By Tara Murray
New Calder Cannons girls co-coach Nic Tenabel is thriving with the opportunity to work full time in football.
Tenabel joins Ross Smith as a co-coach this season while managing some rehabilitation at home.
Assistant coach the past couple of seasons, Tenabel has stepped up to take on a bigger role.
“It is a super exciting time,” she said. “We knew there was going to be a period with Ross not at the club and someone would have to step up.
“It was the right time for me and for us. We’ve been doing the groundwork for it since December.
“We’ve put into practice from the start of this year,” she said.
Tenabel started her coaching journey at the Ascot Vale Panthers where her two daughters and son play.
She took on a head coaching role there and had been involved until this year.
Tenabel also did some work with Bonnie Toogood and the Essendon pathway system.
It was from there she got involved with the Cannons.
“We as part of the pathways were involved with the Cannons under-16s,” she said. “I met Ross out there two seasons ago,
“He asked me if I wanted to come on board.”
Tenabel said it’s always a challenge stepping up into the senior coaching role, but there was some really good support.
She said they had looked to tweak a few things to help the playing group develop even more.
“There hasn’t been much of a change,” she said. “We have really looked at some new values, commitment, respect and unity.
“We want to have a real safe and inclusive environment for the athletes to bring out development.
“We have a great bunch of players coming through. We want them to have the confidence to make mistakes.”
Tenabel is the first female head coach for the Cannons girls program since its first year when Alicia Eva coached them to the title.
She said she had no idea about that and it was pretty special to also hold that title.
Practice matches and the under-16 carnival are already underway as things start to heat up for the Cannons.
Tenabel is excited by all the talent that is coming through.
“We have a really connected group,” she said. “We have a good squad this year and there is talent coming through.
“We always saw a lot of players from other spots, more are now coming through from grassroots.
“We’re getting a glimpse of that this year.”
Cannons region manager Sebastian Spagnuolo said Smith was still playing a major role in the program throughout.
“As Ross manages his rehabilitation period from home, we are all supporting him as best we can and wishing him a speedy recovery,” he said.
“All involved in the Cannons program are thrilled that Nic will step up to be the gameday coach and lead team training with the support of Ross and our assistant coaches.”
The Cannons kick off their season on April 5.
