However last Tuesday she captained her side to a 2-0 win against Huskisson in the Shoalhaven Football women’s second division grand final.

It was a fast-paced match; the Cougars scored two goals in the first half and held on in the second to keep the Seagulls scoreless.

On paper it was a surprise win by the Cougars, who lost to the Seagulls on all three occasions during the regular season.

In reality, however, it was an example of how implementation of high-performance strategies can make a difference even at a local level.  

Coach Rob Satchell is the physiotherapist at Coast Allied Health in Culburra and is passionate about injury prevention and management.

“One of the first things we implemented was a specific warm-up called the FIFA-11 which has been proven to reduce injuries,” Satchell said.

Injury prevention was just the beginning - due to his knowledge of strength and conditioning, training sessions were pre-planned across the season and players were asked to complete injury management and recovery questionnaires following games.

“We definitely didn't train like a social team. These ladies had the will and determination to win so we've been working towards the grand final all year,” Satchell said.

Captain Sarah May is proud of how far her team has come.

“At the beginning of the season we pulled together a mixed bag of girls, some who’ve been with the club since they were young, others whose first year it was playing soccer, as well as a few girls from other teams in the Shoalhaven,” May said.

“Most of us were strangers to each other at pre-season. There was a wide range of ages (from 18-56) and abilities on this team and last week we played really well as a team and that was a big contributor to our win.

“Culburra didn't have a ladies team last year - so it's a long way to come from nothing to a grand final win. It feels good to get our name back on the Champions list after a few slower seasons.”

Cougars player and grand final goal scorer Karla Satchell sees the win as an opportunity to grow women’s sport in Culburra Beach.

“In 2017 Culburra had three men’s teams and no ladies team. I hope the win this year attracts more ladies next year,” May said.

“Women have much lower participation levels in sport across the country than men. I'd like Culburra to be the exception - I'd love the Cougars to get to the point where we have as many women registered as men.”  

Rob Satchell is also looking towards the future.

“I came on board as a coach one day before the first game this year. I am really looking forward to 2019 and the opportunity to have a proper pre-season.”

Overall, the attitude of the ladies is celebratory and optimistic. The ladies team were the only grand final winners in the club this year and are proud of the way they achieved it.

“We decided at the beginning of the season we wanted to keep it classy on and off the field, I’m really proud of the girls for staying true to that this year,” player Alisa McGill said.