LVFNL: Mitiamo desperate to find senior coach as future hangs in balance

While the club is in a strong position off the field both financially and committee-wise following its annual general meeting last week, and its netball program is in good shape, the Superoos remain without a senior football coach.

Not for the first time in recent years rumours about the Loddon Valley Football-Netball League club potentially folding have been rife in recent weeks.

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While the club acknowledges it's facing a testing time given it's still without a coach in mid-November and has already lost up to 10 senior players - including its Queensland contingent - the committee led by president Mick Draper and vice-president Brad Spence is continuing to fight to ensure the Superoos are part of the LVFNL in 2023 and beyond.

"Off-field it's really positive for us. We had our annual general meeting last week with 35 people there," Spence said this week.

"We've got a full committee, we've got some new younger people who have joined the committee and that's fantastic and financially we're in a strong position... the salary cap in the LVFNL is $106,000 and we have the ability to pay that.

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"But we're in the position where we just can't find a senior coach. We've tried about 37 different people, but, unfortunately, haven't been able to land anyone yet."

The inability to find a senior coach to take over from Marcus McKern comes on the back of the Superoos having been a force on the field in recent years.

Since 2015 the Superoos have played in four senior grand finals, won the flag in 2019, were on top of the ladder undefeated when the season was cut short early in 2021 and this year finished fourth.

The club - which has a history dating back to 1889 - has had an ageing list in recent years and without an under-18 side since 2012 has constantly had to rely on recruits to remain competitive.

"We know we're going to have to get players again for next year, but we can't at the moment because we can't tell prospective recruits who our coach is," Spence said.

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"And we understand it's a difficult situation for our existing players with the uncertainty around the coaching position.

"We're still here and we're fighting, but the reality is if we can't get someone who wants to take on the coaching job then there is the possibility that we could fold, so we are on the edge.

"We're going to need someone who is willing to take on the challenge of building their own team and we're under no illusion that it is probably going to be a two-to-three year program.

"Hopefully, there's someone out there who reads this and has some empathy for the position we're in and wants to give something back to local football.

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"We're obviously biased, but we feel we've got a really good club here at Mitiamo that has a history of more than 130 years. This is a challenging time for the club, but we are determined to push on and the key to that now is finding that senior coach.

"As a committee we are doing the best we can to find a new senior coach, be it playing or non-playing."

Anyone interested in coaching the Superoos can contact Draper on 0493 268 653 or Spence on 0492 875 793.

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