Jamie ‘Scissors’ Szczerbanik, Head Coach of the Illawarra Steelers Harvey Norman Women Premiership outfit, has experienced a season of change, to say the least.
After taking charge of the Steelers U17 Boys Harold Matthews side earlier in the year, the 40-year-old unexpectedly found himself at the helm of the Club’s open women’s team.
“It’s my first year coaching females,” Szczerbanik said.
And he has his 15-year-old daughter, Ellie, to thank for urging him to pursue the role.
“She’s [Ellie] a massive part of why I’m doing this.
“To take information like that from a 15-year-old and swallow your pride, tell her she was right, and thank her for pushing me to take the role makes me realise how much I take rugby league for granted.”
Where It All Started
But it wasn’t the first time someone in his family had encouraged him to step into a coaching position.
After calling time on his footy career, Szczerbanik says his wife pushed him into taking up a coaching role with Parkes Marist U16 side in 2014, who went on to win the competition.
“I had no interest in coaching after I stopped playing. My wife pushed me into it, and I really did enjoy it,” he explains.
“Because of that, I really got the bug for coaching.”
Developing Coaching Style
More grassroots jobs followed, including coaching the Western Rams, featuring players such as current Canterbury Bulldogs half Matt Burton and West Tigers winger Charlie Staines.
The gig that followed was beyond anything Szczerbanik had set out to do, moving his family back to Sydney to take up the role of working in the pathways at the Penrith Panthers.
Working with Panthers Head Coach Ivan Cleary and his assistants at the time, Cameron Ciraldo and Andrew Webster, the Steelers mentor believes his time there rubbed off on him and taught him things about his coaching style.
“Just seeing the way that they don’t go away from who they are.
“Having spent time with those people allowed me to find my style of coaching and gave me the confidence to get where I am now.
“Knowing that no matter what was thrown at me, I could overcome any obstacle.
“They have their core beliefs as a club, and everybody buys into those core beliefs.”
Calling time on his 7-year stint with the Panthers, Szczerbanik then headed south to take up the Harold Matts job.
Steel-ing the Show
Nine rounds into the Harvey Norman Women’s competition, Szczerbanik is focused on locking down a top-four spot. Despite an impressive 6-2 win/loss record, the Steelers are approaching their remaining three games one week at a time.
“Top four is everyone’s goal; we’ll just keep going round by round.”
[Watch] Illawarra Steelers HNWP Coach Jamie Szczerbanik on his team’s gutsy win over the Bulldogs last week, the impact of late inclusions Indie Bostock and Jessica Patea, and this week’s matchup against the Sea Eagles.
Szczerbanik is quick to deflect any praise, commenting on how fluent the Club’s pathways program is as the next generation of male and female footballers walks through its doors.
“I think the connection that the Steelers and the Dragons have with each other, as well as the communication that Sowey [Jamie Soward] filters back through the whole system, has set the standard from the top down.
“They are so competitive, and their skill set is high quality, and the physicality for their size is enormous as well.
“Having a playing group that’s so talented, makes turning up every week really easy.”
Words: Joshua Houldin
HNWP Round 9, Sunday, 1 September, HE Laybutt Field, Blacktown, 12pm
- Illawarra Steelers (2) v Sea Eagles (7)