WOMEN’S ROUND 11
Southern Football League, 29 June 2013
The Southern Football League’s Women’s Round falls in line with the AFL Women’s Round, aimed at acknowledging the contribution of females to the sport and developing female leadership across all levels of the Australian football industry, from community to the elite.
The inaugural SFL Women’s Round Breakfast event takes place this weekend at Souter Oval, Dingley. This is set to be a fantastic event celebrating the contribution of female volunteers and other key roles within the football community.
Karen Livingstone, inspiring and motivational businesswoman, will be the guest speaker. Karen is the founder of Ovarian Cancer Australia and hers is a story of how great passion can bring about change. She also comes from a strong, local sporting family (her sister is Nicole Livingstone, Olympic swimmer).
The Southern Football League would like to acknowledge and thank all those female volunteers who make a contribution to your local clubs. Keep up the great work!
This year, Women’s Round also marks the inaugural "Women's AFL" exhibition game. The game will be played as a curtain raiser to the Women’s Round AFL game between Melbourne FC and Western Bulldogs FC.
A special team of Umpires will take the field at this match including SFL Umpires Elise Cooper, Annie Mirabile (field umpires) and Adele Wickenden (goal umpire). Adele will wave the flags opposite AFL goal Umpire Chelsea Roffey.
Peter Mair, Director of Umpiring, says the three girls are looking forward to umpiring the Women’s AFL game this weekend. “It’s a great opportunity to showcase our Umpires and provides a clear pathway for their ongoing development.” When asked if female Umpires within the SFL face any greater challenges than their male counterparts, Peter said “In general, our female Umpires are well respected throughout the SFL. We have a great community league and their skills are well regarded."
As a preface to the AFL exhibition game, Chelsea Roffey made a special appearance last week at the SFLUA training night. Addressing over 120 people, Chelsea shared her experiences as an AFL Umpire, including her path to the elite level, saying that in the beginning, she didn’t really think about the 'gender issue'. She wants to be recognised first as an Umpire, rather than a female Umpire, but also understands the role she plays in opening up opportunities for the development of female Umpires in the game.
Peter says Chelsea’s visit was well received by the group. “Chelsea was approachable and her practical advice around the importance of focusing on things within your control, taking responsibility for your actions and how to bounce back from challenging situations, really rang true for many people in the room”.
Good luck to Elise, Annie and Adele and well done!
CONTACT:
Kelly Jones
Southern Football League
P: 9553 5644
E:
bdm@sfl.com.au
