New Hume City Broncos championship men’s coach Simon Gray initially knocked back the role when he was approached.
While Gray had led the Broncos youth league side to two championships, he wasn’t sure he was the man to step up and replace Matt Foster.
Foster stood down after seven years in charge.
“It’s exciting but I’ve also never coached at that level before,” he said. “When Matt stepped down they asked me if I would take on the champ role.
“I said no as I didn’t think I was the right guy.
“Matt ran a fantastic program for the past seven years. I learned a lot from him but I wasn’t confident that I had the ability to do everything.”
Gray said he was soon persuaded to take on the role and is grateful for the opportunity he has.
He said being reasonably competitive and liking a challenge it stuck out to him.
Gray got into coaching as he coached his children and got involved in the junior Bronco program.
He started gaining more learnings and education and progressively took on the roles that didn’t involve coaching his kids.
It led to the youth league men’s role.
Gray said his journey is not too dissimilar to a lot of players who climb through the ranks into the championship side.
“The foundations of the club are built on community focus and focused on people,” he said.
“It’s not about making up the numbers to make money.
“It’s about being inclusive and giving everyone an opportunity to work to where they need to be.”
“It’s a natural progression for someone in the club to take on the role.”
Gray knows he has some big shoes to fill.
The Broncos played off in this year’s grand final and played finals every year under Foster.
Gray said having coached many of the guys in youth league it would be an advantage.
“I coached six or seven of them before as they were coming through youth league,” he said. “It’s exciting to hook up with that again.
“See if we can have the ultimate success at this level.”
Gray said they were working through the squad for next season at the moment.
He said reigning league most valuable player Kavione Green was keen to test himself at National Basketball League 1 level
“It changes the dynamic,” he said. “But it’s not always bad.”
