OUR 2024 COACHES
A Grade | Darren Vanzetta
We are pleased to announce Darren Vanzetta will be coaching our A Grade team for a second year.
Darren joined EFC in 2023 after coaching for a number of years prior; he brings a wealth of knowledge with him and he knows success doesn’t come without hard work. Darren enjoys seeing young footballers commit to their footy and work hard to achieve their goals.
We asked Darren what he is looking forward to most this season and here is what he had to say…
“ I am looking forward to the challenge of coaching a group of players wanting success with hard work”.
B Grade | Shane Maslin
Another coaching announcement we are excited to make is the re-signing of Shane Maslin for the 2024 season.
This is Shane’s second year in a senior coaching role but he brings with him experience from coaching junior grades and his leadership roles as vice-captain in our A Grade side between 2011-2015, and then again when he played in Victoria for the 2021 & 2022 seasons.
Shane will be juggling a few hats this season as he takes on the roles of B Grade coach and player.
We asked Shane what he was looking forward to most this year and this is what he had to say…
“ I am looking forward to seeing how some of the younger players from last year develop this year. I also think we will have a lot more depth in both sides this year which is an exciting prospect as a B grade coach”.
U18’s | Damon Petersen
We are excited to announce Damon Petersen will be joining EFC as our Under 18’s coach for the upcoming season.
Damon joins the Echunga Football Club after transferring across from Mt lofty FC. Damon has coached Mt lofty’s under 18’s for the past two season where he led them to a GF and a prelim. Damon is a welcome addition to the Echunga Football Club and is already establishing himself as a popular member of the coaching group.
With any luck we may be able to convince Damon to dust off the boots as he is quite a handy player as well
We asked Damon what he is looking forward to the most this year and this is what he said…
“I am looking forward to the challenge of coaching a group that I coached against last year. Echunga were competitive in the under 18’s but I think we can take them to the next level. Mostly though I’m looking forward to helping make sure they are still being themselves while being apart of our team and building a really good culture within the group”.
Welcome to the EFC Damon. We look forward to seeing you around the club
U16’s | Scott Bailey
We welcome back to Echunga Football Club this year a 200+ game senior player, coach and valued club member, Scott Bailey as our Under 16’s coach for 2024.
Scott has spent the last 6 years running the Meadows FC men’s senior program as head coach. Scott coached this team to 3 Grand Finals in 2021, 2022 and 2023 and has also coached the HFL inter league as A grade senior coach in 2022. Scott brings a plethora of experience with him and we can’t wait to see what he can achieve with our lads this year.
We asked Scott what he was looking forward to this year and this is what he had to say…
“I’m really looking forward to working with the u16s and developing a strong junior program focused on growth within the existing core group whilst enjoying our football as we develop. Additionally looking forward to working alongside Joshua Sargent as we also welcome Josh to the 16s coaching team”.
U14’s | Andrew McFee &
George Hilder
Introducing Andrew ‘Gunner’ McFee as our Under 14’s coach and, George Hilder as the assistant coach.
Gunner is a big part of our footy club and this year sees him enter into his fourth year of coaching. His expertise expands over coaching our Under 16’s for 3 seasons, assistant B Grade coach in 2023 and again this season, Senior Women’s coach and A Grade runner. We are looking forward to what this season brings for you, Gunner. We asked him what he was most looking forward to this year and this is what he had to say…
“Build up the Junior Colts by giving them the skills to be our future stars, and having fun along the way. Mentoring George to help develop his coaching skills.”
Introducing George Hilder….
George is new to coaching this year and we know, Gunner is going to be a great mentor for him. George has played at EFC since Under 12’s in 2018 and in 2022 made his A Grade debut. This year you will find him running out on a Saturday with the Under 18’s and no doubt a game or two in the 1’s.
We asked George what he is looking forward to the most this year and this is what he had to say…
“I’m looking forward to helping this young up-and-coming under 14’s team to develop their footy skills, while building a great culture off and on the field. Gunner as the head coach will be great for the players and myself to learn and develop”.