EFL: Heathmont senior coach Kyle Emley steps down
The latest EFL club has entered the hunt for a new senior coach, following the resignation of its second-year mentor...
Local Footy
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Eastern Division 2 club Heathmont has entered the market for a new senior coach following the resignation of second-year mentor, Kyle Emley.
Emley took on the Jets’ gig at the end of 2018, filling the position left vacant by Joel Cordwell. He led the club for the 2019 season, posting an 11-7 win-loss record and a semi-final berth.
But a move interstate for family-related work reasons has meant the ex-Vermont champion and former Jets junior has had to call time on his tenure at HE Parker Reserve.
“He’s going to be moving interstate at the end of the year, and he’s advised us this week that he can’t continue on in the role,” Heathmont president Rob Parker said.
“He’s been terrific with all our younger group which is our main crop now.
“He’s had a good relationship with them and put a fair bit of time into them. It’s just disappointing this year nothing’s transpired – I would have thought this year we would have had another positive year as well, but that’s not to be.
“With Kyle and Joel previously, we can’t complain as we’ve had success in that period, we’ve played off in finals and the 19s and reserves have.”
Parker said the club would now turn its attention to seeking out Emley’s replacement, with an eye on experience, citing the club’s newly-revamped facilities as a drawcard.
“There’s lots of people that have dropped off the VFL and AFL, assistant coaches and line coaches … I guess it’s always a challenge to locate those people and convince them to take a role on at a lower level,” he said.
“It’ll be an interesting three or four weeks to see what pops up … we’d love to get an established coach, or someone who’s been at a higher level.
“With the list that we’ve got, we’re trying to push the facilities that we now have.
“Hopefully we can attract someone who wants to establish themselves and take on a list – it’d be nice to get someone for a two, three, four-year period.”
The Jets will also seek to navigate their way through the impending salary cap cuts, with the EFL’s Division 2 competition expected to have a $70,000 player payment ceiling, down $40,000 on last season.
“We’ve got a players’ Zoom meeting on next Wednesday night to have a talk to them about the salary cap and how that’s going to affect everyone,” Parker said.
“Now we’ve got these facilities, if someone considers moving on to someone else, we’re going to push the facilities that we’ve got, ground-wise, lights, we’ll be playing night footy next year, some real marquee games.
“It’s a good time to be part of the club.”
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