Warrnambool announces Kate Lindsey as coach for 2024 HFNL season

Warrnambool has appointed the experienced leader to coach its Hampden league open side in 2024 - more than a decade on from her first stint in the role.

Lindsey, 35, returns to the Blues fresh off a division one grand final with Koroit.

She first led Warrnambool in 2013 before time in Melbourne. The past five seasons she's linked up with the Saints.

The mother-of-one said it felt like the right time to rejoin the Reid Oval-based club.

"My first ever senior coaching job was at Warrnambool so I suppose it's a homecoming in parts that I am coming to coach an open side again," she told The Standard.

"I think first and foremost it's the opportunity to coach an open side, that's definitely been an aspiration of mine and it's something I have been working towards.

"Coming back to a club I am familiar with was also really good and we have some wonderful friends here - (senior football coach) Dan and Catie O'Keefe (among them).

"Catie and I have been friends since we were kids and they're back in the region now and they're here."

Lindsey said her husband Craig and son Billy, almost four, were also taken into consideration when choosing her next netball venture.

"It's a club we're going to have a lot of fun at and we're going to really enjoy our time here," she said.

"It seemed like a really good fit for us as a family."

Lindsey's passion for the game flows into her coaching and she is eager to bring in "new ideas" to help develop "a really good side".

"Number one I feel like I am a really good communicator," she said.

"I feel like that is really important because so much of what you do is around player management and there's so many complex personalities you're dealing with.

"I love watching the game and I'm a real analytical coach and I study not only local games but other leagues and Suncorp Super Netball, just to see what other structures they're doing that I can implement at club level."

The Moyne Shire economic and tourism manager believes her time at Koroit, where she coached junior and senior grades, had been beneficial.

Lindsey said she was grateful for the Saints' support.

"It's been a good opportunity to work with so many good kids coming through the ranks at Koroit and also coach older, more mature players who have been around for a lot longer," she said.

"It's been a really good mix, especially this year, it's probably been the most enjoyable year I've had coaching."

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