By Russell Bennett
Scott Gowans has evolved at each and every stop along his footy coaching journey so far, and all the lessons he’s learned and experience he has gained have led him to his most significant role yet – coaching North Melbourne’s inaugural AFLW side.
The Kangaroos will enter the league in 2019, and Gowans – the former Longwarry senior coach and Berwick assistant – will be at the helm.
His coaching journey started years ago at Kiama, a coastal town about 120 kilometres south of Sydney.
Since then he’s served in vast array of roles, from local to elite, from juniors to seniors.
Whether it was as the coaching coordinator at Fountain Gate, as an assistant to Dean Rice at Berwick and Longwarry; as senior coach in his own right at Longwarry; his involvement with Vic Metro, Vic Country, and the Dandenong Stingrays girls; or his role as coach of Diamond Creek in the VFL women’s competition Gowans has evolved.
“It’s like anything – (whether) at Longwarry, or the Dandenong Stingrays – you just pick up little things from everyone and it all helps form your coaching philosophy,” he said.
“It’s an evolving thing.
“I’ve made little changes since I was at Longwarry but I learnt a lot from them too.
“It’s one of those journeys where I actually feel really privileged that I now get to work full-time in something that was a hobby. It’s pretty special.”
Now, after serving as an assistant coach to Damien Keeping at Carlton in the Blues’ first year in the AFLW competition, he gets the chance to lead in his own right at the level – to again jump in the deep end.
It’s something he can’t wait for.
Next year he’ll lead the Melbourne University women’s football side – linked with North Melbourne – in the VFLW competition, ahead of the Kangaroos’ AFLW role in 2019.
“The North Melbourne thing happened in the space of probably two weeks, so really quickly,” Gowans said of his appointment.
“In that two weeks Diamond Creek handed their licence back so it kind of had a nice synergy to the timing of it.
“The only party, I suppose, that was put out by it was Carlton but I was very open with Damien about it and he was nothing but supportive about me following it. They said to go to a higher role they’d support me 100 per cent – to just do what I needed to do – and their support was just amazing.”
Gowans has been working full-time at North Melbourne for weeks now – learning as much as he can.
“Because I’ve been in the female football system a fair bit, my head is around the Victorian talent and what’s around the country coming through as 16, 17 and 18-year-olds,” he said.
“Everyone knows that as well, so it’s more what you can pull out of other things as a point of difference. That’s really important.”
Gowans said his role at Melbourne Uni in 2018 will ideally run like a ‘mini-AFLW’, in the lead-up to North’s 2019 AFLW campaign.
A crucial part of that will be the selection of development and assistant coaches.
“From what I’ve (already) learnt there are quite a few female coaches coming through that are perhaps just off the radar and just a couple of years into their coaching, but they’ve got a really good foundation to their coaching philosophies so I want to get them in and grow them,” he said.
“The great thing about North – and it’s probably pretty similar to Carlton – is that they have a very good synergy with the football departments.”
Gowans is an unashamed footy coaching ‘lifer’ and eventually hopes to serve as a professional mentor to other coaches, but in the meantime it’s all about the here and now, and improving with each training session or game he coaches.
