Ballan netball has moved quickly to replace Lucy Gstrein who has stepped down as coach, appointing Emily Lyle and Laura Parsons to oversee the program.
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Ballan netball coordinator Joanne Raffaele said the club was keen to look towards a long-term vision.
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"They showed us a five-year plan, they're really into it," Raffaele said
"(They showed us) where they want to be in five years time and how they're going to get there and all the prospects of it.
"I think they're going to be great for the club as well, take what Lucy's started and sort of lead it forward a bit more."
Lyle was a member of Ballan's A-grade side this season, Parsons a member of the B-grade team.
Lyle expressed the pair's joy in taking over the role.
"Pretty excited, I just can't stop saying 'I'm so excited'," she said.
Parson's echoed her partners' comments.
"I'm so excited to work with Em and I think it's really nice to have someone else who can see the game for how it is but then also have that netball brain behind it," she said.
"I think Em and I bring a lot of different strengths together and to combine them along with Sarah (Hodge) as well, the C-grade coach, I think that's going to be massive for the senior side."
After a winless season for the A-grade and one win for the B-grade side this year, the pair are under no illusions that the club is in a rebuild.
With C-grade set to play finals and junior players making the jump to regular games in the senior grades this season, they're confident of the road ahead and the five-year plan they presented.
"Our club is in its rebuilding phase at the moment and rebuilding doesn't happen over night, so I think we'd be incredibly naive to think that next season we're going to come back and smash finals," Lyle said.
"If we do it slowly and incrementally, I think we can get there. So, the aim is in five years time we will be back where we were in 2019 at the very least."
Parsons added that the junior program and the development of its future stars will be pivotal for future success.
"Our juniors are going to be a huge part of that as well, we need to develop them now and in future years so that we are a strong club in five years time," she said.
Lyle added that experience on the senior list will be something they will try to add in the off-season.
"I think a big part of why we've had such a hard year is we lost a lot of experienced players, we're a really young side," she said.
"It's really great in terms of our fitness, but in a lot of aspects the really hard teams that we had to compete against this year had so much experience.
"I think a big thing for us will be trying to recruit more members that are going to lift the spirit of the club and give us that competitive edge to take on the higher teams."
How the two manage playing and coaching will be decided as pre-season progresses and their list begins to take shape.
"We would probably prefer not to coach in the team that we play with," Parsons said.
"We don't know what's going to happen in pre-season, we don't know what that's going to bring."
Lyle added if it occurs, the pair and the team will be prepared.
"If we do end up in a situation where we are playing-coaches, it's going to be really important for us to have a trustworthy team, where we can go in ... and rely on our teammates to be there and support us," she said.
"We have that right now, so it would be really great to continue that through next season and beyond as well."
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