With the recent departure of Jen Taffs from the South East region to take on a national community coaching role with the AFL, a recruitment process was successfully undertaken to appoint her successor.
We are pleased to announce that Josh Connell has been appointed as the new South East Regional Manager, commencing the 8th of September.
The role of the Regional Manager is to provide the strategic advice to the key stakeholders on the direction of the code locally, focusing on attraction & retention of players, umpires, volunteers & facilities to enable the game to thrive. In addition, the role also provides leadership and oversight of the local administration centre, AFL South East, which provides administration service for our 4 leagues.
Josh brings over a decade of leadership experience across community sport, the AFL industry, and local government. His career includes leading remote development programs with AFLNT in Wadeye, founding the Mental Health Thrive Program at St Kilda Football Club, and heading the Programs department at the Danny Frawley Centre. Most recently, Josh has overseen the Community Wellbeing team at Bayside City Council, managing key portfolios such as grants, social health, volunteering, child safety, diversity, and sport & recreation growth.
A proud local, Josh has strong connections to the South East, having played juniors with South Mornington, captained Tyabb Senior Men’s, and volunteered extensively in community football.
We look forward to welcoming Josh to the team in the coming weeks and working alongside him to continue strengthening community football in the South East.
