Brisbane Roar head coach Mel Andreatta says she never expected to take home the Female Coach of the Year prize at the rebel Female Football Awards but is ‘honoured’ nonetheless to receive it.
Andreatta guided the Roar to another Westfield W-League Finals Series, missing out on consecutive Premiers Plates by just four points.
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Speaking exclusively to w-league.com.au, Andreatta revealed she was surprised to win given the quality of nominees.
“It was such an honour,” she said.
“I was surprised actually because there are so many great coaches and female ones that are currently working in the country.
“Rae Dower has just had a successful tournament in Laos with the Under 17s national team and all the fine work that other coaches are doing in assistant roles in the W-League.
“It caught me by surprise and I’m honoured to receive it.”
Andreatta also took the time to praise fellow staff members at the Sunshine State club, saying the award belonged to them as well.
“I think it reflects the hard work that has been put in by a number of people and the commitment to being better,” she said.
“All these people go unsung but Garrath McPherson was nominated as a ‘Male Champion for Change’ at the awards on Friday and narrowly missed out to another fine leader in Jeff Hopkins, but he has been an outstanding support to me and what he brings to our program is second to none.”
Having just completed her third season in charge of Brisbane, Andreatta provided a surprising, but honest response, when asked about where her future lies on coaching.
“It’s funny, I’ve been asked this question before and maybe my response is an odd one, but I’ve never set linear goals like that,” she revealed.
“For instance I never set out to be the Brisbane Roar W-League coach and I certainly don’t have it written down to be a national team coach.
“What I do want to be is the best coach that I can be, and coach at the highest level – whether that’s overseas or in the national team environment. We’ll see where that journey takes me.”
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The work goes on
With the Westfield W-League season done and dusted, one could be forgiven for assuming Andreatta was relaxing by the beach, well away from the hustle and bustle of managing a football club.
The work never stops however, Andreatta revealed, with those players not heading overseas to play in the NWSL remaining in Brisbane to continue their development – and not always in orthodox fashion.
“We don’t have an off-season here at Brisbane Roar,” Andreatta said.
“Our program continues 12 months of the year. The players that remain in the country continue to train and play midweek against boys, and then on the weekend either play for an NPLW league side or, through the FFA mixed gender policy, play in a boys NPL or QPL team.”
