The coach developer role will be to educate and train coaches in the region to be consistent with the National Coaching strategy, AFL Goulburn Murray regional manager Shaun Connell said.
“The coach developers will work with clubs and club coaches to identify individual performance and learning needs, while targeting whole-club coaching development of coaches within participating clubs,” Connell said.
“Coaching behavioural change and creating a ‘player-centred’ environment are key focuses of coach developers.”
If clubs or coaches want to reach out to coach developers, but are concerned about costs or committing to a certain time frame, those worries can be put to rest.
Connell said the AFL completely covered the costs for utilising the coach developers program and that the coach developers are there for as long as the club or coach requires.
AFL Goulburn club development lead Murray Samantha Monaghan said there was no set outline of what the coach developers were there to do; instead, the coach developers will tailor their support to what the club or coaches specifically require.
“It is very dependant on what the club or the coach who requests is after,” she said.
“It can be around doing their coaching charter, it can be observing a young coach or their whole coaching team and putting a bit of a plan in place around how they, as a club, want to coach.
“What are their values? It might be helping a coach become upskilled in a particular area they might be struggling with; it could just be providing some skills and drills for those coaches.
“The support can be one-off, or it can be ongoing. It is very club and coach dependant and what they are after.”
The three people selected to be coach developers (Simon Grumley, Sammy Heron and Justin McMahon) for the Goulburn Murray region have vast football experience in the area.
Across the three coaches they have experience in Auskick, junior football, senior (playing and coaching), interleague, representative (Murray Bushrangers and Vic Country) and more.
AFL Goulburn Murray put forward Grumley, Heron and McMahon for the role due to their impressive track record, as Connell believes they will be an invaluable asset to community football in the region.
“We are excited to have appointed Simon, Sammy and Justin to these positions,” Connell said.
“They each bring a wealth of experience and knowledge to this role. This will be of tremendous benefit to all coaches across our region and I encourage clubs and coaches to make contact with them and take advantage of this opportunity to upskill and develop at no cost to clubs or coaches.”
If the idea of a coach developer for your club interests you, head to AFL Goulburn Murray’s website to find out more.
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