By Beth Newman
Belconnen football manager, Peter Young, is coming home, to take up a key role at Surfers paradise.
Young will be the senior coach and general manager at the Demons, an extensive role, covering both on and off-field responsibilities.
Originally, the former AFL Queensland club development manager, was just taking up the coaching gig, but after the Demons’ current general manager, Graham Henwood, stepped down, Young expanded his portfolio.
With pre-season still a good six weeks away, Young’s main responsibilities so far have been helping to streamline the club’s board and looking at ways of increasing revenue.
“We want to have a board where everyone has specific roles,” he said.
After the Magpies were ruled out of the 2015 NEAFL competition, Young decided to come back to the Gold Coast permanently.
“Once that NEAFL role fell over, I didn’t want to stay in Canberra,” he said.
“If I was going to be involved with community football, it was always going to be in Queensland.
“I’ve seen the growth of the QAFL as it’s happened and I think it’s worked really well.
“It’s a good standard of footy and I’m keen to be involved and see it grow over the next few years.”
The Demons are a club close to Young’s heart, a club he first became involved with when he moved to the Gold Coast six years ago.
“I used to go watch them train when I coached the Stingrays,”he said.
“They’ve worked really over the pat 12 months to turn the footy club around.
“I really want togive something back to footy.”
“Surfers is an icon of a footy club and I want to tap in and make that something special on the coast and in the QAFL.”
Despite holding down administrative positions in recent years, Young said he had long harboured a desire to return to a senior coaching spot.
Young comes off more than 15 years of coaching experience in South Australia as well as a number of years in Townsville, coaching the Curra Swans, before coaching the U18 Gold Coast Stingrays in 2010.
He has played a hand in 12 players going through to AFL football and hopes that he can continue that development success at the Demons.
“I want to give kids the opportunity of playing state league footy or NEAFL,” he said.
With strong connections in North Queensland, a Gold Coast SUNS Academy zone, Young said there’s plenty of hidden talent in the northern parts of the state.
There’s an extra incentive for Young to have some success, with the positions voluntary until Young finds a way to finance the roles.
Young said the Demons were still keen to keep former senior coach, Beau Zorko, involved,and has had discussions with a handful of other potential assistants.
