Women to the fore

By Bridget Brady
THE “unseen people” in local football were celebrated at the second annual MPNFL ladies luncheon last week.
About 150 women including special guests Bianca Chatfield from the Melbourne Vixens netball team and Chris Connolly from the Melbourne Football Club enjoyed a day of lunch and laughs at the Mornington Peninsula Nepean Football League (MPNFL) Ladies Day Luncheon on 5 June.
The lunch at the Cranbourne Golf Club aimed to highlight the important role of women in football, with all money raised from the day donated to breast cancer research.
Pakenham Netball Club president Wendy Goldsack said the lunch celebrated “the women behind the men”.
“They (women) are the unseen people and many play a huge role in clubs,” she said.
“The day is to acknowledge women and the role they play in the football environment.”
MPNFL administrator Sue Jones said women held a range of roles in football and netball clubs from positions on committees and working in canteens to being supportive partners to players and coaches.
“This is to acknowl-edge them and thank them,” Ms Jones said.
City of Casey mayor Geoff Ablett, who attended the lunch, said he hoped the traditional notion of women being only involved in netball and men in football was a thing of the past.
“Hopefully that’s all changed,” Cr Ablett said.
Guest speaker and breast cancer survivor Chris Carey from the Frankston YCW Football Club spoke about her battle with cancer.
She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007 and put off telling her son about her diagnoses because she wanted him to focus on his preliminary final match.
“Football is so important in my family’s life,” Ms Carey said.
“I’m a survivor and I always plan to be a survivor,” she said. “My life has changed a lot but my journey has been fantastic.”
Ms Carey, 53, said it was important to focus on the positives and always find things to laugh about. She said she had even found something to chuckle about when she had a breast removed dur-ing her treatment.
“The prosthetic breasts make great nut bowls,” she said.
Melbourne Football Club players Nathan Jones, Paul Johnson and Michael Newton were auctioned off for a 45-minute chat at tables, raising $400 for breast cancer research.
Ms Jones said she hoped the MPNFL ladies lunches would get bigger and better each year.