Tara Murray
A move to Victoria from Western Australia has paid off for new Tullamarine women’s coach Tyler Benda.
The Demons new coach made the move to Victoria as he went searching for senior coaching opportunities having been an assistant and development coach in Western Australia.
Things fell into place for Benda and he signed with the Essendon District Football League division 1 club.
Benda replaces Travis Fitzpatrick and said he was excited to take on the role.
“I moved here last week,” he said. “They’re a good group of girls,
“There’s more coaching opportunities in Victoria and after the past few years as an assistant coach and development coach I wanted to move into a role as a head coach.
“I’m excited to move over for the opportunity.”
Benda’s previous history includes playing in the Western Australian Football League for Perth and Peel Thunder.
He has six years coaching experience including being an assistant and development coach with Peel Thunder and South Fremantle women’s.
Benda said he didn’t know much about Tullamarine but had been doing some research on the local leagues before he moved across.
“My biggest coaching philosophy is to be able to give the playing group targets to reach and making sure I’m being consistent and engaging with the players,” he said.
“Allowing them to understand each role and allow them to play the game they love. There’s a lot of excitement in the group and a few of the younger players will come up into new roles.
“They’ll get to show through their ability and we’re looking to keep the older girls as well and hopefully bring in a few new players.”
The Demons finished in fifth spot this season, two points outside the top four.
For the most part they were competitive with the sides above them, but struggled with depth to match it across the full four quarters.
Benda said a large part of the group had already been putting in the work before pre-season gets underway,
“I’ll look to bring in some different standards and professionalism,” he said.
The Demons have announced eight re-signings for the women’s side already including team of the member, Tricia Devine.
Benda said having club and change rooms back would be a massive plus for the group after not having them for a couple of seasons.
Pre-season kicks off on November 11.
