By Dongyun Kwon
Yarra Glen Football and Netball Club (YGFNC) signed Jason DeGraaf as its senior coach for the 2025 and 2026 seasons.
Despite the success of the netball side as all four teams made it to finals, YGFNC couldn’t smile big enough because its football teams had a hard time in the 2024 season as the Seniors and the Reserves wrapped up the season with seventh place and eighth place respectively.
YGFNC treasurer David Ball said Jason DeGraaf is the right coach for the club.
“We were looking for an experienced and successful coach who could raise the standards and help in recruiting new players,” he said.
“Last year, we had six or seven of our best players retire and we hadn’t been able to replace them, so it was important that we had a coach that would appeal to future prospects.
“We’re very positive about moving up the ladder, improving our performance, if we’re able to recruit well, then the finals aren’t our questions.”
As soon as Yarra Glen footy teams finished up the season, the club started to prepare for the next season, signing not only the new coach but also players who will help the squad be stronger.
The new senior coach said his focus for the next season would be to create good harmony between the current players and the new players.
“The last couple of years have been a little bit tough for the football club for different reasons,” DeGraaf said.
“But we are trying to get some past players back to the club and incorporate the playing group that we’ve got now with some past players and new recruits.
“It is important to work hard through the preseason to make a good team, recruiting the right people not just top-line footballers but good people to the club, pushing everyone in the same direction with the same goal.”
DeGraaf has a successful football career both as a player and a coach at the local level.
He played for Warburton and Powelltown as a player and ended up being named in the team of the century at Warburton and half-century at Powelltown.
DeGraaf was both a playing and non-playing coach at Warburton, Powelltown and Yarra Junction.
His coaching career culminated when he coached Chirnside Park from 2008 to 2010.
“We won a senior flag, reserve flag and Under-19 flag during that time,’ the coach said.
After his successful career, he had the last few years off coaching as he travelled to the Northern Territory, working with the AFL as a regional development manager to grow the game in Indigenous communities and remote communities.
DeGraaf said it’s important to have a good club that people want to be part of.
“We need to make sure the environment is good so that players outside the club want to come and see themselves being part of this club,” he said.
“YGFNC is a good club, I’ve played against Yarra Glen, known people from Yarra Glen and always thought highly of the club.”
