Keely Holcombe is the new woman behind the wheel of the Bears’ A-grade mixand she wants smiles on faces when the Picola District Netball League rolls around again.
That’s not to say winning is not also a priority.
Holcombe, who takes the reins from premiership-winning coach Jayanna Sharp, knows this season’s elimination final exit was a slight on Tungamah’s recent dominance.
She has circled a top-six finish as a keen goal, but first and foremost, the fun times are back.
“My goal is just getting people back playing netball and having fun,” she said.
“Obviously everyone has their sights set on the end goal of winning a grand final, which I‘m hoping will start to fall in place once we get back to basics and work on all the fundamentals.
“Jayanna has obviously built a great club; in ’22 we had the four premierships with all grades winning the seniors, so I think we don’t want to change too much.
“I just want to have people back enjoying playing netball, I don’t want it to be a chore. I want people to have an out from their daily lives, relax and have fun while trying to win.”
Holcombe has Tungamah in her DNA, having begun her journey on the court at the Bears.
She began at 13-and-under level and spent the rest of her junior career in maroon and yellow before an overseas jaunt took her away from the club.
Upon return, she opted for a new home.
Holcombe donned the threads of Mulwala, Wahgunyah and Yarrawonga for a portion of her senior netball foray, but strolled back into Tungamah a few years back and hasn’t budged since.
She drank from the premiership chalice as part of the Bears’ grand final squad to beat Strathmerton by two goals in the 2022 decider and came back halfway through the 2023 campaign after spending time off the court to have a baby.
“It was really good (to play this season); it was an enjoyable year to get back on the court and have a bit of fun,” she said.
“It was a bit disappointing that we couldn’t go further into finals having won the grand final the season before, but we had a completely different team than the year before.”
In her own words, Holcombe labelled her new assignment a “big job”.
After all, she’s never coached senior netball before.
However, the thrill of the chase and the promise of a strong squad, not unlike its 2023 list, has Holcombe buoyant about the future ahead.
“I’m looking forward to the year to see how it will all pan out and also looking forward to coming up against some of the other A-grade coaches who’ve been doing it for a few years now,” she said.
“I think most of the girls are sticking around from last year and I know we’ve picked up a couple of players as well, so hopefully a few more will come out once we have trials and kick off next year.”
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