Caroline Springs Hockey Club has wasted no time in appointing experienced coaches for the club’s inaugural season.
It’s been a busy few months for the club which was established late last year, as it’s gone about finding coaches and players.
The club last week announced it had so far appointed four coaches. The programs for women and men will be run by Ron Shadbolt and David Gorton respectively.
They bring a wealth of experience to the club. Most recently, they were co-coaches of the women’s teams at Melton Hockey Club, with both the seniors and reserves making finals last year.
Shadbolt was a finalist for the 2016 Hockey Victoria male community coach of the year award.
Randeep Reetu will look after the club’s Hookin2Hockey program, while Mel Lake will coach the under-10s.
Club vice-president Kathy Jungfer said the club was lucky to have secured such experienced coaches.
She said there had been a lot of interest in the new club, which was started to help fill a hockey void in the area.
“We looked at the demographic of Caroline Springs and there was nothing here,” she said.
“It’s a growing sport in the west. At this stage, we’ve got two women’s teams, a men’s team and an under-10 team. We’ve already got 23 women ordering uniforms.
“There’s been a lot of interest and great numbers at training. It’s all happened quickly.”
Gorton said both himself and Shadbolt decided they needed a change of environment after coaching the Melton women’s teams together for the past three years.
“We both have similar philosophies,” he said. “We feel like we took the Melton sides as far as we could and it’s time for fresh faces. Now we want to replicate what we did at Melton here.
“It’s a fresh opportunity and a good challenge.”
Gorton said coaching different sides from Shadbolt would be a contrast to the Melton set-up, but both would look to continue the processes used previously.
The club’s women are set to start in the pennant competition, while the men’s side will be in the lower metro competition.
Jungfer said the club had been working with Melton council to secure a playing facility and was hopeful of announcing ground details in coming weeks.
Details: carolinespringshockey.weebly.com
