EDFL: East Keilor appoints Pat Christofi as coach for 2019
East Keilor has appointed a former professional kickboxer as its coach for next season as the club looks to climb the Division 1 ladder.
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EAST Keilor has appointed Pat Christofi as coach for 2019 as the club looks to climb the Essendon District Football League Division 1 ladder.
Christofi replaces Ash Arrowsmith, who stepped down from the top job in August because of work commitments.
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Christofi has spent the past two seasons as a senior assistant under Marc Bullen at Western Region league powerhouse Deer Park while also coaching the Lions’ reserves.
The 50-year-old was a professional kickboxer for more than two decades and also owned a gym for 16 years, meaning fitness will be high on his agenda.
“He’s come from an A grade club over at Deer Park and they’ve been very successful there for the last five or so years,” Cougars president Geoff Nicholl said of Christofi.
“I went and actually watched him coach the other week and was pretty impressed with the way he spoke to the guys and the way he handles himself. He’s very professional in what he does.
“He’s been associated with football for a fair while now.”
East Keilor finished sixth with a 6-10 record after a fruitful off-season of recruiting.
But it was hit hard by injury and ended the year four games behind fourth-ranked Craigieburn.
Dion Hill, Vincent Madaffari, Jordan Madden, James Philpot, Michael Galcin, Shaun Ujcich, Lachlan Pettigrove, Ben Nichol and Vincent Schiavello are among those to recommit for next season.
“Each coach when they come across normally brings a couple of their own as well, so we’re looking forward to an exciting year next year,” Nicholl said.
The Cougars are also hopeful Arrowsmith – one of the competition’s elite players – will remain at Overland Reserve after relinquishing coaching duties.
“We’re hoping Ash will continue with a bit of luck,” Nicholl said.
“We’ll see how we go, have a meeting with Pat and go from there.”
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