Mid North Coast locals win Female Football Week awards for volunteering, coaching

Lesley Campbell and Skye Lacey have been recognised for their efforts in volunteering and coaching as part of their local football clubs on the Mid North Coast.

Without hardworking residents, many local clubs simply wouldn’t be able to run – and Mid North Coast sporting groups are no exception.

That’s why Northern NSW Football (NNSWF) took the opportunity this month, as part of their annual Female Football Week, to acknowledge standout women like Lesley Campbell and Skye Lacey.

Lesley Campbell

This year, Ms Campbell took home the title of Volunteer of the Year for her efforts behind the scenes at Great Lakes United FC.

With almost a decade of experience with the club under her belt, NNSWF has recognised Ms Campbell as “not only an important asset to the club, but also to the wider community”.

She’s currently the treasurer and canteen manager within her local club, and has held a number of other roles since joining as a volunteer in 2013 – including coach, volunteer referee and ‘Females in Football’ liaison officer.

Last year, Ms Campbell organised the inaugural Mid Coast Wellbeing Awareness Day at Boronia Park, collaborating with other support groups and the NSW Police to improve mental health understandings among locals.

Great Lakes United FC president, Ray Brady, said it’s just fantastic to see Ms Campbell acknowledged.

“She’s a great contributor to our club, and we’re very lucky to have her,” Mr Brady said.

“Lesley is a hard working person who is very deserving of this award.”

Ms Campbell said she was overjoyed with the win, admitting it was a surprise.

“I had no idea I was even nominated,” she said.

“I just got the call from NNSWF one day – it’s all very exciting.

“I’m a big believer in ‘one in, all in’ – if nobody did anything, we’d have no club – so my family is very involved with the organisation too.”

Ms Campbell’s work with the club started accidentally, after putting her hand up to help out since her son was already training with Great Lakes United FC.

“I just did a few things here and there, since I was down at the fields regularly anyway, and it went from there” she said.

“The support from our committee has just been fantastic – like when I first started talking about the wellbeing day, they were happy to back all of my wacky and wild ideas.”

The Mid Coast Wellbeing Awareness Day has since become a monthly event, and Ms Campbell hopes it will continue to evolve.

“I wanted to do something, like a random act of kindness, and we’ve already got a barbecue on Saturday mornings so I thought ‘why not get some support organisations down here too?’,” she said.

“We had three people connected to the club take their own lives in March last year, so I’m hoping these wellbeing days will encourage anyone who needs help, to seek it.

“We’re a big club with a lot of access, so I just thought surely there was something we could do, and sometimes all you need is that connection.

“Even if we only help one person every month, it’s worth it – together we can make a difference, and I’m not giving up.”

Skye Lacey

Skye Lacey, of Port Macquarie United FC, was also recognised during this year’s Female Football Week for her hard work in the local football scene.

Ms Lacey was the one of the Advanced Coaching Scholarship for Women recipients, which she’ll use to acquire her FA ‘C’ licence.

Like her fellow NNSWF award winner, being the mother of soccer-loving kids was a big motivator for Ms Lacey.

“I’ve got two daughters – the eldest used to play, and my 14-year-old plays now – and I’d love the chance to coach them,” she said.

“I already coach one of the ladies teams and, even though I’ve played all my life, coaching soccer is very different.

“I can know everything I need to do on the field, but I’m excited to learn how to show, teach and incorporate those skills as a coach.”

As a current player herself, Ms Lacey is passionate about promoting women in the sport.

“I’m actually the only female on our club’s committee,” she said.

“I’m getting to the end of my soccer career, but I’m still able to run around and help bring some junior girls through to grow our club.

“Port United don’t currently have an under 16s or under 18s female team, so we’re really trying to work on increasing our player numbers to fill those spots.

The scholarship also brings Ms Lacey one step closer to that goal of increased female participation, with the C-level qualification giving her the chance to coach representative teams.

“We have women’s rep teams of about 15 that go down to Sydney, but there’s some local girls – who are just as good – that try out for those teams and only just miss out,” she explained.

“Whether it’s due to cost or anything else, I still want those girls to have a chance to benefit from rep-level coaching sessions right here.

“If I can do that coaching and development at a club level, they’re not missing out.”

The program will include set training runs and exercises, culminating in a final assessment at the NNSWF head office to give participants the chance to put their new skills to the test and earn their licence.

A referee course is also included in the scholarship.