Newcastle Olympic confirm Paul Devitis to coach NPLW side

The club have appointed the 35-year-old to replace championship-winning mentor Harmonie Attwill, who has stepped aside due to other commitments after two seasons at the helm.

DeVitis has been involved with Olympic as a player then coach for the past 18 years and has been the club's Women's Premier League Technical Director for two years. He coached Adamstown WPL first grade in 2018 and 2019.

"I'm excited because my involvement with Olympic has been for so long, so, now to be able to coach a first-grade team is super exciting for me," DeVitis told the Newcastle Herald.

"I'm really looking forward to the challenge. Being the technical director for the past two years means I already know everyone in the program. I've done a lot of work with Harmonie in the past two seasons, so it's been pretty seamless so far.

"There's a little bit of pressure because Olympic is a big club and I know that we're a winning club, so the expectation is that I have to win, which I like."

Olympic have been quick to confirm the re-signing of the bulk of a strong side which lost only two matches - both to premiers Broadmeadow - before finishing second in this year's COVID-shortened competition.

That includes Jets A-League Women's striker Jemma House, who was the local competition's leading goalscorer this year.

DeVitis has also added former Jets midfielder Paige Kingston-Hogg plus defender Alesha Clifford, who also has W-League experience.

He has also added Neil Owens to his coaching staff.

Kingston-Hogg made her W-League debut for Newcastle in a breakthrough 2019-20 season but has not played since sustaining a major knee injury playing for the Jets Academy side in the middle of last year.

"We've brought her in as a midfielder, which means now we've got competition for spots," DeVitis said. "No one is guaranteed of anything, which is what the they wanted.

"One of the things the players wanted was to make the squad better. So, we've brought in players with a bit of W-League experience. Now the battle for spots in all positions is through the roof."

Northern NSW Football's top-flight women's competition has been elevated to NPL status for next season.

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