Hume City didn’t have to look far to find its new head coach, appointing captain and interim coach Nick Hegarty to the role.
After a review of current structures and an interview process, the club announced last week that it thought Hegarty was the best person to lead the club forward.
Hegarty, who has been appointed for two years, says coaching a senior team had always been on his radar, but that it had come earlier than expected.
“It’s a great opportunity for myself and I’m privileged to be offered the role,” he said.
“It was the plan to coach, but wasn’t looking to do it so soon.
“Couple of more years down the track, I thought I would be looking into being a senior coach.
“It’s in funny ways you get what you want.”
Hegarty said having two months in charge had given him a taste of what to expect. Hegarty replaced Ufuk Kubilayhan as coach in early July.
“I thought I did a reasonable job,” he said.
“I’ve seen different scenarios and worked through different problems. I think we can be successful.”
Hegarty will combine playing and coaching, saying he thinks he still has another two years in him as a player. The club will start putting together a strong coaching panel to support him.
Hegarty said the aim remains to be competitive with the top sides in National Premier League, but a greater increase on bringing players through the Hume program would be put in place.
In the coaching announcement, the club said its long-term ambition is to have a senior squad made up of 80 per cent home-grown talent.
“We have to be competitive every year and push for finals,” Hegarty said.
“We will have to restructure the youth system to make sure they do continue to push through into the senior side.
“They are our future of the club and we want to have an elite club. We want to go to the highest level we can with a big community aspect.
“We want players progressing through to play with their idols.”
