EFL 2018: Glen Waverley Hawks coach Ryan Flack steps down from role at Eastern Football League club
GLEN Waverley will have a new coach for the first time in five years in 2019 after Ryan Flack informed the club he would be stepping down from the role.
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INCREASING work and family commitments have forced Glen Waverley Hawks coach Ryan Flack to step down from the role after five years at the helm.
Flack informed his players on Friday night at the club’s presentation dinner that he had called time on his tenure at Central Reserve.
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Flack, who was playing mentor at Southern league Division 1 club Chelsea Heights from 2005 to 2011, said he would not coach again for the “foreseeable future”.
“There were lots of reasons why I wanted to continue but lots of reasons on the home front, work front and family front as to why it was probably the right decision,” Flack said.
“It was a difficult call because I think the club is in a really good position now to have some sustained success.
“It’s important they can get somebody that can devote the time to make sure it all works properly.”
Flack guided Glen Waverley to its third Eastern Football League grand final this year since the senior club was formed in 2005.
But the Hawks fell 16 points short of their first premiership after Whitehorse Pioneers recorded a come-from-behind win.
Flack said he considered coaching for a sixth season in pursuit of that elusive premiership.
“From a footy sense, you would be crazy to leave this group of guys,” he said.
“There has been so much time put into the club that the fruits of that labour are going to be born over the next couple of years.
“To miss out on cashing in on that was something that was really difficult.
“My kids are getting to the age where they are wanting to do weekend sport and for them to have to sacrifice doing the things they want to do just for me to continue is probably not fair.”
Glen Waverley will be one of eight sides competing in Division 4 in 2019 as part of the EFL’s move to a five-tier competition.
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