ANOTHER accolade has recently come the way of Mount Burr underage coach Maurie Puiatti.
He was named as the South East coach of the year at the annual coaches’ dinner in Naracoorte.
It caps off a perfect football season for the playing and coaching veteran after his Mozzies took out the junior colts’ premiership at Nangwarry last month.
Mount Burr defeated Hatherleigh in the grand final to complete an undefeated season.
The season decider was Puiatti’s 500th combined game of playing and coaching at the Mount Burr United Football Club.
He freely acknowledges the support provided by his assistant coach Will Whitty, team manager Fiona Wilson and trainers Paul and Cat Terry.
It was his third season at the helm of this grade with the team finishing 6th in 2015 and 4th the following year.
It gave him his 10th premiership as player or coach since joining the Mozzies in 1989 and he has coached all four grades at the club.
Speaking to The Border Watch after the awards ceremony, Puiatti said it was a surprise as well as an honour to win the award.
He said it gave him great pleasure to see players he coached at underage level graduate to senior ranks.
“I think of someone like Tyler Stanley who I coached back in senior colts,” Puiatti said.
“He was not an instant A Grader and spent a lot of time in B Grade.
“Tyler worked on his game and is now the A Grade defender who picks up the opposition’s best forward.”
Puiatti has always aimed to ensure his players enjoy their game time as well as their training drills.
He has taken every opportunity to attend training courses and seminars.
“I continue to educate myself as a coach.
“Back in the 1990s, I went to one training course at Casterton and there were not many of us there.
“The speaker was multiple AFL premiership coach Allan Jeanes and we were able to receive a great amount of information from him about coaching.
“Nowadays I go to the AFL coaching conferences in January where the workshops are led by people like Garry Ayres.”
Puiatti’s involvement with football in this area dates back to the 1970s.
He was a former junior star at Millicent who won Western Border Football League best and fairest medals in Under 14 (1977) and under 16 (1979).
Known as “Magpie”, he made his senior debut for Millicent in 1980 and played 116 (50A/66B) senior games but premiership success eluded him with the Saints.
He has gone on to become the longest serving Mount Burr junior coach and the first person to coach all four grades in the Mid South East Football League.
Over his coaching career Puiatti has been chosen as coach of numerous interleague and representative teams and was named this year as the MSEFL junior coach of the year.
For the past 13 years, he has also kept in contact with youngsters through volunteering with the Learning Assistance Program (LAP) at Millicent North Primary School.
He spends an hour each week mentoring a young boy on a one-on-one basis.
“I got involved in LAP as I wanted to volunteer for something away from sport and my wife Leah was already involved at the school.
“I have worked with boys across all year levels and the teachers usually ask me to be with those who do not have an adult male about in their lives.”
He is able to arrange his LAP commitments around his shift-work responsibilities at the KCA Millicent Mill where he has been employed since 1989.
During the off-season, Puiatti takes a break from sport and often heads to Adelaide to see their adult children Chris and Sarah.
There is not much else for the 2017 SE Coach of the Year to achieve in football but his simple aim will stay involved.
He will be stepping down as the junior colts mentor and will spend 2018 in a support role to new Mount Burr senior colts coach Nathan Muhovics.
“There will about 10 or 11 boys coming out of junior colts”
“I want to keep on teaching the kids.”
