National Females in Football Week is from May 25 to June 2 and St Georges Basin Football Club has had a great week celebrating it so far.
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The club has had a long history of promoting women's football in the Shoalhaven with strong numbers and solid results year after year. The club has a family friendly environment which is just one of the ways the club sees good retention of female players.
This year, due to the inability to field a full under 15 team, the club supported its 15-year-olds in joining the senior competition.
The girls have enjoyed a supportive environment for their first year in senior competition with a mixture of youth and maturity on the teams.
It's a family affair in first grade women: the team is coached by Amber Grainger (who also plays in reserves), whose daughters Halle and Tilhaney both play in the team.
Sisters Zali and Tanja Everingham also join the first grade squad and set a wonderful example for their younger sister, Mizuki, who plays in under 8.
Club life member Renee Brown also enjoys playing with two of her daughters, Molly and Lucy, in first grade. Other family combinations in senior womens include sisters Ebony and Kiara Smith and Alyce Basset and Lauren Moore.
Rachel Marks enjoys playing with her daughter, Gabi, in reserve grade while her youngest daughter, Keira, plays in under 6. Selina and Amber Parry also make a fierce mother/daughter team in reserve-grade.
Jess Bendall and Bec Kingma (first grade) both have daughters playing in under 10 while Tam Lee, Tammy Mackintosh and Louise Smeets (reserves) all have daughters playing in under 13.
The club is lucky to have some inspiring coaches. This year we have two female coaches in senior womens - Amber Grainger in first grade and Katrine Brown in reserves.
Julie Coulter, Robyn Glasson and Lauren Moore, from reserves, all coach teams, as does ex-Basin/Southern player Rosie Cockrem. Cole-Lee Houghton has had excellent results with her under 9 team, on which her twin daughters play.
There is also strong representation in volunteers whose passion for the sport is just as apparent as their commitment to the community organisation that hosts their family.
The club has two female cadets this year- Marcelle Holden and Isabelle Burnett from the U13 girls who are doing a great job.
Sandra Hunt manages the canteen as a way of contributing to the club whilst her grandchildren play.
The committee is lucky to have Jenny Sim who works tirelessly in a number of roles the board has two women - Tam Lee in the role of president and registrar and Rachel Marks, who is the club secretary and also coaches.