Personal glory for team leader

SANDHURST Football Netball Club A-Grade coach Tamara Gilchrist has been acknowledged with John Forbes Coach/Manager of the Year honours at the Bendigo Sports Star Awards.

The gong came following her guidance and leadership as she coached both the Dragons’ A-Grade and A-Reserve teams to Bendigo Netball League premiership glory in 2022.

It was Sandhurst’s fourth A-Grade netball BNL flag in a row over six years due to COVID-19 impacts, with Gilchrist at the helm for each win.

Despite the impressive resume she said she was surprised to receive the honour.

“I’m completely overwhelmed, and it was completely unexpected,” she said. “I was really surprised and I am really humbled and honoured to win this award.

Gilchrist has had a long career in netball, both playing and coaching and said that picking up an individual award for a team sport was a bit of a different feeling.

“This is pretty special,” she said. “I have played lots of netball and been a part of and coached a lot of grand finals, so it’s actually a really strange feeling to be individually recognised for coaching.

“As coaches, we don’t coach for ourselves, we coach for our athletes, we coach for the glory of our team, for the wins and the premierships.”

As sweet as the award win was, Gilchrist is still hungry for more team glory.

“This is really lovely and its sits really high for me,” she said. “But it’s premierships first and premierships always.”