Footy is back! I’m a thirty-year-old woman and I’m about to play my second ever season of football. Up until about four years ago, only men played footy past the age of twelve. There were no opportunities for girls to play and it was only ever considered a men’s sport, and so after I turned twelve it was time for me to move onto more gender-appropriate activities. I remember how upset I was at the time. My parents could hardly console me, and I just kept crying about the fact that it wasn’t fair that my twin brother could keep playing and I couldn’t. I was even told that I had better ball skills than my brother, so you could imagine how sad I was when one year later I was told I wasn’t allowed to play anymore. 

My first season ended early last year when I hurt my foot. I was understandably devastated. I had spent the last fourteen years wishing I could play footy and when I finally did I ended up hurting my foot and needed to go to a foot specialist in Cheltenham. I had to watch my team lose finals from the side-line and I wanted nothing more than to get out there and help them win it. Unfortunately, that wasn’t possible. 

But after six months of rehab, I am ready and raring to get back on the footy field. I’m going to make sure to take my recovery really seriously after every game and do everything I can to avoid getting injured. 

I’m actually going to be the captain of the women’s seniors team this year. I’m going to run a session at training this week about common foot conditions. Cheltenham is well-known for its rough terrain, and I don’t want any of our players going down to any foot injuries like I did last year. We have a very talented team and we could go all the way this year if we don’t get any injuries.