week got off to a strong start, with hundreds of students excited to meet ALW stars Izzy Gomez and Shadeene Evans, and ALM players Dylan Wenzel-Halls and Will Wilson.
Day 2 – Paull, Warshawsky, Rasmussen and Wardlow attend Berkeley Vale
There were huge queues for signatures, whilst students also took on our juggling challenge. Berkeley Vale student Max was our winner with a huge score of 56 which saw him win a signed football and tickets to Our Paradise!
Day 3 – Kuzevski and Steele visit Woy Woy
Injured midfielders Sasha Kuzevski and Harry Steele took time out of their busy recovery schedules to visit Woy Woy Public School. The Central Coast favourites appeared on Gina and Matty’s show to talk all things Mariners and explain our AFC Cup journey!
Day 4 – Duarte and Kuzevski at Wyong Christian School
Kuzevski was up again alongside young forward Nico Duarte to visit Wyong Christian School, before dashing off down to Campbelltown for our AFC Cup clash against Macarthur.
The young duo were rushed off their feet in our busiest day of the week as hundreds of children queued to have their Mariners merch signed and take pictures with the players.
Day 5 – Surprise guest joins youngsters at East Gosford
Dylan Peraic-Cullen and Maksim Kasalovic were joined by an additional guest as Football Manager Mark Jackson made a surprise appearance for the students at East Gosford Public School, just hours after arriving back from Campbelltown.
Amid hundreds of signing and photo requests, Jacko appeared on the breakfast show to chat about his move to Australia and the positive season so far, whilst Dylan sat down with a young aspiring goalkeeper to give him some advice.
“First and foremost, and this goes for everything you do outside of football too, be brave!” Dylan said.
“Goalkeepers especially have to be very head strong. If you let in a goal, you have to ready straight away to save the next one,” he added.
“Most importantly, you have to have a good time out on the pitch. If you’re having a good time, that is when you’re going to play your best. That is what I would say is most important.”