Hawthorn Football Club is ecstatic to announce AFLW premiership coach Bec Goddard OAM will lead the club into its first season in the women’s competition.
The exciting news comes off the back of the AFL’s confirmation that the Hawks would join the league ahead of AFLW Season 7.0.
Goddard has a proven coaching record in the AFLW, having led Adelaide to premiership success in the competition’s inaugural season.
She coached the Crows for the 2017 and 2018 seasons before, more recently, joining the brown and gold family as coach of the club’s VFLW side.
Although the Hawks did not qualify for finals in a disjointed season this year, Goddard oversaw a program that generated another three women elevated to the AFLW in last month’s draft, taking the club’s overall tally to 11 draftees over the past four years.
Goddard said she was filled with excitement at the fact she had the opportunity to help launch Hawthorn into this new chapter.
“I’m over the moon, we’ve been waiting for ages so I’m so excited for our fans, our family and our friends to finally be a part of the AFLW,” Goddard said.
“I think the best bit about it is the evolution and the shift in the footy club and how important it is for the club to have a complete family.
“Seeing how passionate and how invested everyone is in being a part of this new journey is also a very inspiring thing.”
Hawthorn CEO Justin Reeves said the club was rapt to lock in a key piece of the puzzle as the Hawks commence preparations for their inaugural campaign.
“The club has been fortunate enough to work with Bec over the past two years and she has been an amazing part of our Hawthorn family.
“Confirming Bec as our coach and our leader of this new era in our history fills us with an enormous amount of pride and confidence into the direction that our club is taking.
“The club’s vision for the future is clear, to create a club that is successful, sustainable, socially inclusive and equally focused on both men’s and women’s programs.”
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