Coburg Football Club are delighted to announce the signing of Steve Stroobants, who will mix his playing duties in 2019 with a Development Coaching role at the Lions.
Stroobants, the last club captain of the now defunct Bendigo Gold, spent 2018 with North Melbourne’s VFL Team where he managed four appearances for five goals. When not selected for North Melbourne, he would front up for the GVFL’s Rochester, managing 54 goals from 14 games.
Stroobants has managed 247 goals from 75 games with Rochester over the past four seasons, and had returned to the VFL for 2018 citing unfinished business. He would also be a mainstay of the Goulburn Valley’s Interleague Representative team, establishing himself as one of the competitions most dangerous forwards.
Originally from the Southern New South Wales town of Moulamein, Stroobants represented the Bendigo Pioneers in the TAC Cup. He then graduated to the VFL with Bendigo in 2008, and while it would take a while for him to establish himself early especially during its alignment with Essendon, he would manage 70 VFL games for 66 goals with the club over a seven-year period.
Stroobants is best suited to playing as a small forward however can also play in the midfield & down back. His role as a Development Coach will consist of working with Coburg’s first & second year players, and also joins Liam Whelan in crossing from Arden Street to Piranha Park for season 2019.
Despite reaching the pointy end of his career, Stroobants saw this opportunity with Coburg too good to pass up, as he contemplates his future in football post playing.
“It’s a great opportunity to get involved with a stand-alone club, combined with my passion for football to teach the younger guys how to play the game. I guess with them coming out of TAC Cup footy, I’m really looking forward to teaching them the game plan on how Coburg want to play their Football,” said Stroobants.
“The aim with the first and second year players is just mainly to improve their consistency and be able to play VFL Footy week in week out, and also be able to contribute to the team success. I’m really looking forward to being around them on game day and seeing them flourish as footballers.”
GM Sebastian Spagnuolo was thrilled to have secured a player and person of Stroobants’ quality.
“We definitely set out to increase the experience and maturity on our list, and Steve fits the bill very nicely for us. Steve had opportunities at community level, however he still has got really high, professional standards, and also has coaching aspirations so we see great benefit for our young group to have a mature mentor like Steve within our club.”
“Steve joins us as a Playing Development Coach where he’ll do some work with our first and second year players as well as support our Forward Line Coach, Brent Taylor.”
“We are excited to welcome Steve & his wife Alyse, who are expecting their first child in March 2019, to our club,” Spagnuolo said.
Join Steve as a Lion next season, be sure to click here and sign up as a 2019 member today!
This story was first shared with our Subscribers Exclusive Newsletter, “The Roar.” Stay tuned for more news throughout the off-season by subscribing to The Roar HERE, where you can get all the Exclusive News, and up to date information ahead of the 2019 season.
