The Southern Football Netball League is delighted to advise that former Gold Coast Suns coach, Guy McKenna, has been engaged in a newly-formed development position within the League.
Guy has accepted a part-time contract position as Technical Director for the remainder of the 2015 season, during which time a pilot Youth Development Program will be developed for 2016.
Twice a premiership player and captain of the West Coast Eagles, Guy spent five years at Collingwood as an assistant coach before his six year tenure as inaugural coach of the Gold Coast Suns AFL franchise.
Under Guy’s coaching and leadership, the Gold Coast Suns' initial 17 year old draftees were developed through the Under 18 TAC Cup and then the VFL competitions in 2009 and 2010, prior to their 2011 debut in the national AFL competition.
This player, coach and development background makes Guy, who lives with his wife and young family in Hampton, an outstanding appointment for the SFNL.
The SFNL Youth Development Program is aimed at 18 to 22 year old players registered in the League.
The players, to be identified throughout the remainder of the 2015 season, will be above average SFNL football talent. These Under 19 or Senior Grade players will also display good character and personal attributes that will see them invited to participate on a ‘no obligation’ basis in the 2016 program.
The program will focus on the accelerated development, somewhere between elite (AFL) to semi-elite (VFL and TAC Under 18s) levels, of participants in key areas of Australia Football, while also including educative learnings and personal development in key life skill areas.
The SFNL Technical Director will also facilitate “Coach the Coaches” sessions with Senior, Reserve and Under 19 coaches across all League Divisions.
However, the focus for Guy until the end of 2015 will be on developing the Youth Development Program with the aim of roll out in 2016. Guy has already commenced “Coach the Coaches” sessions with Division 1 Clubs.
Based on the success of the pilot program this year, the intention is to appoint the Technical Director for a three year period from 2016 to manage, implement and deliver the program.
This appointment is a first and significant step forward to improving the standard of SFNL football, made possible by the successful reintroduction of the League’s Under 19 competition six years ago.
It is hoped that Youth Development Program graduates will form a major component of the SFNL representative team over the coming seasons.
