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Senior Coach Kade Klemke welcomes Chris Clifton as the Tigers new Rising Stars coach
The Queanbeyan Tigers have locked in the final piece of the puzzle in the make-up of their senior coaching panel for 2016.
Chris Clifton has been announced as the new Rising Stars coach, joining returning coaches Kade Klemke (Senior Coach), Paul Campbell (Senior Assistant), Dave Corcoran (Second Grade Coach and First Grade Assistant) and Robert Anderson (Women’s Coach) in completing the senior appointments.
Chris comes to the club with a great deal of experience in junior and senior coaching. His defence force background has seen him play with and coach senior military and combined service teams, while most recently he has been involved in junior coaching in the Northern Territory while stationed in Darwin.
Arriving from Darwin only two weeks ago, Chris was excited to be joining the Tigers.
“I played in Canberra a few years ago when I was at Royal Military College Duntroon. While we were here my wife Leneice and I built a house in Bungendore and we’ve been looking forward to getting back to it”.
Chris’s most recent coaching experience has been with Tracy Village Football Club in the Northern Territory Football League. He’s been involved with the Territory Thunder academy program and the 2015 AFLNT Schoolboys team at the national championships in Geelong, which is where a chance meeting with Tigers Senior Assistant Coach Paul Campbell, put him on the path toward joining the Tigers.
“When Paul returned from the national schoolboys championships earlier this year he let me know about a coach he’d met who was moving down from Darwin to Bungendore and was looking for a club to get involved with,” said Tigers General Manager of Football, Michael Goiser.
“Given Bungendore is on Queanbeyan’s doorstep we thought we’d be his most logical choice so we were keen to talk to him about ways he might like to get involved.”
“I was very impressed by Chris when we spoke on the phone and when the Rising Stars coaching position became available we invited him to put in an application. Soon after arriving in town he took time away from unpacking boxes to meet with Senior Coach Kade Klemke and I and we appointed him a few days later,” Michael said.
With 20 years experience in the military, a couple of Chris’s strengths lie in communication and leadership – key attributes for a coach of young players transitioning into senior football from the junior ranks. His passion for developing and educating young footballers will fit nicely with the Tigers as they continue to develop a very young senior list.
Chris was announced as Rising Stars coach at the final training session before the Christmas break and will hit the ground running when pre-season training commences in January.
The Tigers welcome Chris, his wife Leneice, daughters Hunter and Indi, and son Tobey who we look forward to seeing don the black and gold in our junior ranks.