The Albion stalwart and Otago Cricket Association development manager has replaced Clare Taylor as coach after she stepped down last season.
And one of the 27-year-old's first acts was to install Katey Martin as captain.
It was no reflection on the job Sarah Tsukigawa did, just time for a change, he said.
"[Martin] has been recognised as a potential leader, not only at provincial level but at national level," he said.
"She is captaining the New Zealand emerging players squad which is travelling to Australia and it is just a case of giving her the opportunity and seeing how it goes."
It is the same attitude King is taking in his new role.
"I just want to build up knowledge and experience.
"I'm looking forward to the challenge and spending a couple years doing it and I'll see where it leads."
King has a New Zealand Cricket level three coaching certificate and has spent the past two winters coaching club cricket in Hong Kong.
He is also the Albion player-coach.
He joined the club when he left Kings High School and is a solid top-order batsman who played some representative cricket for Otago at age group level.
This is his first time in charge of a women's team but King does not plan to alter his approach too much.
"There are some things that we might focus on a bit more than with men.
"With the girls it is more about how you play the game of cricket.
"Obviously, you do a bit of technical work with them but also talking to them about the tactical side of it.
"I want the girls to feel really comfortable in what they are doing and try to promote improvement by creating an environment where there is no real fear of anything and where they enjoy it and want to work hard.
"It is more about giving the girls options and talking to them about how they go about playing the game and just trying to increase their general cricket awareness."
The Sparks open their season with a twenty/20 match against Auckland in Invercargill tomorrow and back-to-back one-dayers, also against Auckland in Invercargill, this weekend.
The Sparks will again rely on the usual suspects to score the bulk of the runs and take most of the wickets.
White Ferns all-rounders Tsukigawa and Suzie Bates are the heart and soul of the team and Martin is also expected to contribute heavily with the bat as well as marshal the field from her spot behind the stumps.
Aucklander Amanda Green has transferred south this year.
The White Ferns pace bowler has played 14 ODIs and has 12 wickets at an average of 32.66.
Canterbury leg spinner Emma Campbell returns for another season.
She had a marvellous summer, taking 24 wickets at an incredible average of 9.50.
However, the Sparks will be without the services of fellow spinner Tanya Morrison, who is taking a year off.
"It is a major loss in terms of our bowling stocks," King said.
In Morrison's absence, Megan Kane will get more opportunities.
"We are looking to give her opportunities to upskill and get some bowling under the belt because spin bowling can be an important aspect of women's cricket."
Former coach Clare Taylor returns.
Her experience will be invaluable in helping hold the lower middle order together and she is a useful medium pacer.
The Sparks won five of their 10 one-day matches last season and will need to win another two or three to make the final.
While their prospects will hang on the performances of their key personnel, King believes the squad has a good blend of experience and youth.
Blue Mountain College pupils Avana Miller and Kate Stiven were exciting prospects, he said.
Miller is a talented top order batsman and Stiven a promising left-arm medium quick.
All-rounders Victoria Abbott and Sarah Osborne are also new to the team.
"I'm new to the role, but some of the girls have been around the scene for a number of years and have the belief that we really can do it and are really determined to see us reach a final."
Otago Sparks
2009-10 campaign
2008-09: 4th in one-day competition and last in twenty/20 tournament.
Key players: White Ferns all-rounders Suzie Bates and Sarah Tsukigawa
Squad: Victoria Abbott, Suzie Bates, Kylie Crowley, Lucy Foote, Lisa Grant, Tessa Hopkinson, Megan Kane, Katey Martin (c), Avana Miller, Sarah Osborne, Kate Stiven, Clare Taylor, Sarah Tsukigawa.
