Steve Glasson calls time on coaching career
Bowls Australia’s most prolific national coach, Steve Glasson OAM, has signalled time on his illustrious coaching career after a decade at the helm of the sport’s High Performance program.
Glasson relinquishes the coveted but onerous National Coach position having guided the BCiB Australian Jackaroos through a period of unparalleled success on the world stage, since taking the reins in March 2011.
Notably, Glasson presided over the best result achieved by any nation at a record-breaking World Bowls Championships in 2012, followed by the Jackaroos’ best campaign abroad at a World Bowls Championships in 2016, and culminated in the Jackaroos’ most successful Commonwealth Games result in 2018.
Underscoring the achievements on the international arena, Glasson is credited as having set the foundations and subsequently developed a first-class culture among all tiers of High Performance squads and has significantly raised the profile of the Jackaroos brand.
Stepping away from the coaching ranks entirely, Glasson plans to take a position at BCiB (Bowling Club Insurance Brokers), the naming rights partner of the sport’s national team, where he currently serves as an Ambassador.
In announcing his decision to step down, Glasson said he felt the time was right to move on to the next stage of his life and career, while affording his replacement the time required to adjust to the position before the next international benchmark event.
“It has been a great honour to be the National Coach of the sport I have loved and held dearly throughout my life and I wish to express my heartfelt thanks to Bowls Australia’s Directors, past and present, CEO Neil Dalrymple, the High Performance team, inclusive of staff and athletes, and all stakeholders for this incredible privilege,” Glasson said.
“Throughout the ten-year journey, I have been surrounded and supported by the most amazing, passionate and hardworking team of people, who have been instrumental in achieving the collective successes that we’ve enjoyed on the international arena.
“Whilst united in our desire to earn success on the green, unquestionably, one of the primary drivers and motivators of the High Performance program has been to instil a culture focused on becoming better people, and I feel that I have personally grown and developed through my involvement and benefited as a result.
“I’m immensely proud of the inclusiveness that’s been built steadily throughout the program, with a focus on mixed gender and para-sport, under-age and over-60 opportunities.
“Personally, I feel the time is right to move to a new phase of my life, so I wish the High Performance program and all involved the very best of luck for future endeavours and assure everyone that I will always remain an avid supporter and follower of the team’s progress and development.”
Bowls Australia President Bob Boorman said the organisation and the bowls community more broadly were appreciative of Glasson’s decade of service.
“The sport of Bowls has benefited greatly from the guidance and service Steve has imparted over the past ten years,” Boorman said.
“The accolades that the BCiB Australian Jackaroos squad have achieved during Steve’s tenure speak volumes for the amount of hard work and energy he has placed on developing a results-driven culture of proven performers, but just as importantly, he has established and led an excellent High Performance team and created a culture of good, honest, supportive people.
“Steve is a great character and personality in the sport of Bowls in Australia and has made an excellent contribution as a player and more recently as Coach; we wish him well for his future and intend to discuss a level of continued involvement with Bowls Australia at some point in the future.”
The past 11 months have unquestionably been a difficult period, void of national and international events and with limited access to personnel for training and development due to COVID-19, but Glasson’s selfless timing provides his successor with the best opportunity to prepare for September’s World Bowls Championships and the next Commonwealth Games in eighteen months’ time.
Bowls Australia’s Board and Executive plan to review the National Coach position and High Performance structure before advising plans for the successor.
Benchmark event results achieved under Steve Glasson OAM tenure
• 2012 World Bowls Championships (Adelaide, SA): Five gold and two silver medals from eight disciplines.
• 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games (Scotland): One silver and three bronze medals from ten disciplines.
• 2016 World Bowls Championships (New Zealand): Four gold, two silver and one bronze medal from eight disciplines.
• 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games (Broadbeach, QLD): Five gold and two silver medals from ten disciplines.
