Whitley Warriors Head Coach Simon Leach has announced that he will step down from his current role with the club at the end of the current campaign. Simon has had 2 spells behind the bench at Hillheads as well as a long illustrious playing career with the club.
Simon hopes that he will be able to help Warriors in the future in a number of off ice areas and is keen to remain part of the organisation he has been involved with for around 25 years.
Simon shared the reasons behind his decision to change his role at Whitley.
“After a lot of thought through the off season and letting my intentions be known to the players very early on in the season, I have decided that this will be my last year behind the bench for the Warriors. Various different reasons have brought me to this decision and it certainly hasn’t been an easy one to make.
“When I left Billingham (summer 2013) I never thought I would return to coaching so soon and it was quite a whirlwind the way things happened. It made sense to return as Warriors who had done so much for my career were without a Head Coach and I wasn’t involved anywhere so I agreed when I was approached that I would come back to the club.
“Although I was apprehensive at first as sometimes is not the best move to return to a club where you have had a period of success in the past. There have been some challenges along the way to contend with but I certainly have no regrets at all.
“I have always been very proud to represent Warriors both as a player and a coach and I have always done my best to make it as successful as possible along the way. I am also very proud to have been able to help players throughout their careers be better players and achieve their goals and have always been a coach to give the younger players a chance to progress as again we are seeing this season whether initially just training with the senior set up or jumping straight into the team.
“I would like to thank everyone connected to the club for their support especially the fans over the years, and I hope we can finish the season off strongly and make the Playoff Finals in April.
“I sincerely hope to stay involved behind the scenes in some capacity so I can use all my years of experience in the game to benefit the Warriors organisation. This has been discussed recently in a possible restructure of the club, although these plans are in their infancy we are looking at all areas of how the club can improve both on and off the ice.
“Going forward Warriors will release any news regarding these matters as and when they been finalised.”
I’m sure everyone connected with the club would like to thank Simon for his efforts in the maroon and gold over the years and hopefully Warriors will be able to end his last campaign as Head Coach at play off weekend in Dumfries in April which would see Simon’s coaching career fittingly end on a high note out on the ice.