Dec. 9, 2011, 11:16 a.m.
AFTER a year in recess, Mount Pleasant is confident it will field an under-17 side in the Heathcote District Football League next season.The Blues have appointed Peter Natoli as their under-17 coach for 2012.“We’re in the process of building an under-17 team for next year,” Natoli said yesterday.
Mount Pleasant aims to field under-17 team next football season
MOUNTAIN MEN: David Coghlan (assistant coach), Peter Natoli (under-17 coach), Denis Grinton (senior coach), Shaun Young (assistant coach) and Chris Black (reserves coach).
AFTER a year in recess, Mount Pleasant is confident it will field an under-17 side in the Heathcote District Football League next season.The Blues have appointed Peter Natoli as their under-17 coach for 2012.“We’re in the process of building an under-17 team for next year,” Natoli said yesterday.“At this stage we’ve got nine confirmed players, so we’re looking for more players.“We want to get a team together that can enter the league again and be competitive.“We want to develop the kids and have a bit of fun along the way.”The Blues will hold a training session and barbecue next Friday night from 6.30pm at Kennington Reservoir for any potential under-17 players.Anyone interested in playing for the Blues’ under-17s can contact Natoli on 0488 415 503.Meanwhile, the Blues seniors will be again coached by Denis Grinton for a second season.The club has signed Shaun Young and David Coghlan as Grinton’s assistants.Both Young (Golden Square) and Coghlan (Bridgewater) have been premiership players for the past two seasons.“We’ve been working pretty hard on the recruiting side of things,” Grinton said.“We’re rapt to have Shaun and David come on board, and we’re still working on another five or six.”The Blues – the most successful club in the HDFL with 19 premierships – finished eighth this year with two wins and a draw.However, the side was unlucky not to win at least five games. Three matches in a row mid-season the Blues lost two by a point and had a draw against what was then the top side Heathcote.The Blues, who open their 2012 season with a stand-alone Good Friday game at home against Colbinabbin, have been training for the past three weeks with good numbers.In other news, the Blues wish 11-time senior premiership player Max Kennedy, who had been helping Grinton with recruiting, a speedy recovery after he was recently involved in a truck accident.
