Czenya Cavouras wins Southern Football League’s open women’s Best and Fairest medal — mum Catherine comes second
IT may have the glamour of the Brownlow, but the Southern Football League’s women’s best and fairest count was full of drama as mother and daughter teammates battled it out for the honour.
IT may not have the glamour of the Brownlow, but the Southern Football League’s women’s best and fairest count was full of drama as mother and daughter teammates battled it out for the honour.
Flagstaff Hill Football Club’s Czenya Cavouras, 24, last week claimed the inaugural award, just three votes ahead of her 45-year-old mother, Catherine.
The success capped a huge month for the duo, who were among the Falcons’ best players in their 154-point grand final victory over Morphett Vale on September 9.
Czenya says lining up alongside her mum in the league’s first season of women’s football is better than winning the medal.
“We spent so much time when I was younger kicking a ball with my brothers and tackling them, so we were ready to give it (football) a go,” Czenya says. “It was lots and lots of fun.
“It was also really nice to have a really wicked group of girls around us ... and we all formed a really tight-knit bond.
“Mum’s quite fit for her age and I can only hope that when I’m her age, I’m up and about doing the same things she is. I was really, really proud of her.”
Catherine and Czenya previously competed together in athletics, social basketball and surf life saving but neither had played football before this season.
“We all thought Czenya might do well ... and I was just stoked to be a part of it,” Catherine says.
“When we went up and got the medals there was a lovely lull in the air as they said ‘this is a mother-daughter team’ and everyone went ‘aww’.
“I think the person who was most emotional was my husband Peter — he did not have a dry eye because his two girls had come through.”
Joining Flagstaff Hill was a no-brainer because Czenya’s younger brothers, Zak and Kobe, and her fiance Michael Shearer all play for the club.
On Saturday, Catherine and Czenya were watching on as Shearer and Zak played in Flagstaff Hill’s second straight A-grade men’s premiership.
Catherine says Czenya, who calls her “mum” on the field, is quite protective of her.
“I often saw her on the wing shepherding for me,” Catherine says of her daughter, a second-year postgraduate medicine student.
“She’s had physio training and now she’s doing medicine so any ailments or injuries, she was my confidante.”
Catherine loves that Flagstaff’s women’s team is an integral part of the club.
“Running through a banner together on grand final day, you felt a bit like rockstars,” she says.
“It’s really special that the club endeavours to make sure we have the whole experience — what they do for the A grade, they’ll do for the women.
“It was great to be part of the inaugural season and be part of a competition that’s raising the profile of women’s footy in the south.”
The SFL started its women’s competitions — featuring nine sides across seniors, under-16s and under-14s — to cater for a female football boom in the south.
SFL president Craig Warman said three clubs had expressed interest to expand the competitions next season.
