Shaun Ontong (born 25 March 1987 in

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

) is a retired

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

and coach who is current assistant coach of Yokohama F. Marinos. His father, Paul Ontong, was born in South Africa and played in the NSL for Canberra City,

Mooroolbark SC Mooroolbark Soccer Club is an Australian soccer club based in Mooroolbark, an outer eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria. The club currently plays in Victorian State League Division 2. History Founded by two Dutch men, they formed a Dutch ...

and Brisbane Lions.

Club career

Ontong grew up in Canberra, playing junior football for local clubs Belwest Foxes and later Belconnen United. In 2006, he was awarded a place in the AIS football program. In late 2006, he trialled with

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

club

1. FC Nürnberg 1. Fußball-Club Nürnberg Verein für Leibesübungen e. V., often called 1. FC Nürnberg (, en, 1. Football Club Nuremberg) or simply Nürnberg, is a German association football club in Nuremberg, Bavaria, who currently compete in the 2. Bund ...

, but suffered a groin injury during the trial and returned to Australia. He spent time briefly with Melbourne Victory before heading back to Europe, trialling with FC Sion and later in Slovenia with

NK Maribor NK may refer to: Businesses *Imerys (Euronext ticker code NK) *Nordiska Kompaniet, a department store in Stockholm, Sweden *Northrup-King Seed Company *Spirit Airlines (IATA code NK) *NK.pl, a Polish school-based social networking service Places ...

and

Bela Krajina White Carniola ( sl, Bela krajina; german: Weißkrain or ''Weiße Mark'') is a traditional region in southeastern Slovenia on the border with Croatia. Due to its smallness, it is often considered a subunit of the broader Lower Carniola region, alth ...

, but his recurrent injury forced another return home. In June 2007, he signed with Adelaide United on a one-year contract, followed by a two-year contract with the Newcastle Jets in April 2008. , he was playing with

Oakleigh Cannons Oakleigh Cannons Football Club is a soccer club based in the south-east Melbourne suburb of Oakleigh, Victoria, Australia. The club, established by members of Oakleigh's Greek Australian community, currently competes in the NPL Victoria. The cl ...

in the Victorian Premier League.

International career

Ontong received 10 caps at international U20 level and captained the

Young Socceroos The Australia national under-20 soccer team, known colloquially as the Young Socceroos, represents Australia in international under-20 soccer. The team is controlled by the governing body for soccer in Australia, Football Australia (FA), which ...

through the

AFC Youth Championship 2006 The 2006 AFC Youth Championship was the 34th instance of the AFC Youth Championship. It was held from 29 October to 12 November 2006 in India. It was the first time for India to host this tournament. Sixteen teams from the AFC qualified to the f ...

campaign.

A-League career statistics

(')

Football academy

In 2013 Ontong and fellow

Kaz Patafta Kaz Phonesak Patafta (born 25 October 1988) is a former Australian professional footballer. Patafta previously played as a midfielder for Benfica, Melbourne Victory, Newcastle Jets and Khon Kaen United F.C. He captained the Australia under-17 ...

set up a football academy in Canberra, ''Ontong Patafta Football Academy''.opfa.com.au: Media
. Accessed 18 June 2013

References

External links

Ontong Patafta Football Academy
*
Profile at ultimatealeague.com
(to 2010). Accessed 11 November 2012 1987 births Living people Sportspeople from Canberra Soccer players from the Australian Capital Territory Australian soccer players Adelaide United FC players Newcastle Jets FC players A-League Men players Australian Institute of Sport soccer players Kerala Blasters FC non-playing staff Association football fullbacks {{Australia-footybio-stub