Adelaide premiership coach Bec Goddard signs up again as giant BHP inks three-year partnership
PREMIERSHIP-winning coach Bec Goddard and mining giant BHP will be forming one very potent team for the Crows — this is why.
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ADELAIDE’S AFLW premiership coach Bec Goddard has recommitted to the club for next season, as mining giant BHP comes on board as a commercial partner for three seasons in a major endorsement of women’s football.
Goddard, who will today be confirmed as the club’s coach for 2018, said she never had any doubts about re-signing after leading the Crows to the inaugural trophy in March.
When the celebrations died down, Goddard got back into “normal life” in her day job with the Australian Federal Police but planning for next season started straightaway.
She held one-on-one meetings with every player with the theme “where to now”.
“We had 64 hours of travelling to Melbourne then up to Darwin and back to Adelaide, then we went through all the processes — I wouldn’t call them exit interviews but a debrief with the players,” Goddard said.
“They were informal chats and I wanted to hear from them what they enjoyed and what we can improve on.”
Four months on from the grand final win over Brisbane, Goddard said she was able to appreciate what they achieved.
“I had a lot of people approach me on the street and grab me on the arm and say ‘you don’t know what you’ve done’ and I would say ‘I think I do know what we’ve done, but I don’t know I can put into words the significance of it and maybe won’t for 20 or 30 years’,” she said.
Adelaide chief executive Andrew Fagan described the new three-year partnership with BHP as a “significant milestone” for the club.
“A little over a year ago we were lobbying the AFL to be a part of the inaugural AFLW season and fielding questions about whether the team would be a drain on club resources,” Fagan said. “We have since played to packed venues, won the premiership, encouraged thousands of girls to take up the game and now we have entered into a long-term partnership with one of Australia’s biggest companies.”
Originally published as Adelaide premiership coach Bec Goddard signs up again as giant BHP inks three-year partnership