# Central Coast Mariners Academy

The Central Coast Mariners Academy (CCMA) is the youth system of Central Coast Mariners FC based in Gosford, Australia. The academy teams play in the National Premier Leagues NSW competition, the top flight of the NPL NSW system. Senior players occasionally play in the academy side, as in the case when they're recovering from injury. Lucas Vilela is the current academy first grade coach. They train at the Central Coast Mariners Centre of Excellence and play their home games at Pluim Park.

## Academy team history
### First Academy (2012–2014)

Central Coast Mariners Academy was formed as a joint venture between the Mariners and Central Coast Football to provide a junior development pathway to the NYL and A-League sides. Prior to 2012 the academy existed solely as a junior side; however in 2012 it was accepted to participate in the New South Wales Premier League. In October 2012 the club announced that Joey Peters had been appointed as senior coach. The club finished tenth from twelve clubs in its first two seasons.
CCMA prided themselves on producing talented young players and providing a pathway for Central Coast Mariners in the Hyundai A-League. Based on appearances for CCMA 15 year old Daniel McFarlane earned trials in the UK with Swansea City and Birmingham City. Patrick Zwaanswijk signed up McFarlane up for the CCMA in the National Youth League. Local players Steve Whyte, Josh Forbes, Bradley Wilson and Nathan Verity also made sufficient impressions in the NSWPL season to earn them a contract in the NYL squad.
Following disputes between the Mariners and Central Coast Football over technical and financial aspects of the program, the Football NSW licence to run the representative side on the Central Coast was handed back to Central Coast Football in August 2014 and the Academy program was closed.

### 2015–present

A competitions review conducted by Football NSW in 2015 recommended that academy sides from Sydney FC and Western Sydney Wanderers be included in the National Premier Leagues NSW competitions, with the inclusion of a Central Coast side to be determined between the Mariners and Central Coast Football. The Mariners subsequently applied for entry to the NPL and SAP in August 2015 and were accepted from the 2016 season onwards, replacing Central Coast FC. The Mariners won the 2020 NPL2 premiership and grand final, as well as the 2022 NPL2 premiership, securing their promotion to the 2023 NPL competition.

## Players

    As of February 2024
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | AUS | Jack Warshawsky |
| 2 | DF | AUS | Michael Paragalli |
| 3 | DF | SSD | Cher Deng |
| 4 | DF | AUS | Parker Williams |
| 5 | DF | AUS | Harry Menham |
| 6 | MF | AUS | Jordan Small |
| 7 | MF | AUS | Arthur De Lima |
| 8 | MF | MLT | Lucas Scicluna |
| 9 | FW | AUS | Nicholas Duarte |
| 10 | FW | AUS | Luka Smyth |
| 11 | FW | AUS | Donatien Niyonkuru |
| 12 | MF | AUS | Taye Hedley |
| 13 | | AUS | Yani Nassis |
| 14 | DF | AUS | Jacob Tresoglavic |
| 15 | MF | AUS | Amponsah Antwi |
| 17 | MF | AUS | Jai Rose |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 18 | FW | AUS | Adil Toska |
| 19 | | AUS | Harvey James |
| 20 | GK | AUS | Jai Ajanovic |
| 21 | | AUS | Agieg Aluk |
| 22 | DF | AUS | Rocco Smith |
| 24 | | AUS | Angus Reid |
| 26 | | AUS | Freddie Clunas |
| 27 | DF | AUS | Sasha Kuzevski |
| 28 | | AUS | Ahmad El Helou |
| 30 | GK | AUS | Daniel Vickers |
| 35 | MF | AUS | Haine Eames |
| 36 | | AUS | Adam Hall |
| 37 | FW | AUS | Bailey Brandtman |
| 38 | | AUS | Will Rankin |
| 40 | GK | AUS | Dylan Peraic-Cullen |
| — | | AUS | Prayaag Thapa |

## Current staff

Head Coaches:
| Lucas Vilela | 1st Grade Head Coach |
| Josh Rose | U20 Head Coach |
| Simon Volk | U18 Head Coach |
| Hugo Da Silva | U16 Head Coach |
| Jan Jugueta | U15 Head Coach |
| Jim Cresnar | U14 Head Coach |
| Will Piriz | U13 Head Coach |
| Anthony Tugrul | U12 Head Coach |
| Matthew Edwards | U11 Head Coach |
| Toby Peil Max Middleby | U10 Head Coach |
| Nicholas Duarte | U9 Head Coach |
Staff:
| Andy Bernal Matt Simon | 1st Grade Assistant coach |
| Blake Longford | 1st Grade Manager |
| Nick Van Reede | 1st Grade Physio |

## Honours

Youth
* NPL 2/NSW League One Premiership
** Runners-up: 2014
** Premiers: 2020, 2022
** Champions: 2020
Under-23s
* Y-League Premiership
** Premiers: 2009–10, 2011–12
** Runners-up: 2010–11, 2012–13
Academy
* Football NSW League One Youth U-20 Premiership
** Premiers: 2015, 2018, 2022
** Runners-up: 2019
** Champions: 2020
* Football NSW League One Youth U-20 Championship
** Champions: 2015
* Football NSW League One Youth U-18 Premiership
** Premiers: 2014, 2017, 2018
** Runners-up: 2019
* Football NSW League One Youth U-18 Championship
** Champions: 2014, 2015, 2018
** Runners-up: 2017

## Notable academy and youth team players

The following list of youth team or Academy players have been capped in a full international. Players still currently playing for the club are in bold. Other still active players are in italics.
* Anthony Caceres
* Mitchell Duke
* Bernie Ibini-Isei
* Garang Kuol
* Josh Nisbet
* Mathew Ryan
* Lewis Miller
* Gianni Stensness
* Jackson Khoury
* Quentin Cheng
* Trent Buhagiar
* Brad McDonald
* Jesse Curran
* Charles M'Mombwa