Comets coach earns top nod

By Marc McGowan
DEBBIE Nichols may have failed to lead the Casey Comets back to the Women’s Premier League finals, but her peers were still impressed enough to vote her as their coach of the year last week.
Beaconsfield-based Nichols recently completed her eighth season in charge, that saw the Comets miss the post-season by only two points.
But Casey was widely tipped to be relegated from the Premier League after losing senior players Rachel Lamb and Leigh Terek to rival clubs in the off-season.
Nichols turned to youth and her new-look squad sat top of the table with four rounds to go before a late slump saw it fall out of contention.
League officials presented Nichols with her award at last week’s Gold Medal Night after she previously earned the honour in 2005 when the Comets made the grand final.
All Premier League coaches voted 3-2-1 and former Matildas player Nichols accumulated the most.
“It was a very big surprise,” she said.
“We made the grand final last time I won it and that was probably when the group was at the top of their game.
“The other coaches vote on it – it’s a peers award – so that obviously means something.
“We had a very young side, so to win was a great honour.”
Nichols began playing for Springvale City in 1977 and was a Victorian regular – also playing nine times for the national team in China and Japan in 1988 and 1989.
The former centre forward/winger switched to Berwick City in 1983 and was part of its move to Cranbourne a decade later, when it became the Cranbourne Comets and ultimately the Casey Comets.
Nichols replaced fellow Matildas representative Jane Oakley as Comets’ coach for the 2002 season and has overseen two grand final appearances since.
“Obviously, the club really wants to get the team back to the level it was at for all those years,” she said.
“The last five or six weeks of the season there was more pressure on the players than myself to come up with the goods.
“The support at the top has been absolutely brilliant. We are the luckiest club in the Premier League with the support we get.”
Nichols was not the only success story at the club at last week’s gala event.
Captain Melissa Atherton finished fourth in the Gold Medal for player of the year, only four votes behind winner Melanie Camilleri, who also claimed the league’s Golden Boot award.
The 27-year-old assumed the captaincy for the first time in her 12th season at Casey and was an important figure among the youthful side.
“It was a really big surprise, actually, but it was good after all the hard yards we put in,” Atherton said.
“It was nice to get up there for the team because without them I wouldn’t have done as well.
“I just kept my head down and it was my first experience at captaining the side, so there were a few learning curves and I think I did all right.
“We’ll just have to see how we go in the off-season and keep together, but personally I think I did okay.”
Teenage team-mate Lisa Cloke was the next-highest Comet in ninth place.
Atherton, a national indoor representative as a 16-year-old, commutes twice a week for training from her home at Phillip Island during the season.
But the long travel time has not prevented the hard-working midfielder from being one of Casey’s best – and most reliable – players for many years.
“The distance stopped me a little bit when I was younger to make state teams and get to training, but that was my path,” she said.
“I’m happy with what I’ve done and what I’ve got.”
Meanwhile, Casey takes on the Victorian Churches Soccer Association representative team in a friendly match at Comets Stadium tonight (Thursday) at 7pm.