Footstars Futsal Club
Footstars Coaching
At Footstars, our coaching is guided by a combination of experience, best practice and course material from Football Australia. This means:
- emphasising enjoyment and development
- similar game time in competition qualifying rounds
- developing players to play every position and have every individual quality
- providing resources for self-education
- setting juniors up to be able to play at an elite standard in seniors
If you're passionate about helping players develop and are committed to continually improving as a coach, we'd love you to be part of what we're building.
Coaches
If you want to join our coaching team, fill out the Coaching EOI form here.
Click on the coach's image to read more about them.
Natalia Palacios-Kay
Dane Stokes
Oliver Cashion
Eduardo Mba
Marty Calvert
Peter Gaffney
Coaches
If you want to join our coaching team, fill out the Coaching EOI form here.
Click on the coach's photo to view more details about them.
Natalia Palacios-Kay
Dane Stokes
Eduardo Mba
Oliver Cashion
Marty Calvert
Peter Gaffney
Coaches
Click on the photos below to see the coach's profile.
If you are interested in joining our coaching team, fill in the Coaching EOI form here
Natalia Palacios-Kay
Dane Stokes
Eduardo Mba
Oliver Cashion
Marty Calvert
Peter Gaffney
Pathway to Seniors
The aim of junior development is to produce seniors.
Our goal isn't simply to help players perform well in their current age group, it's to prepare them for what's next. This highlights video showcases junior players stepping into senior competition, demonstrating the confidence and capability they've developed through years of purposeful coaching.
Coach Development
Despite the scarcity of coaching courses in futsal these days, we still ensure quality through our own coaching training.
This includes online formative assessments as well as online resources in our coach's hub to equip coaches to thrive. Our curriculum isn't prescriptive but educational.
Furthermore, we aim to assist coaches in acquiring licenses and until coaches can gain their relevant AFC licenses, we teach similar content as much as we can ourselves.
Join the team
We're always looking to expand the team!
We're happy to provide coach education and experience, with a variety of days available and flexible schedules.
Shifts include setup and packup time where relevant, and a minimum paid shift of 2h per day.
We use open-answer formative quizzes to indicate to prepare coaches for each age level and type of training required for the job, getting staff up and running as quickly as possible.
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Natalia Palacios-Kay
Natalia brings her vast experience as a futsal and football player, having represented her Peruvian homeland on the national stage and coached kids since 2017. With her psychology background, her strengths are in managing people, collating knowledge from many sources and inspiring effort from her players.
In both 2025 and 2026 she coached the U15 girls to win the National Futsal Championships, winning Coach of the Tournament in both years.
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Dane Stokes
Dane brings 19 years of playing experience under numerous coaches and an AFC2 Licence. He has logged over 2500 hours coaching for Footstars, and is passionate about improving accessibility to education for players to drive their own development.
He has also played at FA Nationals and invited to trial with various other representative teams
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Marty Calvert
Originally from Sydney, Marty brings over 30 years of extensive experience in futsal, both as a player and a coach. His distinguished playing career includes captaining the Australian U18 and Youth squads, as well as representing Australia at the 1996 Futsal World Cup in Spain.
In addition to his international experience with the national team, Marty has also played professionally in the Netherlands and gained valuable insights during his time with the Dutch national team.
For over two decades, Marty has been dedicated to coaching, leading state teams in both New South Wales and Queensland. His wealth of knowledge and deep understanding of the sport make him an invaluable asset to the futsal community.
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Peter Gaffney
Originally from Wollongong, Pete brings over 20 years of elite experience in both football and futsal, making him an invaluable asset to FSA both on and off the court. His extensive background as a high-level player has honed his technical skills, tactical understanding, and leadership abilities, which he now passes on to the next generation of players.
Pete is currently the head coach for Brisbane City's first team, where his expertise and coaching style have been instrumental in the team’s development and success.
In addition to his coaching role, Pete remains an active player, representing FSA’s men's team and Over 35's team in futsal, where he continues to lead by example with his dedication, passion, and professionalism.
His unique combination of elite playing and coaching experience allows him to inspire and mentor players, while also contributing to the strategic growth and success of FSA as a whole.
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Oliver Cushion
Oliver began coaching futsal and football with FSA in 2022. After taking a short break to complete his high school studies, he rejoined the academy in September 2024 as a more seasoned coach, eager to contribute his energy and positive approach to the team.
With 11 years of football playing experience, Oliver is passionate about both the sport and player development. He is dedicated to combining his knowledge and enthusiasm to help young athletes grow and succeed, bringing a fresh perspective to FSA's coaching team
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Eduardo Mba
Ed has been with Footstars for 3 years, starting as a parent in our under 9s team, before winning the Gold Coast International with Footstars' first Over-35s team (along with Peter Gaffney). Ed has built his futsal coaching on top of his coaching experience in outdoor and his playing experience in both football and futsal, winning several leagues and tournaments since starting with us.