ASSISTANT COACH & BRAND DESIGNER
I've been an avid football fan and mediocre player most of my life.
When my son was born, I was quite literally counting the days until he could kick a ball - wondering if he would inherit the footballing gene! He showed signs of enjoying it, so our weekend routine started with Little Kickers.
Moving on a couple of years, we wondered what we could do next. Thankfully, the playground mums’ grapevine delivered news of a bunch of parents setting up a team attached to Sandridge Rovers. The boy and I rocked up at Spencer Fields one Saturday morning and we haven't looked back since.
Initially I was happy on the sidelines chatting with the other parents, while the boys (and a couple of young lionesses) did their drills and games. Gradually, I started turning up in my trackies and helped out returning wayward balls and picking up cones - happy to let our fantastic coaches get on with what they're good at!
With the coaching already covered, I felt like I wanted to contribute more to the team. So, as well as helping herd our cats, I brushed up on the laws of the game and offered myself up as referee for home games.
I've learned there's so much more to running a team and being part of a club than just coaching. As parents, we all have talents outside of football we can put to good use. Volunteers are the lifeblood of grassroots footy and we rely on people lending a hand and pitching in.
In my day job as a designer, I've helped brands connect with their audiences for years. I saw an opportunity to help the club build an online platform to showcase our ethos and recruit the next generation of teams.
I'm not a coach, but I can contribute!
