Ask Boambee FC coaching coordinator Adrian Pickup how long he’s been on the clipboard, and he rifles back: “How old’s the world”.
Yet despite a near lifetime in the game, he’s just as quick to shoot down any suggestions that anyone ever knows it all.
“You never stop learning,” Adrian said.
“When I did my C Licence – which basically sets you up to coach coaches – I wondered how an old style coach might fit in. But it was an eye-opener with the new methods which are now player-oriented.”
Adrian’s first gig as coach was as a 12-year-old guiding fellow youngsters at Bathurst.
From there he grew and moved through the ranks – taking the helm for the Bathurst seniors who were playing Division 1 in Sydney.
“Just after I left a young Archie Thompson turned up as a boy and we said give him a go. Well, it wasn’t long before he was running rings around us, and we said ‘okay, you can stay’,” Adrian recalled.
In ’94 after moving to the Mid North Coast, Adrian linked with what are now known as the Coffs Coast Tigers, but back then were the Westlawn Tigers.
Stints coaching for NCF through SAP and NPL followed – all adding to a master portfolio.
“The big thing for me is seeing all the SAP kids come through and the progress of the NPL players,” Adrian said.
“The framework is good. What were we the other day – four from four (North Coast NPL wins) against Adamstown.”
Season 2021 brings fresh challenges – as Adrian shapes the heavyweight Bombers squads in the Coastal Premier League.
“My main focus now is to coach the coaches at Boambee,” he said.
Oh, and to never stop learning.
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