Parkside Devils: Mother-daughter trio hit footy field

The Parkside Devils are closer than the average footy team — and that’s no surprise given a trio of mother-daughters have pulled on the boots.

Parkside Devils have had three mother-daughters playing together in their VAFA Women‘s Division 3 team this season. Picture: Alex Coppel.

The Parkside Devils have three mother-daughters gearing up for the side in this season‘s VAFA women’s footy competition.

At some stages, the club has also had a fourth mother-daughter duo playing together, as well as two sisters and an aunt and niece.

The rare family connections in one football team has proven to work as the Devils are now heading into a finals match against UHS-VU on Saturday.

The special family connections in one team extend beyond just the senior women’s footy - the mothers have coaching and trainer duties in their daughters’ Parkside under 18 junior team on Sundays.

Marie-Louise Zeevaarder and Kimberley Ison are co-coaches of the side while Jodie Palmer is the trainer and secretary of the junior club.

Palmer said it was crucial that a senior women’s football team was created to give junior girls a pathway after underage football.

“We wanted to make sure that there was a pathway for the girls to continue playing footy when they finished their youth footy careers so it’s been amazing,” Palmer said.

Palmer, the oldest member of the women’s footy team at 47, said the club rallied around the team on Saturday after they made it into the finals for the first time.

“It’s such a nice culture and everyone got around us last night after the game and we were all celebrating together.”

The division 3 VAFA women’s footy side secured third spot on the ladder following Saturday’s 16.9 (105) to 0.0 (0) win over Emmaus St Leos.

Palmer said there was one challenge which came with playing with her daughter.

“The only thing that I struggle with sometimes is when she gets tackled and the mum instinct kicks in but we get over that,” she laughed.

Parkside Devils have had three mother-daughters playing together in their VAFA Women‘s Division 3 team this season. Jodie Palmer and her daughter Annabelle Crisp, 15, Marie-Louise Zeevaarder with her daughter Martina, 17, and Kimberley Ison and her daughter Mia 17. Picture: Alex Coppel.

Club president and women’s footy coach Anthony Romano said the mothers decided to join when their daughters were getting older and needed to find a senior team to continue their careers.

“That’s the reason why we wanted to set up the women’s team, because the junior girls have been going for a few years and our junior club has never had a team to go to when they finish junior footy,” Romano said.

“The mothers saw that and that’s pretty much why they came and joined the team.”

Romano, who played more than 200 games for the club including a few games alongside his brothers Peter, Vince and Mario, said the rise of women’s footy was driving the mothers to continue playing as well.

“A lot of them play because they were told at a young age that they weren’t allowed to play footy and the mothers use it as a driving force,” he said.

“When they were young, they weren’t allowed to play footy and they have proven everybody wrong, the way they compete and how they have improved.”

Romano said the team has come a long way since starting in 2021.

“Last year we were just happy to be competitive and win and if we won, great, but it was more about developing,’’ he said

“This year they are really competitive and really want to improve and we’ve been fantastic finishing third on the ladder.”

Romano said they were excited about finals.

“They are excited, they just love footy,” he said.

“When they first started they were like, ‘oh I don’t know if I want to play’, now they can’t get enough of it.

“They’re primed to play footy and they just want to improve and learn. It’s such a joy to coach.”

Romano said there were funny moments throughout the season when he would rotate a daughter off the field for her mother.

“It gets a couple of different reactions especially because the daughters have played a lot longer than the mothers,” he laughed.

Annabelle Crisp, the daughter of Jodie said: “It’s really good but also watching her on the other side of the field get tackled and I don’t know what to do because one time she popped her rib out and I’m like, ‘do I go up to her or do I just let her be’,” she said.

“But it’s really fun connecting with her on the field.”