LONG-serving Elite Performance Manager David Misson has announced that he will be ending his tenure with the Melbourne Football Club at the conclusion of 2019.
Misson, who has been an integral part of the Demons fitness team for the past eight years, has made the decision to move overseas with his family, calling time on his established career with the club.
“My wife resigned from her role at Melbourne Girls Grammar last year – she finished up in December,” Misson told Melbourne Media.
“She was approached about a school in Canada – Havergal College in Toronto – so she went through the recruitment process and was lucky enough to land the role.”
While it was never going to be an easy move for Misson and his family, he said the challenge is something he will embrace.
“It was a difficult decision, but as a family we’re looking to get ourselves out of our comfort zone a little bit,” he said.
“We did that by coming to Melbourne 11 years ago and we see this as another opportunity to do that.”
Misson’s move won’t have any effect on Melbourne’s on-field performance in 2019, with the fitness guru continuing in his role until seasons end.
“I’ll do the whole season, I’m not going over until mid-December this year, so it will be business as usual really for me in terms of my role at Melbourne,” he said.
“Hopefully there’s a bit of incentive there to take it one-step further which would be nice.”
Since joining the club eight years ago, Misson has seen enormous growth for the red and blue both on and off the field.
He is now confident the Demons are ready to take the next step as a football club.
“It’s a club now that is built around great people,” Misson said.
“When you’ve got great people, you can develop a great culture and that’s what we’re seeing under Goody (Simon Goodwin), Josh (Mahoney), Peter (Jackson) and Perty (Gary Pert).”
Mahoney, who is the General Manager of Football and Casey Operations at Melbourne, says Misson has been an outstanding member of the club over a long period of time and will continue to perform highly in 2019.
“Misso has brought together and led a very strong high-performance team over his time at the club,” Mahoney told Melbourne Media.
“The minute after telling us this news, it was business as usual for Misso and his team, as it will be for the rest of the season.
“This is a great opportunity for Catherine and the family.”
Misson’s role won’t be changing this season, but his early announcement will allow the club to seek an appropriate replacement for the future.
“By telling us now, we can use this time to search for the best person and/or structure for our program moving forward,” Mahoney said.
