Following the Clubs Annual General Meeting the Norwich Devils are delighted to announce their Club Officers for 2019.
General Manager – Chris Handley
Chris Handley will be returning to the General Manager role for the 3rd year in a row providing some stability in a period of change in management at the Club. The Club’s membership validated the hard work he has put in to the club and the confidence they have in his management with a unanimous vote to keep him in the role.
Secretary – Jon-Mills
Having been heavily involved on the Committee at the Devils for over 5 years Alan Baxter-Smith has opted to step away from football in order to concentrate on his large family and career. Pivotal to the growth of the club and their return to the league he will be missed but as he said in his final address to the membership, he hopes he provided a solid base for Jon Mills who will be taking over the role. The Devils are delighted that Jon chose to step into the role, since, as an Improvement and Development Manager within the NHS, he is ideally skilled for the position. He also represents the development nature of the club having been on the committee as the Youth and Junior Development Manager in 2018 and the membership were confident he could take on the role and take it forwards.
Treasurer – Gary Martin
Long time Treasurer Richard Gray stepped away from the role during the 2018 season due to the birth of his first child and Gary Martin, from Back to Black Bookkeeping temporarily deputised for him. This required him to become more involved with the club and when Richard decided not to return to the role in 2019 he more than happily put himself forward. As a financial professional it’s great to have him bringing that experience to the Devils and we are certain it will help the club utilise its financial opportunities in the clubs development.
Head Coach – Andy Starling
The appointment of Andy Starling as Head Coach, following the departure of Chris Mills represents the next step for development on the field. This is the second time Coach Starling has taken the role having been the Devils Head Coach in 2010, when the Devils had a winning season by going 6-4 on the year and narrowly missing out on the playoffs. He fully admitted however, during the AGM he was perhaps not ready for the position back in 2010, as, while having had a long playing career, he was fairly inexperienced as a Coach. Having left the Devils and held multiple Coaching positions elsewhere and learnt from some of the most successful coaches in the Country, including being part of the Great Britain Coaching Team in 2018, and having worked on the Devils sideline for 2017 and 2018 the Devils Membership had no doubts in voting him into the position and are very excited to see what he can bring to help the club take that next step and go further in 2019.
The Officers of the Club will now meet to decide upon the remaining members of the Committee who will support them going forward. Applications are still welcome. Anyone is welcome to apply if you feel you can bring something to the club.
The Devils are also always looking for players, coaches and support staff to take the club forwards.
The Club Officers would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone on the 2018 committee for their hard work through 2018, as well as all the members of the club. The Devils had a very successful first season back in the National League both on and off the field due to everyone’s hard work and we look forward to taking it even further in 2019.