Sport
3 January, 2023
Lady Redbacks announce senior women’s coaches
Carisbrook are moving full steam ahead towards the re-establishment of their senior women’s team for 2023, appointing Steve Atkinson, Matthew Johns and Daniel Petter to coaching positions. Atkinson and Johns will be taking on the main coaching...
Carisbrook are moving full steam ahead towards the re-establishment of their senior women’s team for 2023, appointing Steve Atkinson, Matthew Johns and Daniel Petter to coaching positions.
Atkinson and Johns will be taking on the main coaching role in a shared capacity, while Petter will be assisting and recruiting for the upcoming season.
The team announced that they will be competing in the Ballarat Football Netball League senior women’s competition in 2023, with the full intention of representing the Maryborough district area in the league, as well as helping players develop much like Lauren Butler and Paige Scott were able to, before landing in the AFLW with Collingwood and Essendon respectively.
The club is undergoing an exciting transition, with new change rooms and facilities set to open early in the year, with the full intention to make the club a leader in women’s football in the Central Goldfields.
Johns said he was excited to be taking on the role alongside Atkinson.
“I found it exciting to take on the role. There’s a good challenge in it, and there’s also the opportunity to give back what I’ve learned in football myself, knowing the girls can get better from what I have done. It’s exciting that girls want to play football, and if I can help them in any way, to improve their skills and to have fun while doing it, it’s something that I look forward to doing,” he said.
Carisbrook last competed in 2021, taking five victories from their nine games, but were unable to get a senior side up and running in 2022. Instead, the Lady Redbacks focused on developing their under 14s and under 18s throughout the season.
Johns doesn’t want to get caught up in any expectations for the team at the moment, but is striving to have continual improvement for the club in their first year back in the Ballarat league.
“I would probably say it’s all a work in progress at the moment, but the bottom line is, to be able to get a team up and having fun while doing it is a start. The rest will come as a result of those factors,” he said.
“We still have a bit of a way to go, but we have to start off somewhere. But to get started, and to make our numbers somewhere, is a good starting point. We’ll continue to take it week-by-week, however.”
Johns said that the opportunity to make Carisbrook a complete club again, with senior men’s and women’s football, as well as netball, couldn’t be overlooked.
“The importance of having a senior women’s club at Carisbrook is very high. We’d love to make it all one club as well, with the senior men’s team, the senior women’s team and our netballers. It would be great to see everyone all together,” he said.
Johns reserved special praise for Greg and Jo Butler, with their tireless work in women’s football allowing the Lady Redbacks to return to senior level.
“Greg and Jo do exceptional work. They are the backbone of the club, really. It’s how I got involved, through Greg two years ago, as I played football with him. He got me to come along and help out. I really enjoy it, it’s just exciting to see a girl in football move up through the ranks, and by the end of the year, you can see the improvement in them,” he said.
The club will be returning to the training track on Wednesday, January 11, from 5.30 pm, with light training and skills sessions the focus for the club.