MITIAMO
PROFILE
MITIAMO was a club on the brink of the extinction abyss going into last season, and it was going to take a lot of hard work and community commitment to avoid the plunge into oblivion.
On field, it started with veteran coach Jon Varcoe raising his hand to help out, and then it flowed through the rest of the club, the town and the district until the sought-after stability was achieved.
Varcoe was faced with a shadow of a senior list and virtually nonexistent reserves side, and after some aggressive hunting for players and implementing a new game plan, by season’s his side would finish one spot shy of the finals.
And that’s an experience Varcoe now wants his players to have.
The four-time premiership coach wanted his boys to play finals and, in a perfect world, win a flag as well.
“We played our first practice game against Lancaster – the back-to-back premier from the Kyabram District Football League – and it was a good opportunity to see where we really are,” Varcoe said.
“Although we didn’t win it did give us a chance to blow out the cobwebs, it showed our players are engaged and responding to the game plan, and we did go in without eight to 10 who would be in our best 22
“In the off-season we have picked up about 20 new players for the club, and at trainings we have been seeing as many as 50 players coming through – we now have 55 on the list.”
Things at Mitiamo started turning around in the second half of last year as player fitness improved and the team started to build some chemistry.
That’s where Varcoe wanted to resume in round 1 this season.
“The team still going around had got older, but we have addressed the age demographic, with a lot of younger players around the early 20s.”
He said club and committee had worked hard top keep a local emphasis in the team because they “want to be a community, family club”.
“The league is also holding an Indigenous round in May and it will be our first time participating in this and we are planning some very special events to make a big day of it.”
FROM THE COACH
“The story at Mitiamo has been one of continual improvement in a fun, family, club environment – this is a big part of the community. After looking at where we were at the end of 2022 to where we are today is incredibly rewarding for everyone involved at the club. This has been a tremendous result to come this far but we still have a long way to go to make the most of this recovery.”
KEY PLAYERS
Mitiamo Football Club: Coach Jon Varcoe doesn’t have any interest in suggesting his club has a star when he says he has 20, 30, 50, even more if needed who will train, play, recover, help out, do all the unseen hard yards. And there’s a whole structure behind them doing the same. “Those are the key people at Mitiamo.”
