Galwegians have appointed Bernie Kelly as their new head coach. The New Zealander takes over from Kevin Dinneen who retired at the end of last season.
The 49-year-old, who was born in Wales, attended the highly regarded St Mary's teacher-training college in Twickenham, London before moving to New Zealand to pursue his teaching career. During his time In Wanganui, Kelly developed a taste for coaching and eventually coached every level in the Wanganui region, from schools through to the national provincial championship side.
Kelly held the head coaching position of the senior side for five years, during which time he worked closely with established All Black coaches such as, Wayne Smith and Graham Mourie.
In his new role at Galwegians, Kelly hopes to consolidate the senior team's position in the AIL Division one and develop the club's youth academy by working with the underage coaches.
Galwegians chairman Simon Heaslip welcomed his appointment. He said: "We are delighted to welcome Bernie Kelly to Galwegians as our new Head Coach. He has an extremely impressive coaching record in New Zealand, and he also brings an infectious enthusiasm for the game which can only have a positive impact within the club, so we all look forward to working with him."
Kelly and his family will move to Galway early next month.