O/T - From the Mainland Website:
Mainland Football have been through a robust selection process to select a new coach for Mainland Pride women’s football team and are pleased to announce Michael de Bono has been appointed Head Coach of the Mainland Pride Football team to replace the successful Gareth Turnbull as he takes on his new role with New Zealand U17 Women’s team.The Pride are the current Champions of the NZF National Women’s League & shall commence their defence of the title in October under the new guidance of Mike de Bono.
Mike has had two previous seasons coaching the Pride & together with his personable approach he shall compliment the culture created by the highly successful group of players.
His past experience coaching in the National Women’s League, along with his knowledge of the players provided the perfect fit for him to take on the challenge.
Mike shall take up the position with immediate effect as he commences to get the squad together & confirm availability of the players from across the Federation who want to continue to work within a successful structure & organisation. With a small number of players heading away, Mike shall seek to develop the next crop of aspirational players to be part of a winning culture.
When asked about his appointment to the role, Mike responded;
“I am excited to be taking charge of the Mainland Pride team once again. Working in the women’s space has always been a passion of mine and when this opportunity presented itself I jumped at it.”
“I want to take this opportunity to acknowledge the great work that Gareth and his management team have done over the last few seasons and I am looking forward to the challenge of carrying that work on and keeping the Mainland Pride at the head of the table.”
“My motivation has always been to bring the best out of players and see them reach their full potential, so I am excited to have the opportunity to be able to do this with the best players that Mainland has to offer.”