Essendon’s VFL coaches have recently been sharing their wealth of experience with Prabath Fonseka through the AFL Multicultural Coaches’ Pathway.

The Sri Lankan has been developing his football coaching after coming to the sport from a cricket background.

Fonseka has been involved with the Bombers VFL program now for around six weeks, largely in an observational capacity with training and on game day.

“Growing up as an Essendon supporter it was a great opportunity for me,” he said.

“As a kid I played football in the VFA competition but apart from that cricket was my main sport.

“It’s been a great experience, I don’t have a footy coaching background so for me to learn and listen to the communication with the players has been amazing.”

Fonseka was an assistant coach of the Victorian All-Nations Under 15 team that competed in the Diversity Championships in Townsville earlier this year.

There he worked closely with former AFL players David Rodan and head coach Paddy Karnezis.

“When I was there I met a few coaches from the coaches association like Brian Royal and I think through them that’s how I got this opportunity,” he said.

“It’s an amazing experience for me, learning from all the coaches and what they do and how the players go about things – it’s been great.

“A lot of ball movement is something that I wasn’t used to, as a coach it’s amazing what they do behind the scenes. I’ve picked up a lot from here to take on to my next role.”

Fonseka says that football coaching is a huge difference from the laid back nature of cricket coaching.

“With football it’s different you have boards, laptops and all this technology that you have to use in such a short period,” he said.

“Game plans, game tactics and it’s all happening in such a short time, that’s the biggest thing for me.

“That’s one of my highlights and something that I have learnt from these guys which I’ll be able to use later on down the track.

“I’ve learnt a lot from these guys about football, football coaching in general.  I keep a log book of everything I learn and I write it down so I can take to the next level.

“There is a lot that I have taken that I know will help me become a coach whether it’s local football or at a higher level.”

Essendon was one of six clubs to take part in the pilot program which in its first year.