Stephen Marks

Stephen was nominated by Emma Marks for their service to Football.

Stephen has been involved in the Barmera Monash Football Club for a number of years in a coaching capacity, most recently coaching the Under 18s side to the 2023 premiership – this being his third junior premiership in a row. This year he was awarded the Riverland Football League Under 18 Coach of the Year. He is involved with the West Adelaide Football Club (for the fourth year), coaching their U13 and U14 players in the Riverland Young Bloods Academy. Stephen was also the runner for the Riverland U18 Interleague team. He is passionate about the development of junior talent which has seen a number of U18 players promoted to the Barmera Monash A Grade side throughout the season. He undertakes statistical analysis during games to be able to give his players instant feedback and has developed great relationships with players. His attention to detail and ability to keep training interesting by researching and developing new drills to suit the areas of focus for the team are key elements of the team’s success. This year, due to the talent within his group, he has pushed the players with a new game style which has contributed to their success. The team’s first mantra has resonated with the players and this has led to improvement across the entire playing group.
Stephen has also been heavily involved with the Barmera Basketball Club and Riverland Basketball Association. In the most recent season, he was involved in selection trials for the Barmera teams and coached the U18 boys team to the grand final where they finished runner-up. This was the first season for a number of years where he didn’t coach a Riverland team, but this allowed him to undertake some umpiring on behalf of the Association at carnivals and on Grand Final day.