New appointments for Deppro WA State AcademyFriday, October 7, 2016 - 3:29 PM

The West Australian Football Commission has continued its commitment to ensuring WA’s talent pathway aspires to the highest possible standards with the appointment of former AFL Assistant Coaches Peter Sumich and Tony Micale to new roles with the Deppro WA State Academy.

Sumich has been appointed as Coach Coordinator State 18s and Micale as Coach Coordinator State 16s. These new roles will include coaching WA’s respective sides at the NAB AFL National Championships, as well as the WAFL coaches linked to each age group.

West Australian Football Commission Executive Manager Football Operations Jon Haines congratulated Sumich and Micale on their appointments and said both would offer a wealth of experience, knowledge and expertise to talent development in WA.

“These are significant appointments for the State Academy and further recognition of the WAFC’s commitment to talent development and the critical role coaches play in supporting this objective,” Haines said.

“The WAFC is committed to ensuring that our talent pathway aspires to the highest possible standards. The restructure of the WAFC talent department in November 2015 involved the key appointments of Adam Jones as State Talent Manager and Clayton Anderson as Talent Programs Coordinator and signaled a clear intent to ensure the appropriate resources are invested in this critical area of our game.

“These important appointments followed that of highly regarded AFL assistant coach Tony Micale as WAFC Coach Coordinator earlier in 2015. Tony has played a key role in mentoring and developing coaches currently within the WA talent pathway and will continue his involvement as Coach Coordinator State 16s.

“We want to offer both players and coaches involved with our talent programs the best possible support network and access to elite knowledge and experience. Peter and Tony certainly provide this and add another layer of resources to our talent development programs.

“Whilst Peter and Tony will clearly play a critical role in developing our most talented young players, the influence they can have in supporting, mentoring and educating our next generation of coaches is equally, if not more important,” he said.

Sumich will head up the State 18s program and support the development of WAFL Redimed Colts coaches and assistant coaches, while Micale will oversee the State 16s program and work with WAFL coaches involved in the 14s, 15s and 16s development programs.

Both will also be involved with mentoring players in the AFL Academy and attending key AFL Academy events and programs to support national talent outcomes.

Sumich, who represented Western Australia as an underage player in the Teal Cup before going on to play 150 AFL games for West Coast including two premierships, said he was looking forward to guiding the next generation of WA’s most talented players and coaches.

“The opportunity to coach the best young players and coaches in WA is exciting. I’m really looking forward to working with Adam Jones and Tony Micale again and sinking my teeth into it.  

“I’m also looking forward to building a really strong brand in the 16s and 18s and helping the Colts coaches to become better coaches over a long period of time so hopefully they’ll continue on and become really good coaches at WAFL and AFL level in the future,” he said.