Team of the Decade: Adam Grinholz

We kick off off our Women’s Team of the Decade squad with the announcement of Coach Adam Grinholz.

Adam has undoubtedly been Melbourne University Soccer Club’s most successful coach of the decade. Through his two stints as coach of the Senior Women’s team, he has won multiple competitions and developed many incredible players for the club.

Adam joined the club in 2014, where the team finished 3^rd in State League 1. The following year, the team narrowly missed out on the premiership by 2 points, however they rallied under Adam’s leadership to win the Grand Final of the Championship against bitter rivals Ballarat.

Much loved for his collaborative and developmental style of coaching, Adam set the standard for the style of play for the senior women’s side over the latter half of the decade. In 2019 he seamlessly re-joined the club after stints at Football Victoria’s National Training Centre, and Junior Boys Premier League at Brunswick City. This proved to be one of the most successful season of senior women’s football in the club’s history.

Adam managed the State 1 squad with professionalism and incredible organisation. He led the senior women’s team to the Premiership by a whopping 9 points, only losing one game in the season and having a goal difference of 50, which was 30 more than Eltham in second place. To put the icing on the cake, he also led the team to beat cross town rivals South Yarra in the Championship.

As a student of the game, he also mentored his fellow coaches, including collaborating with the Reserve’s coaches to win the league undefeated by an incredible 19 points. Throughout this season Adam also worked to develop his reserves players, with the majority of the players in this squad earning selection for the senior squad throughout the season. This season represented a perfect balance of player development and incredible competitiveness under Adam’s leadership.

Thank you and congratulations Adam!