BROADFORD Junior Football Club’s under 9s coach Brooke Currell was awarded junior coach of the year for the Seymour District Junior Football and Netball League, SDJFNL, in her first ever season coaching side.
Currell said that the award came as a major surprise and recognised the amount of work she had put into the position during preseason to coach the team to the best of her ability.
“It was my first official coaching gig full stop; it was a little tricky because there was no position description or a detailed guide on what needed to be done. The main thing is that you get your coaching certification online through AFL Victoria and that’s what I did,” she said.
“I put a lot of hours into researching and learning, when I put my hand up for something I fully commit to it, and what helped also was that AFL Victoria give you a lot of reference tools and heaps of sample training drills when you do the certification.”
At first, Currell was a little reluctant to take on the role, unsure of how well she would be able to coach the side with no experience. Once settled into the position, Currell was amazed at how well the side took to one another and showed an eagerness to learn.
“I was a little bit fearful to take on the role, I was worried that maybe I wouldn’t know enough,” she said.
“And there is a little stigma of women taking on roles like coaching and there was probably a little bit of fear that I’d be judged, but it was the complete opposite.
“There was a lot of work that went into training sessions, but one of the best things was halfway through the season, the kids’ skill set was quite incredible, so I started to tailor the sessions to trial technical drills, full field with different components to consider and they just excelled.”
Currell is no stranger to the Broadford Football Netball Club, having played netball for the Kangaroos since she was 14 years old, currently playing in the B grade where she also was awarded the club’s best and fairest for her grade this year.
She said that she wouldn’t have been able to commit to all her positions, and do them as well as she did, without the support of her assistant coach and the parents of the playing group.
“Considering how many hours were taken away from home life; I had lockdown interruption, two small businesses to keep afloat, family life, coaching, and still trying to scrape in a couple of seasons of netball before I retire, I am just glad that I was able to perform in all the roles,” she said.
“I wouldn’t have been able to do it without the playing group’s parents, and they never hesitated to volunteer to full roads on game days and my assistant coach Ash was a huge part of my growth and development and he kept the kids in line when the kids got a bit rowdy.”
Currell said that depending on whether she would be able to juggle the balance of family, work, and sport would depend on whether she takes a coaching position at the club again next year.
It is something she is interested in doing and hasn’t disregarded the idea yet.
“It was a lot to juggle, but it was such a rewarding experience, and I wouldn’t change it even knowing now the amount of work that went into it,” she said.
“I’d love to have some involvement again, but I just need to see how my two-year-old is going when the time comes round. If he needs me, then I won’t be able to allow that time, but if we continue to have the great parent group, and I know I have my amazing family supporting me, I would love to do it.”