IT’S often described as a man’s world – but with 51 per cent of AFL supporters being women, it is no surprise to see a woman rise through the ranks in local footy.
Nilma Darnum Football and Netball Club president Debbie Tyson quickly became part of the club after moving from Western Australia to be with her husband.
Before taking on the role of president, she spent four years as secretary and one year as vice-president.
“I was introduced to local football after joining the netball club,” Debbie said.
“Being from Perth I’d never been part of local footy and the strong links between them and the netball club.
“For me it was an interesting concept.”
Sadly, due to a knee reconstruction, Debbie had to give up playing – but found herself taking on more and more roles at the club.
“Being secretary was a big job,” she said.
“There’s lots of paperwork, and I think being president is similar to that – but just working with people instead of paperwork.”
Each week Debbie focuses on getting the club moving forward, following up on sponsorship and being an ever-present feature at the club.
“It’s really about being seen,” she said.
“Going down to training on Tuesdays and Thursdays, at the games on Saturdays and being there on Sunday to clean up.”
It’s a world very different to what she was used to while living in WA.
“I followed AFL in Perth, and always had an affiliation with the West Coast Eagles but now AFL takes a back seat to local footy,” she said.
“That’s my focus now.”
Being the only female president in the Ellinbank and District Football League (EDFL), Debbie is aware of her own limitations and has a strong football committee and great coaches behind her.
“I haven’t had any negatives at all,” she said.
“I know I have limits – my actual knowledge of the game is limited compared to those who have played.
“I choose not to get involved in that side of things – my job is to look after supporters, the committee and sponsors.”
While aware there might be people out their waiting for her to fail, Debbie isn’t bothered by it at all.
“Being a president of a footy club is the same as being the president of any other organisation,” she said.
“It’s about being there and providing leadership.”
As a town planner at Baw Baw Shire, Debbie is no stranger to telling people news they don’t necessarily want to hear – a skill important for running a footy club.
“The worst and most disappointing decision I’ve had to make since taking on the presidency was losing our thirds,” she said.
“We’ve been in a downward spiral for the last couple of years and we just had to make a call.
“We didn’t want to burn our fourths by asking them to step up – but a lot of people weren’t happy.”
The club had never failed to field a thirds team, for as long as anyone could remember.
But Debbie says the club has found it more difficult to field a team since joining the under 18s competition.
“Why? There are a lot of excuses we can throw up but we just don’t know,” she said.
“Some clubs have flourished, but there are so many teams in the area – as well as the rise of other sports like soccer.”
This year the club will make a concerted effort to build junior numbers at the club – with the hope that will carry into the seniors.
They will implement a junior co-ordinator and visit local schools to put the Nilma Darnum brand out there.
“For the first time in a couple of years we have a strong fourths and fifths team, so we want to nurture those guys but we also want to bring more people to the club,” she said.
“We are learning from more successful clubs and trying to think outside the box as much as we can instead of hitting the same sponsors every other team is trying to get.”
For now, with no wins on the board, the focus for the club is to win a few games.
“We haven’t won a game this year, we thought we’d be up there winning a few games,” she said.
“But we’ve been racked by injuries lately and our goal is to get the boys back on the track and get a few wins up.
“We want to be competitive and be sustainable.”
With a strong sense of team spirit, Debbie said even in bad years it was important to emphasise the importance of supporters.
“Supporters just want to be there, they sit up in the stands and don’t care if we win or lose, they just want to stand next to the same people each week – that’s what footy’s all about,” she said.
“We’re always looking for new members, and we’re still in need of players and sponsors.”
