But Newcastle Jets’ James Virgili is thriving in his new mentoring role – and he only wishes it had been around when he was starting out.

Under the Emerging Jets Player Mentor scheme every member of the A-League team is assigned to a junior squad.

They attend training sessions, as well as a minimum of six matches, offer guidance, support and leadership, and share from their professional experiences.

“When I came into it there wasn’t really clear pathways to the first grade Jets,” Virgili told au.fourfourtwo.com.

“There was all the different clubs you could play for but now they’ve got a clear pathway into the first team.

“And even when I was a junior you really didn’t have any mentors coming into training and stuff like that.

“These boys have good players around them to teaching them stuff so it should help them progress in their football pretty well.”

The aim of the mentor program is to help youngsters like 10-year-old Patrick Bond reach their full potential.

The Hamilton South Public School student lists Virgili and Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard among his favourite players.

Recently he had the chance to pick the brains of the Jet’s right winger on a chilly evening at Lyndon Oval.

“I want to ask about becoming a better player,” he said, “and learn how the midfield works.”

And Virgili is confident that having a senior mentor can do just that.

“The coaches taking these teams are pretty good and they’ll be able to teach them most of the technical stuff,” he said.

“But the senior players that come in here should also be able to teach them things from their personal game – whether it be a certain skill, finishing or stuff like that.

“I think if they learn a bit from each player it will help them a lot.”

Virgili says there was nothing like it when he first hit the paddock as an aspiring youngster.

“Until I started training with the first team with the older and more experienced players, there were a lot of things I hadn’t learned in terms of positioning or what to do in certain areas,” he said.

“Being around lots of older players who’ve played at a higher level, these kids are getting that at a very young age, whereas players like me and Ben Kantarovski probably didn’t get that until we were about 18 years old. So it’s a really big step for them.”

And there are plenty of positive examples within the A-League squad including Young Socceroo right back, Andrew Hoole, now playing in the U-20 World Cup in Turkey.

“He kept on trying, kept on practising and eventually he got there,” Virgili says of Hoole. “So I think the message is to keep going.

“As a kid, all I ever wanted to do was play soccer as a job. I didn’t really want to be anything else and hope that I don’t ever have to. And I think if there are kids here who want that then I’d say to them, don’t give up.”

Meanwhile Virgili has taken some time to focus on his own professional goals for the upcoming A-League campaign after the club’s disappointing 8th placed finished in 2012/13.

Finals football is a must, said the Newcastle native who is hoping to have a bigger impact in the first team this season.

“Last year I probably only started about seven games and I came off the bench quite a bit,” he said.

“So I want to start a bit more this season. If I keep starting that means I must be playing good and I want to just try to score more and set more goals up and be more effective.”