INTERNATIONAL Soccer Club will welcome a familiar face to coach its Senior side in 2018, with Gareth Vonduve taking the helm.
After being with the club since 2004, he returned from a coaching stint in Adelaide midway through last season and will now fill the shoes of out-going coach Tony D’Agostino.
In the words of D’Agostino, Vonduve “will take the club to another level” and with the experience he has obtained through his time with the MetroStars Soccer Club, he will be more than capable of the task.
Vonduve has his sights set on raising the bar in the Limestone Coast Football Association, with hopes to see the black and blue set the benchmark of the competition once again.
To do this he aims to use what he has learned from his time in Adelaide, with hopes to build upon the foundations left behind by D’Agostino and other past coaching staff.
“It was always going to be a big step for whoever was taking over from Tony and obviously Lou (Zaccardo) in the early days,” he said.
“But I’m pretty confident.
“I want to change our structure and formation, along with the way we play to sort of emulate what I have learned up in Adelaide”
During his year and a half with the MetroStars, Vonduve was exposed to a hoard of knowledge from experienced players and coaches.
“I worked under Steph Pappas and Nigel Gill with the Reserves,” he said.
“Then we had Rob Saraceno and Travis Dodd as the first team coaches which was pretty good.”
“Travis played a lot of A League and a bit of NSL and Rob played a few years of NSL as well.
“There was mountains of experience to learn from, so I’m sort of trying to bring as much as I can back here.”
Part of Vonduve’s new standard for the team includes a strict running program aimed to increase the fitness of the players before the official start of training on January 15.
Through this he hopes to be able to focus on the skills and structures of the game, without the need to address fitness as much during training sessions.
“We have a running program that started on Christmas day, which is a bit rough on the boys,” he said.
“It’s a pretty strict program for three weeks, but if they follow it they are going to find pre-season a lot easier.
“That way we can have a lot more time worrying about the ball work and the structure.
“I have set the running program so when we come back everybody is reasonably fit and we can start on our formation and playing style straight away.”
Despite his somewhat intense approach, Vonduve is pleased with how the players have adapted to his leadership and the mindset they have going into the pre-season.
“The boys have gotten around me pretty quickly and the numbers at the first two trainings have been pretty strong,” he said.
“I’m pretty excited they have taken everything on board as much as they have.
“Tony has been good as well, he’s come out to a couple of trainings.
“I still talk to him and still ask him questions – he’s always going to be there for support and advice.”
As far as changes in line-up go, the A Grade team will see a couple of names off the list this season.
Fintan Cuthbertson, who proved his worth when he stepped up to the Senior side a number of times last season, will have a question mark over his head next year.
“I think he will try and travel around Australia a bit more,” Vonduve said.
“It will be sad to see, but he’s unsure whether he’s going yet.”
Dustin Sauer will also be absent from the side, as he has decided to prolong the stay in his home country of Germany, where he is now doing a sixth-month cycling tour.
However, 2018 will see Tom Weedon return to Mount Gambier and rejoin the team, while Inter’s new rookie program will see some of the upcoming juniors with opportunities in the Senior side.
“Tom Weedon has moved back from Queensland which will be good,” Vonduve said.
“He played at a pretty high level up there.
“I’m also trying to promote a few of the younger boys.
“I’m just trying to bring them through from the Under 17’s and Reserves and give them a taste of senior football.”
The likes of Tyler Michielan, Caleb Casey, Matt Heesemans and Patrick Willondja will all be likely additions throughout the year.
“Connor Prior and a few other juniors will get a look in as well,” Vonduve said.
“With the training structure I have 16 players and then four rookie juniors as we call them.
“They can get minutes if it turns out they are doing well enough, but it is more so to give them the experience of training with the first team.”
With big shoes to fill, Vonduve hopes his fresh approach will see another successful year for Inter, with 2018 to mark the start of a new coaching era across the top teams in the A Grade competition.
“Hopefully I do not come in and drop the ball right away,” he said.
“I do not expect us to dominate the whole season, but the boys are keen to keep the legacy going.
“From what I have seen in the first few sessions I think we are going to be pushing the top of the table again.
“It’s good to be back and hopefully we can have a good season.”
