Capital Football 2023 Player of the Year and one time Monaro junior announced as NEW Club Technical Director

From promising youngster to professional player and Capital Football’s 2023 Player of the Year, Roko Strika has just been appointed as Technical Director for Monaro Panthers FC.

Strika accepted the position without hesitation, and we are thrilled that he will be leading our football direction for the upcoming season and beyond.

Returning to Monaro as a National Premier League Men’s player in 2023, Roko has spent the last six years living, working, studying and playing football in the region. He was last with Monaro as a junior before his selection in the Capital Football and ACT Academy of Sport elite programs. At the age of 17, Strika pursued his international career joining the youth academy of Dinamo Zagreb – the biggest club in Croatia.

Not surprisingly, at 19 Strika’s professional football career escalated signing with NK Maksimir followed by HNK Gorcia, before a seven-year deal with NK Zagreb.

Born in Canberra, Strika is a self-confessed “club man”, describing himself as playing for a club and being part of that club – not simply playing and leaving at the end of the match – “a club needs to portray good culture, bring the community together and be an environment that people enjoy” said Strika when asked about his vision for the culture of Monaro. Strika hopes to lead Monaro to promotion from Capital Premier League into National Premier League at the end of the 2024 season.

No stranger to developing and preparing players, Strika sees this role as an opportunity to support coaches, share experiences and help grow the club. He will work closely with our coaches across the competition and is looking forward to seeing our junior players and coaches grow as they gain skills and experiences and progress through the years with Monaro.

He’ll maintain his playing career alongside this new role, and you can expect to see him on the pitch in 2024.