(Photo by Adam Butler)
Adelaide Comets holds a strong belief in developing Junior players at the Club to eventually play in the Senior side; the long-term goal being to have a majority of Senior players being Comets Juniors within the next couple of years.
The perfect example of this is Tom Cyganov, affectionately known as Ziggy, who has moved from the Comets Under 18s to the Senior side ahead of the 2017 PlayStation 4 National Premier League SA season.
The 17-year-old who has been with Comets since 2009 when he joined the Under 10s competition, has a big year ahead. Turning 18 in May, taking on Year 12 at Unley High School and his debut season with the Seniors.
Cyganov, a midfielder, isn’t worried though, he is excited to ‘take things as they go’ and shares the same goals as his team mates for the season ahead.
“My goal is to just get some minutes this year, play with some of the more experienced players and to try and win the League!” he said.
“I have surprised myself that I am doing as well as I am. I am happy with pre-season so far; it is a lot of running though.”
The increase in running isn’t the only thing Cyganov has felt a difference with from moving from Under 18’s training to now 4 times a week under coach Theo Tsiounis – who ‘Ziggy’ is pleased to be guided by.
“There is a huge difference in training from 18s to Seniors. The intensity is one, and in 18s you don’t think about every aspect of the game.
“In the first team, you have to think about everything, there is a lot more to process. I am definitely ready for that challenge though.
“Theo is a great coach; he is someone you can actually talk to. He is really down to earth and very approachable.”
Tsiounis is equally pleased with the development of Cyganov and has been using the pre-season period to give him a solid run in trial games.
“Tom has been a consistent performer at the Club for a number of years. He is comfortable on the ball and is aggressive in winning it back.
“As stated previously, he has a big future ahead of him at Adelaide Comets.”
Catch Tom in action on Wednesday night as the Seniors continue their Pre-Season campaign at Marden Sports Complex against West Torrens Birkalla, kick-off 6:30pm.