When Jarrad Walker took over as coach of the Inverloch-Kongwak A Grade netball team in 2022, the Sea Eagles had played in one final since the WGFNC came to life in 2017. What followed was a stunning transformation, with Walker leading the club to back-to-back premierships before handing over the reins to Liza Burrows in 2024. Walker is now back at the helm; looking to lead IK to an incredible fourth consecutive premiership. As Walker explains in this week’s edition of The Coaching Roller Coaster; club culture has been the building block to success.
I’m back!
After two years at the helm of Inverloch Kongwak Football Netball Club (IKFNC) in 2022/23 – before jetting off halfway through the 2024 three-peat season for an overseas adventure – I thought I could share some insights into the way a focus on club culture created a dominant A grade side and how that linked to club success.
In those first few years with IK, I stepped into a netball environment that was ready for change, and ready to embrace the work that was being done in the football program by long-time coach and now friend and inspiration of mine, Ben Soumilas.
Country football/netball clubs are a unique environment in that they are born from the surrounding community, to reflect and connect the different representations and elements of that community to achieve common goals.
That commonality of being “One Club” was a core principle of the work that Ben had been doing for years and the work that we were able to progress in bringing together.
Supported by an engaged club committee, we were able to make culture our key focus area of success.
From day-to-day interactions, how we communicated with other clubs and the league, to our expectations of players and equality across our programs, our club experienced rapid off-court success that translated onto the field and court at IK.
Those small seeds of change that had been sown across prior years were given opportunity to flourish.
More males were welcomed into our netball programs giving them opportunities and highlighting their successes.
Female numbers grew, and to this day remain strong in our junior football programs resulting in an IK girls team involved on Sunday’s.
Our netballers felt more recognised and valued by the club overall and became ingrained into fabric of a “One Club” picture.
Our footballers became further engaged in what was happening within the netball program, showing interest and support, resulting in the famously loud support in our 2022 grand final and then our dual A Grade and Senior Football premiership wins in 2023.
No one will forget those Eagle head hats!
What all this boiled down to, a lot of the success that was being seen on the court was derived from the mountains of off-court work been undertaken by our coaches and supported by the committee.
Setting a culture as a priority was easy, continuing and pushing through to see it a success was exhausting.
So much of my workload as a coach, in that first year especially, was focused on setting that culture.
That was a workload that existed on top of my duties as a netball coach; I still had to find the time to lead player development and plan for games.
But as an A Grade team our focus was never about winning this game or that.
It became about how we were leaders of the club and by setting the right examples in our actions.
Doing the right things at training, always respecting our officials and our opposition, even if it was challenging at times, and giving back more to the club, by volunteering and supporting; giving more than what we were taking.
Those first two seasons felt like they were a blur.
A blur of trainings, hugely successful social functions, game days, recoveries, whole club trainings and finals sprinkled in.
In prioritising the environment of the ‘club’ we had attracted the right people back to it, enabling the selection of an A Grade squad that brimmed with talent and experience.
Not only were these players talented, but they were fully focused on what they could create as a unit.
They worked for each other, challenged each other both on and off the court.
Our senior players in the team genuinely cared for those junior players stepping up and as the teams’ bonds grew closer the on-court success continued.
Player development became easier; they learnt as a group and importantly improved their ability to problem solve in the moment on court with each other.
Their fitness levels became unbelievable, pushed by members within the group, the amount of work the players were doing away from the court was astounding.
This all lead to a group that had no fear.
Whatever occurred, they’d go through it together.
The outcome?
A dominant first year losing only to Bunyip in the semi-final before going on to claim a premiership cup.
A second year that produced a champion effort going through the season unbeaten to a second premiership with our culture at the club peaking.
It’s a rarity that you’ll see an A Grade and a senior football premiership together, but don’t forget to add the reserves, under-18 football and C Grade premierships to that list.
I’ll never forget that photo that featured heavily after that win of our senior football and netball together.
It somehow felt like the entirety of the club was in it.
A third-year challenge emerged while I was away, coached supremely by Liza Burrows.
Eventually leading to one of the best grand final performances I’ve seen in 2024, having flown back from Europe and arriving on the Thursday solely to be able to witness this fantastic group’s successful three-peat.
What a great achievement…all born from a focus on culture and making memories.
Jaz
