Boldiston lands at LVFNL netball premiers

The Eagles have appointed former Australian and Victorian men's representative and well-respected Victorian country-football leagues coach Adam Boldiston as their new off-court leader.

Boldiston replaces Christie Griffiths, who did not seek reappointment after guiding the Eagles to their first A-grade flag since 2013, in last month's eight-goal grand final victory over Mitiamo.

She also coached the Eagles' B-grade and 17-and-under teams to premierships on a big day for the club, marked by five netball grand final wins in total.

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Bendigo-born and raised Boldiston joins Maiden Gully YCW after coaching Riddells Creek in the Riddell District league in 2022.

He previously spent five seasons with Sunbury Lions in the Ballarat league, winning one premiership and regularly playing finals.

Boldiston won't be going into the role cold, having lent a hand during the Eagles' 2022 finals campaign.

He's excited by the new opportunity and the change in scenery.

"The LVFNL is a lot different to the leagues where I have coached in the past," he said.

"I really enjoyed the community aspect when I was out at Maiden Gully in the lead-up to finals and throughout finals.

"The atmosphere of the Loddon Valley league was great. Mind you, we were looking forward to joining the Heathcote league, which might have suited me even better.

"Hopefully it's not too far away that the club gets to move; to me it makes sense."

Having moved back to Bendigo from Melbourne a couple of years ago to be close to family and friends, the opportunity to coach nearer to home has plenty of appeal for Boldiston.

He could not help but be impressed by his initial interactions with Maiden Gully YCW during the final series.

"They definitely performed across all grades - to win the five premierships (A, B, C, C-reserve and 17-and-under) was above and beyond expectations," he said.

"There is definitely some good depth across all grades, but there are a few gaps I'd like to fill.

"Hopefully we'll get a few new people turn up to trials.

"But I was pleased with what the girls did. I actually helped them out at their last training session before the grand final and they were really receptive to the feedback I was giving them and executing the things I asked them to do.

"That was pleasing ... I can see already they are very coachable athletes.

"To turn around a 14-goal loss from two weeks prior against Mitiamo in the grand final was pretty impressive.

"I'm looking forward to it. The majority in A grade, in particular, are 25 and below, so it's quite a youngish group.

"And hopefully there will be some opportunities for some of our B-grade girls that I have had a look at and I think have potential.

"The foundations are there.

"It's great joining a club that has 17 netball teams. My clubs down in Sunbury and the like have had five teams, but it's been a struggle every week to find numbers the last few years.

"I'm going to enjoy just getting on with coach instead of player chasing."

A long and distinguished 25-year career in netball for Boldiston has included coaching stints with VNL clubs Southern Saints and Monash University Storm (now Hawks) and the state men's under-20 team, and on-court representation in Australian men's and mixed squads.

Along the way, he has been part of several premierships and state and national titles.

His junior netball was played in the Bendigo Strathdale Netball Association before playing men's netball in Melbourne from the age of 16.

Maiden Gully YCW will host tryouts at Marist College on November 13, 17 and 20.

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