The time was right: Glasson
Decorated former BCiB Australian Jackaroos‘ coach Steve Glasson OAM has declared on Without Bias that the time was right to step down from national coaching duties earlier in the year.
Glasson held the position for a decade after taking the reins in 2011 and while he misses the work and the people, the 52-year-old felt that the Australian squad might benefit from a new voice to continue the motivation for international success.
“I do miss it, it was such a big part of my life, in fact, I often used to refer to it as a lifestyle and not a job,” Glasson told Without Bias.
“I miss the job and I miss the people, but it was very much a long term strategy to recognise that I felt the time was right at that stage to move on, both for myself and for the program.
“With Gary Willis coming on board as the National Coach, he’s going to do a tremendous job and I think it’s advantageous for the player roster to have someone fresh and with new ideas to motivate them.”
While his vacancy from the role has not quite sunk in, due to a lack of international events amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2018 Bowls Australia Coach of the Year admits that he will feel it when he sees the green and gold in action once again.
“It hasn’t impacted me totally yet, and that will happen I guess when I finally see an Australian side out there playing in an event because they are the times that you really miss,” Glasson said.
“Because of COVID we haven’t had an event yet, but i’m certainly very much looking forward to when the Australian team can get out there and compete again against our international colleagues.
“I’ll be supporting them whole heartedly but deep, deep down there will be that feeling of the loss of involvement and I will certainly miss them.”
Glasson has since extended his involvement with long-term national sponsor Bowling Club Insurance Brokers (BCiB) in a new position, but is still involved with the bowling fraternity as the coach of the Sydney Lions in the Bowls Premier League (BPL), joking that he refrains from calling what he does ‘coaching’.
“I think you could call it soccer-style management, just trying to keep them focussed but they are a great team to work with,” he said.
“BPL is a wonderful event for the sport and it’s a bit different coaching a BPL team rather than the Australian side but I really enjoy it and I love seeing the game on television.
“It’s certainly a product of the sport as well and it’s a little bit unique in the method that it’s run in and I’m hoping November goes ahead and that borders open and we can get up there to Club Pine Rivers.”
Hear the full Without Bias chat with Steve Glasson OAM and Barrie Lester below.
