For Female Football Week, we interviewed Phoebe Gilbane, who has a few different roles at our club – she’s the Women’s 1st Grade vice-captain, the GYL U16 head coach, and the Girls JDL U11 head coach!
“I started coaching when I was 15, at my junior club, Beecroft Wombats. I always wanted to do that sort of thing. I like teaching kids, I really enjoy football, so I wanted to get involved as much as possible.
“I volunteered at Manly United for a while, when the program was called SAP (now Girls JDL). After that, I was a Girls Development Squad coach for a couple of years, and then moved into the SAP space.”
During the April School Holidays, Manly United’s Girls U11s won the Football NSW JDL Cup. Phoebe and the players enjoyed the tournament experience at FNSW headquarters.
“We played against lots of different teams and there were some really tough games. We pulled through in the finals series, which was lovely. It was lots of fun and the players were very, very excited.”
Phoebe is also relishing the playing side of things, especially after Manly’s strong start to the NPL Women’s NSW season.
“We’re playing some good football, probably the best we’ve played in the last couple of years. We’ve added some depth to our squad, which is nice. Everyone’s getting along well and having so much fun, which is what you want, and that’s coming through in the football that we’re playing.”
