Janakan Seemampillai
Geelong resident and well known women’s football coach Kat Smith has secured a job as head coach of the Western Sydney Wanderers’ A-League Women’s team for the next two seasons.
The former Geelong Galaxy United NPLW coach, who was also the club’s inaugural Technical Director arrives at Wanderland as one of the most well credentialed coaching appointments in the club’s women’s space in recent times.
She took Galaxy to an NPLW Grand Final in 2017, where they narrowly went down to South Melbourne on penalties.
She was also an assistant at Melbourne Victory for six years, including the championship winning 2013-14 season and the 2018-19 Premiers Plate success, and has also been part of the Matildas’ setup for five years. She was a scout for the Matildas during the 2019 World Cup in France, and has been part of the Junior Matildas (U-17s) space for a number of years.
Smith is also the only woman in Australia to have a Pro Coaching licence.
Apart from coaching, she has also been a school teacher for 12 years at the SEDA College.
Smith is currently coaching Alamein FC in the Victorian NPLW, who currently sit in fourth spot on the ladder after seven games of the 2022 season. She is also assisting Mark Torcaso in Western United’s development program. United were given a new licence for the 2022-23 A-League Women’s season, where they will now ironically come up against Smith and her Wanderer’s team.
A no nonsense coach who demands the highest of standards, Smith will be looking to build a winning culture at a club that has only tasted finals once in 10 seasons.
Smith has long been touted as a coach who deserves a chance to be a head coach of an A-League Women’s club, she now has the opportunity to show what she has got.
“It’s really exciting. The timing of the opportunity couldn’t be any better given it’s on the eve of the boom of women’s football in this country. I’m really excited to take on this opportunity at such a big club and ride that wave to bring success on and off the field,” said Smith.
“In sport, we know that continuity does drive performance. Success breeds off the back of that so to have the opportunity to build that over the next two seasons is something that I hope will lead towards results and success.
“Obviously, there’s the aspiration in this league to make Finals as that is the structure in place for the Liberty A-League competition.
“My driver is to be the best version of myself for these players as they have so many opportunities in front of them. For me personally, it’s bringing something to their journey and to their lives that’s positive and that’s going to create change and success for them.”
Smith’s first job will be to sign players. Her ability to attract the cream of Australia’s best young players probably got her over the line in securing the role.
The Wanderers have struggled to attract the best players at times, but Smith’s broad experience may assist with this.
2022-23 should be an exciting ride for success starved Wanderer’s fans, who will be demanding wins, finals and maybe even a championship. One thing is for sure, they will go into next season with their best chance yet.
