For Female Football Week, we interviewed Lisa Whelan. She is Manly United’s Boys Youth League Convenor, having previously been a team manager, and she also has a strong association with Dee Why FC.
“About 20 years ago, my husband Johnny was playing at Dee Why, and it started as a bet that he wanted me and my girlfriends to put a team together. Johnny coached us, we worked our way up, we started in Division 5, and by the end we were in Division 1!
“I ended up taking on the Secretary role there for a couple of years. My dad’s an electrician, so we applied for a grant to finally get some lights at Dee Why. It was quite a moment when we got floodlights, so they can play night games on Dee Why Fields 1 and 2.
“By taking on the team manager role, and same with the Convenor role, I wanted the kids to feel like they were part of something. We organise team dinners and weekends away, we make sure the kids attend Senior Games, be ball boys and hang out. That’s the main reason we started to get involved.
“A lot of the work is on game day. It’s making sure the referees have been paid, that the match balls are there, the VEO camera is set up for the day, making sure our barbecue runs smoothly, helping Alice and Pete in the canteen as well, and making sure we’ve got volunteers that are happy to help for the day.”
