Apart from his councillor duties, Neoh is also executive officer of the region’s peak sporting body South West Sports, a father and husband.

But when he and a number of parents at East Warrnambool football club got talking at the end of last season, he knew he wasn’t alone in fearing a commitment to coach the under 12s would be too great.

Instead of dismissing the idea of coaching and hoping a white knight would volunteer, Neoh and fellow parent Grant Scoble decided they would take the job on.

While Neoh has taken on the formal role of coach, Scoble — the owner of a local concrete firm, former Bomber premiership player and father — is the back-up, also too busy to commit to the role on his own.

Bombers president Richard Jaynes has dubbed the coaching double act ‘the councillor and the concretor’.

While it sounds like the name of a comedy act, Neoh said the notion of volunteers sharing roles should be a serious consideration for clubs.

He said in an era of growing demands on parents and volunteers, clubs needed to be flexible to ensure a supply of volunteers.

“I think clubs are starting to be a bit more flexible with the roles for volunteers, scheduling meetings at the appropriate time and supporting them,” he said.

“Probably other clubs do it (share roles) but we have formalised it.”

The arrangement means Neoh can spend some time with his son Dujon and Scoble will be guiding his son Dylan. Neoh will look to Scoble, who has a long involvement with the Bombers, for his specialised football knowledge.

“No doubt we will be getting selection advice over the dinner table,” he joked with reference to their sons.

Neoh said his first taste of leading the team would come next Wednesday at Jones Oval when the under 12s had their first training session of the year at 4.30pm.

He said the Bombers would welcome any new players at both under 12 and under 14 level as it continued to rebuild.