Shepparton United will have a new face at the helm of its senior football outfit in 2023 after the decision from Paul Serra to step down from his role.
The former Tatura mentor picked up the mantle this season and despite disappointing results on the scoreboard, has well and truly set United up for a bright future.
The announcement came on Saturday night following United’s Goulburn Valley League round 18 loss to Seymour.
Serra said he opted to step down due to the difficulties of juggling full-time work and a senior coaching role.
“It was very challenging and I knew that when I took on the role,” Serra said.
“Obviously I’ve got family at the club and I wanted to support the club and I thought that my previous experience would help out and that’s for others to judge, hopefully it has.”
He said if he is going to do something he “likes to do it 100 per cent” and unfortunately he could not commit to that next year at the Demons.
“I obviously knew that it would be a big role, I probably forgot how big it is as a senior coach and how much work you’ve got to do to stay at that semi-professional level,” he said.
“It’s just accumulated, I told the board probably four weeks ago and the players three weeks ago that I just unfortunately can’t fit it in with everything else I need to do.
“I absolutely loved the journey and had great times and good support at the club.”
Serra has overseen a number of young talents rise for the Demons, with plenty of youth getting senior minutes in their legs this season.
Teenagers Oscar Ryan, Charlie Di Stefano, Sam Adams and Kyle Montgomery are some of the club’s emerging young guns to play senior football in 2022.
“The under-18s have had a really strong year and they’ve supported the reserves really well as well to make sure they played a lot of footy throughout the year which was nice,” Serra said.
“We probably had eight or nine guys from the under-18s play seniors, so it’s been a really good development year.
“So they’ve got a good opportunity and hopefully they’ve learnt a bit off some of the things I’ve learnt on my journey.”
The departing mentor said off the field the club was in a good spot and, while unlikely to hold an official role at the club in 2023, he’d stick around, with his family remaining at the club.
Serra will leave a strong youth legacy at United and with the Goulburn Valley League continuing to bounce back from two difficult years he called on people to get around the league.
“We just need more support, more people need to get down there and watch it and enjoy it for what it is,” he said.