Youth Coaching Appointments - Season 2021

Sherwood Football Club are delighted to announce the head coaches for each confirmed youth age group for Season 2021. Once teams in each squad are better established, more coaches will be appointed for the additional teams in each of the age groups. Further to this, we are also hoping to confirm an u15 Girls team and once we have achieved sufficient numbers, a coach will be appointed for this team.

Stephen Hedge has been appointed the head coach of the u16 squad. 'Hedgey' has a long association with the Magpies, having commenced as a club junior in the 1970's before progressing to Senior Football in the 1980's where he played Senior Football for Sherwood in the QAFL. In 1988, he moved to Darwin and continued his footy with the Darwin Buffaloes in the NTFL where he was a member of the 1988/89 Premiership Team.

Returning to Brisbane in 2006, he once again continued his footy with the 'Low Rollers' who then became the Sherwood Old Boys and now the Woodsmen playing up until 2008 where he finally completed a 30+ year playing career and became involved in coaching.

Assisting him will be Sherwood Life Member and former Captain, Michael Blackmore. 'Mousey' as he is known to most, played junior and senior football at Sherwood between 1980 and 2012, with some brief stints with Wests and Yeronga, including captaining the Magpies in 2002 and 2003. He played very good footy for the club well into his 40's. He was known for his fierce attack on the footy and loved to take a hanger. He is an experienced and accomplished coach and is a fantastic addition to the u16 coaching group.

Luke Mahoney has been appointed Head Coach of the u14 Squad. Luke was an accomplished player at Sherwood as a junior, and was also an elite track & field athlete in middle distance events. He then went on to play Senior Football at Wests and University and since his playing days finished has been involved with coaching at Sherwood, most recently as the head coach of u11s in 2020. Luke is passionate about developing junior footballers, with a focus on fitness, skill development and team camaraderie and is excited to take the reigns of a talented age group at Sherwood.

Assisting Luke will be Billy Bridge who is a multiple Division 1 Premiership player in the very strong WRFL in Victoria. Before commencing his junior footy coaching career, Billy spent 8 years as a representative basketball coach, he then coached 2 seasons of junior footy at Wyndhamvale FC prior to relocating to Queensland where he coached the Ipswich Cats u12 team. Billy believes that coaching young players is about making them better footballers, but also about instilling skills they can take beyond the football field in the future.

Also assisting will be Richard Harrison. Richard played approximately 200 amateur games in the Southern Football League in Adelaide, as well as 45 Senior Games for South Adelaide in the SANFL. He is passionate about coaching junior football and coached for 4 seasons in Adelaide for Reynella FC as well as a season with Sherwood u12s in 2019.

Paul McPhee will the head coach of the u13 girls. Paul played his junior football in country Victoria at the Horsham Tigers and Dimboola in the Wimmera League and then subsequently at Monivae College, Hamilton. Paul moved to Queensland in 1989 and played 17s, 19s and Senior football at Caloundra, and also represented the Sunshine Coast before hanging up his boots in 1994 to pursue his working life.

Paul arrived at Sherwood in the 2017 season when his son began to play football. Two seasons later his daughter also signed up to play in the Sherwood U11 Girls team. In his time at the club, Paul has volunteered for numerous roles including team manager, assistant coach and coach of the U8 & U9s.

Paul has a passion for teaching the fundamentals of football to young developing players and understands that the game is still growing in Queensland and does all he can to help promote our great game. He is looking forward to taking the reins and help lead the girls to a fun and successful season.

Assisting Paul will be Chris La Burniy. Chris played most of his junior football at Coorparoo where he also graduated to the senior ranks. Chris was also an elite basketballer and as a result, footy then took a backseat. After returning from several years living in the UK, he was recruited to Sherwood by a fellow parent in his daughters prep class in 2012 to play for the Woodsmen where he accumulated close to 100 games and was part of an undefeated Premiership team in 2014. Chris has coached the u8s for the past 2 seasons as well as assisting with the u11 girls and is exceptional at dealing with young athletes and passing on his knowledge and experience.

Damian Haber is the head coach of the u12 squad. Damian arrived at Sherwood in season 2020 assisting in the u11s after previously coaching at Moggill Mustangs in 2018 and 2019. He has over 20 years experience as a player and coach, playing all his junior football a Southport Sharks. He also played Senior Football at Southport before relocating to Melbourne where he attended Melbourne Uni and also continued playing Senior Football. He completed his senior footy career in his late 20's in order to focus on a thriving professional career where he worked as a lawyer and in property finance before establishing his own student accommodation business.

Following over 20 years of playing and coaching Aussie Rules, together with his professional experience in working with various teams, Damian has a key focus on developing and encouraging his players to strive to be their best individually and establishing a strong sense of team.

Assisting Damian will be Scott Boothey who brings over 250 games of playing experience across 4 states, as well a wealth of coaching experience with 3 years as a Senior Assistant in the WAAFL and assisting in Sherwood juniors for the last 5 seasons where he has been a valuable asset in the development of junior players at Sherwood.

Also assisting will be Andrew Thomson. "Thommo" is the current President of Sherwood Football Club and a Life Member, having played close to 200 games since 2007 and having coached various teams from Auskick to u12s in recent seasons. He has been involved in sport all his life, growing up in country Victoria where he was a Victorian representative in Aussie Rules, Cricket and Hockey before relocating to Queensland as a teenager and regrettably had a temporary (10 years..) code switch to Rugby Union! He has extensive junior coaching experience across multiple sports from a young age, having coached BBC Cricket & Rugby teams whilst at University, as well as junior representative teams in both sports from 2004-2007.