Healesville JFC – 2022 Season Preview

Healesville Junior Football Club are building towards an exciting year, with strong participation numbers and overall teamwork pointing towards an exciting season of development.

The Bloods of Queens Park will field teams in all available age groups this year except for under 18 girls, while playing two teams in each of under 13’s and under 15’s.

Pre-season training has run according to plan thus far, with great numbers turning up to prepare for the year ahead.

Incoming club president Zac Coleman is pleased with where his club sits ahead of the seasons commencement and particularly loves the fact his players are enjoying themselves again.

“it’s been a really hard two years where a lot of kids have relaxed and not had to worry about footy and the various opportunities it presents but it’s great to see them finally get out and have a good time,” he said.

“The feedback from the coaches has been that the numbers have been pretty good overall, and I hope that as the AFL season continues to make tracks, we can see more numbers come to the club.”

A major change to its coaching department over the off-season has been the appointment of a coaching director in Shane Newsome, where his role is to provide mentoring to all coaches and other related opportunities across the club for further improvement.

An experienced person in football who will also coach the OEFN under 15 development squad, Newsome will be a source of relief for Healesville, assisting his fellow coaches with game sense, strategies, and development of all players across the club.

Leading into the year, the priorities at Healesville will remain at the standard level of maintaining participation levels and promoting good culture, as part of its overarching strategy following two years where a full season could not be completed.

“This season, we are all about doing our bit to develop our players into good responsible young people, sticking by your mates and having fun,” Coleman explained.

“As the kids get older, they begin to focus more on winning, but certainly in the lower age groups it’s about participation.”

Coleman does not place any major expectations on his club in season 2022, with the aim to simply to get out and play rather than chase finals victories or premierships.

“My main goal for this year is to get kids out there and enjoy themselves,” he said.

“Some silverware would be fantastic, but we are not focussed on winning because if we can provide an outlet for our kids and their parents, then it’s happy days.

“The club is really appreciative of the opportunity provided to us by OEFN to play organised sport after what we have been through over the last two years.”