History making coach secures academy spot

North Gambier’s Fiona Young is one of 10 coaches to secure a place in the inaugural SANFL Community Female Coaching Academy with the induction to the development program held on Tuesday.

And that’s not just good news for Fiona’s personal development but also the development of the game in the Limestone Coast.

“I’m really looking forward to developing further as a coach and I hope to use the experience gained to improve my coaching style so that I can continue to help female football in the South East grow,” Fiona said.

SANFL State Coaching Manager Dave Reynolds said AFLW experienced pair Emma Sampson and Courtney Cramey will provide one-on-one mentoring to the community coaches, who will be tasked with completing the AFL’s Level 2 Coaching Accreditation together with forming a personal coaching development plan for 2024.

Academy members will have the opportunity to connect with each other throughout the season while all inductees also will have the opportunity to learn from a SANFLW or AFLW game day and training experience.

“It’s really important that developing female coaches are being mentored by other women as coaching role models,” Reynolds said.

And when it comes to role models, Fiona already feels lucky to have had the guidance of some quality local coaches.

“I’ve been very fortunate to have some wonderful coaches to learn from,” she said. “Michael Hunt from Mundulla has given me so many opportunities during our time working together coaching at the Country Championships. He has always been more than willing to share his knowledge and experience and I’ve learned a lot from working with him over the years.

“Ben Hardy has been a huge support for me across his time at North and he has really showed me the value of bringing a professional approach to the role. Ben has always been willing to help me not only further my coaching development, but he has also been a massive part of building the female football program at North Gambier.

“I’m really looking forward to working with other female football coaches in the academy to further develop as a coach. I think that by speaking to others about what they are doing gives great opportunities to learn and implement fresh ideas.”

Fiona started playing in the Limestone Coast AFL Women’s Football League in 2019, dipping her toe into coaching in 2021 with the North Gambier Under 16 girls team – the same year she was the playing assistant coach for the South East Zone team at the SA Country Championships.

“It (coaching) was never something I really planned to do, but when the under 16 girls’ competition was on the cards, I knew it was something that I wanted to be involved in,” she said.

Fiona made history this season as the first female head coach of a senior team in the region and she is determined to continue to develop the sport and the pathways now that better opportunities exist for females on and off the field.

“Growing up in a country area I always played football as a kid but wasn’t able to continue after I turned 13 as there was no female competition in the regional area that I lived,” she said. “I have always loved football and I love the atmosphere around the playing group. I’m really passionate about creating opportunities for girls to play football from a young age, all the way through to seniors and this is an area I hope to continue to work in for a long time.”