Premiership player ready to take on Banno coaching gig

BANNOCKBURN Tigers have signed on captain and inaugural premiership winning member Alana Nicol as their new A Grade head coach.

Nicol will serve as a player-coach for Geelong South West A Grade defending champions during the 2022 Geelong and District Netball League (GDNL), making the jump to the senior coaching ranks after two seasons coaching the Under 17 side in 2019 and 2021.

The centercourter had previously played for the South Barwon’s GNL A Grade side and the Ariels of the Victorian Netball League before making the move to Bannockburn in 2019, where she helped the Tigers attain its first ever A grade GDNL championship.

The coaching move comes as former head coach Sarah Fisher moved on from the role leaving a vacancy that needed to be filled prior to pre-season activities set to start in the coming days.

It is safe to say the club did not need to look far to find a suitable replacement.

“I’ve played under some really great coaches throughout my juniors, which I am super grateful for,” Nicol said.

“People say I have a good netball brain, so I guess I thought that I would apply for the role and take on the challenge.”

Over the last couple of seasons, Nicol had assisted previous Tigers coaches and believes that along the way she has acquired plenty of tools in coordinating a side.

She also mentioned now is the time to give back to the sport she loves.

“I think it is all well and good to play netball but being able to coach and implement game plans to see how players react is a completely different ballgame,” Nicol said.

“It has been great to learn new skills like drawing up plays and showing it to players and I think I’m at the stage in my netball career where it is time to give back to the game and pass on some of my knowledge to the younger players.”

Excitement is also brewing out in Bannockburn as the club’s top netball side still needs to defend its 2019 crown.

“We are going to give it a good, hard crack this season,” Nicol added.

“I, along with the others, just want to get out there and play a full season and have some fun with it.

“Preseason starts this week, so we’ll give that a good run to get fit and hopefully develop some of our younger players.”

Nicol’s Under 17s netball side were premiers in 2019 as well.