Collingwood’s Senior Assistant Coach Robert Harvey is one of nine assistant coaches from across the AFL to be accepted into the new Level Four Senior Coach Program.
The program seeks to prepare highly-rated assistant coaches for the rigours of a potential Head Coach position at an AFL club with concentrated mentoring and development work, beyond the existing Level Three Program.
After considering applications through February, the AFL locked in nine coaches to start the level four course, which will become mandatory for those applying for senior positions in the future.
Harvey, a dual Brownlow Medallist during his 383-game playing career at St Kilda, joined Collingwood’s coaching panel during Nathan Buckley’s first pre-season at the helm in November 2011.
He will undertake the program alongside Melbourne’s senior assistant Simon Goodwin, Carlton’s John Barker, St Kilda’s Adam Kingsley, Hawthorn’s Brendon Bolton, Sydney’s Stewart Dew, Port Adelaide’s Matthew Nicks, Fremantle’s Simon Lloyd and Geelong’s Blake Caracella.
Caracella played 27 games for Collingwood between 2005 and 2006 before joining the club’s coaching panel in his retirement from 2007 to 2009.
Lloyd, meanwhile, was a key member of Collingwood’s football department from before joining the Dockers at the end of the 2009 season.
The last of the successful candidates was notified on Wednesday following an extensive selection process involving a panel of leading coaches and club CEOs.
Ex-Hawthorn coach Peter Schwab and 2006 West Coast premiership coach John Worsfold were joined by Socceroos coach Ange Postecoglou, leading hockey coach Ric Charlesworth and club CEOs Trevor Nisbett (West Coast), Greg Swann (Brisbane Lions), Peter Jackson (Melbourne) and Brian Cook (Geelong) in the selection process.
“The course centres around four key components – core coaching modules, an individual learning plan, a program for high impact leadership and individual coach mentoring,” AFL football operations manager Mark Evans said.
“The core modules will address areas including rules, regulations, governance, integrity, government relations and the economy of the game. Other modules will address quality coaching practice, strategic communications, media training and ethical leadership,” he said.
Evans said the individual learning plan for each coach would be developed with their respective club and coach mentor, designed to round out their skills and experience. It is likely they will complete their tailored courses at different stages.
It is understood the majority of past senior coaches who have remained active in the industry will be awarded the level four accreditation. As a result, all applicants were assistant coaches who were yet to coach their own team at AFL level.
The course's development has been led by the AFL's Michael Poulton with input from former senior coaches Brendan McCartney, Neale Daniher and John Worsfold.
The curriculum is based on a model from the International Council for Coach Education, which has been tailored to the AFL by McCartney.
The AFL Coaches Association has co-funded the project and will work with the AFL to ensure it is successful, CEO Mark Brayshaw told AFL Media.
"The AFL Coaches Association is very supportive of the level four senior coach program because it's going to take nine participants through a very rigorous process and give them a better chance to be successful if they are appointed senior coaches," Brayshaw said.
"We're aware that a handful of applicants have not been admitted on this occasion, however, because the application process was so thorough we think there's some very valuable feedback available to them to enhance their professional development prior to hopefully being admitted in future intakes.
"It's very important that this year's participants are really challenged and stretched and that they come out at the end of the program endorsing its value.
"So we're going to work very hard with the AFL to make sure that outcome is achieved."
