Shannon Beniston
BExSci, GradDipEd
“I believe great coaches don’t just teach the game — they inspire it.”
- Shannon Benisiton
Get to Know me!
Hi, I’m Shannon Beniston — a youth-focused football coach with 14 years of coaching and 8 years of teaching behind me. I blend educational expertise with on-field experience to create environments where players and coaches grow with confidence, clarity and purpose.
I’ve coached across every stage of youth development, from foundation ages through to First Team Semi-Pro, with roles at Football West, Perth Glory FC Academy, and clubs across Australia and England. My teaching background gives me a unique edge: I understand how young people learn, think and thrive.
My coaching philosophy is simple:
Build the person, and the player will follow.
I focus on communication, psychology, and creating spaces where players feel supported to take risks, make mistakes, and push their limits.
My four core values—Hard Work, Commitment, Passion, Empower—shape everything I do. I hold myself to them first, because I believe players reflect the coach they have in front of them.
With qualifications including Bachelors Sport Science in Football, Post Grad Diploma in Education, AFC B Diploma and the Barcelona Innovation Hub Tactical Analyst Certificate, I’m always learning and always evolving.
If you’re looking for a coach, mentor, or support that puts people first, I’m here to help you and your players grow every step of the way.
Let’s get to work.
Curriculum Vitae
Personal and professional values
Hardwork
Hard work is the great equaliser. You can’t always control whether you’re the smartest, most experienced, or most knowledgeable person in the room — but you can always control your effort. For me, hard work is about owning your controllables: how hard you work for yourself, how hard you work on yourself, and how hard you work for others.
It isn’t just about hours on the clock. True hard work is built on resilience, perseverance, and dedication — the behaviours that separate those who talk about growth from those who actually pursue it. It’s the willingness to stay committed when things get difficult, to keep learning when it’s uncomfortable, and to show up with purpose even when the outcome isn’t guaranteed.
At the end of the day, if I know I’ve given everything I honestly could, I can be at peace with the result — win or lose. Hard work doesn’t promise perfection, but it does promise integrity, progress, and the confidence that you’ve earned whatever comes next
Passion
Passion is the spark that brings our work to life. It’s walking in each day with a smile, grateful that we get to play, coach, and promote the sport we love. We’re in a privileged position — football is our environment, our community, and our purpose — so there’s rarely anything worth complaining about.
For me, passion shows up as infectious positivity. It’s greeting people with energy, warmth, and a genuine smile that can brighten their day. You never know when someone needs that spark, that moment of encouragement, or that reminder that they matter.
But passion isn’t always effortless. Some days it’s harder to find, and that’s where curiosity, empathy, and gratitude become essential. They help us reconnect with why we do what we do, rediscover joy in the process, and stay grounded in the bigger picture.
Passion is a choice — a daily commitment to bring enthusiasm, purpose, and positivity into every environment we step into.
Commitment
Commitment is more than turning up to training — it’s showing up with purpose, consistency, and care. It’s the promise you make to yourself to keep growing, and the promise you make to others to be there when it matters most. In moments of hardship, celebration, challenge, or change, commitment is choosing to stand alongside people and support them fully.
For me, commitment also means investing in my own development. That includes honest reflection, seeking feedback, welcoming external observations, and continually sharpening my craft. It’s staying curious through courses, webinars, podcasts, and research so I remain aligned with modern trends and best practice.
True commitment is a behaviour, not a checkbox. It’s the daily decision to improve, to contribute, and to uphold the standards that help everyone around you thrive.
Empower
Empowerment is a responsibility. It’s our role to lift others, to give them confidence, and to create environments where people feel safe to take risks. Without risk, there is no progress — and without empowerment, there is no risk.
I believe in empowering colleagues to take ownership of their work, explore new ideas, and chase new edges without fear of ridicule or shutdown. Growth only happens when people feel trusted, supported, and encouraged to push beyond what they already know.
I want players to feel that same freedom. Take on the fullback. Try the rainbow flick. Express yourself. Because what if it works? And even if it doesn’t, you’ve learned, you’ve grown, and you’ve taken a step forward. If you never try, you never succeed.
Empowerment means giving people the courage to act — and the reassurance that whether they fail or succeed, they have my full support. It’s about building people who believe in themselves, who take ownership, and who aren’t afraid to chase possibility.
Session clips
Visit my YouTube page for clips from my sessions.
Playing through the lines with a link player
Thank you to South Perth United and their senior mens team coach Chris Nolan for allowing me to take a session.
Chris wanted me to focus on playing out from the back and linking through the middle as he found that players where not making the rotations he was looking for. In this session starter I created a fun Rondo variation of 4v2+1 with the aim to getting a lot of reps of linking with a middle player under pressure. By adding an accountability action such as push ups the intensity was high from the start and the BP players working together to try and achieve this goal.
This session was really successful as the success criteria for this activity was, rep’s under pressure of the intended action (both the person playing the ball in and the middle player linking out) and building camaraderie after a heavy 7-2 defeat the following game.
I built the rondos up form 4v2+1 into a 6v4+4 by joining the same colour boxes together, this extended the game and I used position context to aid the linking from this activity to the next one and the rest of the session.