After an extremely tough year of no senior football the Yea Football Netball Club is excited to announce that they have appointed a new senior coach and assistant coach to lead the club in 2024! 

Mitch Skelly has accepted the role of senior coach and club legend Daniel Evans returns as his lead assistant playing coach for season 2024.

Peter Armstrong, Club President, announced,” Senior footy is back at Yea! This has been the most challenging few years of our club’s history.  We cannot be more thankful and appreciative of the support we have been able to maintain through this season, off the back of having great junior and netball teams in 2023. Those teams have really kept our club afloat. We have also received lots of community support and offers of assistance from all over Victoria.”

He added: “This news gives our club and the entire Yea community so much hope for not only next season, but well into the future. The quality of the coaches that we have been able to attract to the club is a credit to our hard-working committee, the committees that proceeded us and to some past players that reached out and got heavily involved in the recruitment process.”

Mitch Skelly, who accepted the role after a lengthy and rigorous process, is an AFL level 3 accredited coach that has had experience as head coach in the VFLW and more recently been coaching at the very successful club, Heidelberg in the NFNL.  Mitch had a successful community football career himself and donned the yellow and black for the Yea Tigers in season 2021.  Mitch could not be more excited about joining the Yea Tigers.

Mitch said,” I can’t wait to get started and lead what is a great club back into senior football.  In my dealings with the club, I was presented with a very professional Strategic Plan that gave me confidence that the committee and its leaders have a great understanding of the work that we need to do to bring this club back to where it belongs; competing against the very best teams the Outer East has to offer in all grades of football.”

He added: “I was able to play 5 or 6 games for the club in 2021 and the place left a lasting impression on me. The people were all so welcoming and the culture was second to none. I watched from afar as the club battled in the last few years and I had a sense that I could really help in some way.  At the time I didn’t know it would be as their senior coach, but the pitch made to me from the committee was something I couldn’t pass up. I can’t wait to start the recruitment process with all the players and for pre-season to begin.”

Yea FNC is equally excited that Daniel Evans (known as “Pup” around the club) is back as the lead playing assistant coach for 2024. Pup has held senior leadership roles at Yea and played over 200 games for the club.  He returns to the club after a stint with Forest Hill as their Playing Assistant Coach for the past 2 seasons.

Pup said, “I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at Forest Hill and will continue to give my absolute all to the club for the rest of this season. I have made lifelong friends and Forest Hill will hold a special place in my heart. But those who know me well, know I am a Yea Tigers man through and through. I love the place and my family has all been heavily involved at the club in some way for as long as anyone can remember.

The opportunity to return and get the place back up and running is one I couldn’t pass up.  My partner and I can’t wait to get back involved at the club and I look forward to working closely with Mitch, to help lead the Yea Tigers back to successful times in senior football.”

Both Mitch and Daniel have seasons to complete with their current respective clubs but have already started putting together a team of assistants that will begin the process of recruiting new and past players for both senior and reserves for next season.

Peter Armstrong concluded, “we are in the marketplace now and although we can’t make announcements this early, we are right in the mix for some very talented players to join our ranks next season. We are very confident that our senior teams will be able to compete next season and we will be able to build a senior football program that will thrive not only in 2024 but well into the future.”