Newcastle Jets can advise that Assistant Coach, Ash Wilson will step in as Interim Head Coach of the Club’s Westfield W-League side.
The decision was taken to officially elevate Wilson due to Head Coach, Craig Deans’ current commitments as Interim Head Coach on the Club’s Hyundai A-League side.
It is expected that the current arrangement will remain in place until the Club appoints a new Hyundai A-League Head Coach, at which time Deans will resume his duties as Westfield W-League Head Coach.
“Ash has been my assistant since my first season in the Westfield W-League, and is an extremely capable coach,” Craig Deans said.
“There was a very open and honest conversation between myself, the [Westfield W-League] coaching staff, and the playing group and we believe this is the best course of action for the Club given my commitments with the men’s squad.
“I’ll still be actively involved with the team, but promoting Ash to Head Coach in the interim will provide clarity to the situation and help the girls focus on a big game this weekend against Melbourne City.”
Ash Wilson said she was pleased for the opportunity to take the reins for this period.
“It’s obviously not been ideal to lose Deansy midway through the season, but we’re a well-oiled machine and things have continued as per usual for the most part since he stepped in with the men’s team,” Wilson said.
“However, having the chance to step in as the Head Coach and lead the team is a fantastic one for my personal development as a coach and a chance I’ll take with both hands.
“We’ve got a good bunch of girls and our coaching set-up is a good one between Deansy, myself, Keelan [Hamilton, second assistant] and Goldy [goalkeeping coach, Andrew Goldman] and it’ll be business as usual for us.”
