Congratulations to Terry Derham for receiving a 2024 Jaga Jaga Volunteer Award from MP Kate Thwaites for over 30 years of service to St Mary’s.
Terry’s journey began in 1991 when his sons joined the footy team. Despite a hectic schedule, Terry stepped up as Team Manager and later took on coaching roles, even though he’d never played footy himself!
His commitment extended to founding the senior club, serving as its first secretary and still acting as Team Manager today. In recognition for his service, he has been awarded Life Membership of both the Junior and Senior Club.
Terry’s dedication to St Mary’s over the past 30 years has truly left a positive mark on our community. With his passion firmly instilled in his kids and grandkids, Terry will undoubtedly be with us for a long time to come.
Last year’s Premiership win was just the beginning for our women’s team.
Their hard work and dedication have propelled them to the highest division, and they’ve wasted no time in making their mark. In their inaugural game, they dominated the field with a staggering 69-point lead.
Congratulations to the team for their outstanding achievement and for setting the bar high as they embark on this exciting new chapter.
Let’s give a huge round of applause to all the legends from our Club who pitched in to make St Mary’s Junior Football Club’s first Auskick session a smashing success this year!
Your dedication and passion for the game shine through, and you’ve done our senior club proud by inspiring the next generation of footy stars.
Last night our football teams came together to solidify the core values developed by our leaders throughout the off-season under the guidance of high-performance specialist and resilience coach David Buttifant.
The aim of undertaking this work is to invest in our players, foster a positive culture and continue advancing the Club. These values will serve as the bedrock of our Club’s identity and behaviour and guide every decision we make.
We’re also committed to regularly assessing our behaviour against these values, ensuring we stay true to our word.
Stay tuned as we share more insights from the session and dive deeper into the values that drive us forward.
Because creating a positive culture isn’t just a job for our leaders—it’s a collective effort.
Support St Mary’s Senior Football Club in the Good for Footy Raffle and you could win one of three brand new Toyota’s! Plus, there’s 46 other prizes up for grabs too.
Good for Footy is Toyota’s grassroots footy program. Toyota generously provides all the prizes for the raffle and local clubs like St Mary’s get all of the proceeds.
Tickets are just $5 and 100% of the proceeds bought through our fundraising page go to our Club.
Last year we raised $1100 while other clubs in the NFNL raised over $20k. Let’s strive for better this year to improve our Club.
We’re thrilled to announce that we’ve received a generous grant of $12,500 from the Telstra Footy Country Grants.
This funding will be instrumental in enhancing the safety of our grounds by installing a net behind the far goal posts. With this net in place, we can prevent balls from rolling down the rocky embankment, reducing risks for players and spectators alike.
Club President Mark Stanley expressed our gratitude.
“We have been trying to complete this project for some years now but funds have been a barrier. Thankfully, this contribution from Telstra will help us alleviate this challenge and drive us toward a safer environment.”
“We appreciate Telstra’s commitment and investment in local football which greatly benefits our Club and countless local clubs around the country.”
As our final profile in our Women’s History Month series, we’re highlighting Tomeeka Neil – 2023 Senior Women’s Premiership Co-Captain and 2024 Assistant Coach.
Growing up watching her brother play, she was always around the footy club. When whispers of a girl’s team surfaced, her dad wasted no time in enrolling her, knowing the opportunities it would offer for new friendships and experiences. Sure enough, she was part of St Mary’s Under 12s inaugural girl’s team and has never looked back.
Yet, the path was not without challenges. St Mary’s girls continually faced male opponents in the girls-only league as other clubs lacked sufficient players, resorting to boys filling in.
“I witnessed firsthand the hurdles we had to overcome in the early stages of girls and women’s footy. One of the biggest challenges was developing footy skills. Unlike the boys, who seemed to have footy ingrained in them from the time they could barely walk, us girls had to start from square one when we hit twelve. It felt like we were playing catch-up from the get-go.”
“While daunting at first, these challenges ultimately shaped my resilience and determination, making every moment of the past decade in footy incredibly rewarding and totally worth it.”
Reflecting on her proudest moments, Tomeeka highlights the growth and confidence of her teammates. As co-captain, she witnessed the transformation of players who kicked goals and took marks they never thought possible.
Of course, we can’t not mention the 2023 Premiership. But for Tomeeka it wasn’t just about the victory, but the journey taken with her team to get there. Through hard work they reached their Premiership goal and enjoyed every moment of the process.
“Running onto the field with an already injured ACL, seeing support from men’s teams, friends, family, and the community, made it all worthwhile. Experiencing such overwhelming support is unique to women’s footy—something I feel incredibly lucky and privileged to have been part of.”
Transitioning into coaching this year while she recovers from injury was a natural progression for Tomeeka driven by her love for the Club and our people. “For me it has always been a place I see as home and the people as family. I couldn’t just walk away from that,” Tomeeka shared.
Beyond tactical guidance as backline coach, she aims to be a support for the players both on and off the field.
In the future, Tomeeka hopes women’s footy receives the support and resources it deserves at the local level. She advocates for better grounds and an extended season, providing more opportunities for teams and players to grow.
To other clubs, she emphasises the importance of a strong relationship between junior and senior clubs. This connection will not only filter talent seamlessly for the future and provides junior girls female role models in sport to look up to.
And for any girls and women thinking about getting involved she offers a simple yet powerful message: take the leap. The journey may be daunting, but the laughs, friendships, and memories created along the way are priceless.
Tomeeka’s journey, from a dedicated supporter watching her brother to a Premiership Captain and now coach, has been truly inspiring to witness. We can’t wait to watch her continues to grow at St Mary’s and know she will undoubtedly inspire many players to come.
We excited to share that St Mary’s 4 have won the Division 9 Premiership!
As a newly formed team they faced challenges at the outset, but through perseverance they steadily climbed the ranks to finish the season on top of the ladder.
Heading into the Grand Final against Fitzroy Stars 2, the stakes were high, with both teams having an equal number of wins and losses. Our previous match up against them came down to the wire, with only one goal between the winner and loser.
Today was our moment to shine, and we seized it the victory by a comfortable margin of 7 goals, after leading the entire game.
This win is a testament to the hard work of the players, Coach and Team Manager: – Deb Costello (Coach) – Jacinta Geary (Team Manager) – Jessica Hardy (Team Captain) – Frances Collis – Lana Picioane – Ava Geary – Mikayla Young – Georgia Rizza – Cassie Pickett – Tessa Pickett – Sarah Williams
In more great news, Jess Hardy was awarded runner up in the Division 9 Best & Fairest, and Ciara Hanlon was awarded the Division 2 Leading Goal Scorer.
Here’s to celebrating our hard-earned success and looking forward to more achievements in the future.
Players from our footy teams and Committee came along to watch
To mark Women’s History Month, we’re shining a spotlight on the people who have driven women’s sport in our community. Among these individuals is Bernie Girolami who has most certainly left his mark on women’s football at the grassroots level.
His journey into supporting women’s sports began with a personal connection — his three daughters’ involvement in various sports. Motivated by daughter Meg’s passion for footy and holding the role of Football Director at St Mary’s Junior Football Club, he saw an opportunity to establish a girls’ team. The expansive network of families associated with the club provided a huge pool of potential female participants. Some girls had initially joined junior boys’ teams but had to discontinue due to physical differences as they matured.
So, Bernie tackled the challenge of changing perceptions about football as a boys-only game, determined to provide equal opportunities for his daughters. His perseverance paid off, and he successfully established a girls’ football team.
Investing in girl’s sport proved to be a wise decision and the program gained momentum quickly.
“In our inaugural year, our goal was to establish one team, but to our surprise, we had three teams. As the girl’s football coordinator for eight years, I witnessed tremendous growth, with over 180 girls playing football at the club.”
In addition to being the coordinator, Bernie coached the under-12 girls at the Club and under-15 girl’s Division 1 representative side for YJFL Metro Junior championships.
This saw Bernie witness many milestones that have shaped the landscape of girl’s and women’s football within the community. Just some of the highlights for Bernie include:
Watching Trinity Mills, Meg, Amy Clayton and Matilda Eames reaching 100 games.
Securing premierships in the inaugural under-12 girls’ and youth girls’ categories in 2014 and 2018, respectively.
Former players Rebecca Privitelli, Sarah Sansonetti and Jess Fitzgerald playing in the AFLW.
Numerous players making Yarra Junior Football League Representative teams and the Northern Knights Representative programs.
League Best & Fairest wins for Jess Fitzgerald, Trinity Mills, Jessica Simpson and Meg Girolami.
However, one of Bernie’s proudest achievements lies simply in establishing pathways to broaden girl’s and women’s sporting opportunities. This goes beyond just playing the sport, offering a chance for women and girls to share their knowledge, giving them a more influential voice in the sporting world. A prime example is Matilda Eames, a current senior player, breaking barriers as the first junior female coach at St Mary’s, along with Alex Seiver’s role as the Youth Girls Auskick Coordinator. This approach introduces women as mentors in football for girls, a position normally held by men, and provides girls with relatable figures who share similar experiences in the sporting arena.
The junior girl’s teams are still going strong today, securing two premierships in 2023 thanks to the foundation that Bernie laid. His commitment was rewarded with Life Membership for him and his wife of the Junior Club in 2013.
Further, he takes immense pride the success of the 2018 youth girls’ premiership team which served as the foundation for the inaugural Senior Women’s team. Having a senior team ensured his efforts in promoting girl’s football could extend further; girls now had a pathway to continue football at St Mary’s.
This was particularly significant for Bernie as his own daughter’s Meg and Georgia now play in the Senior Women’s team and were integral members of the 2023 Premiership winning team!
“Watching Meg and Georgia win a football premiership made my journey come full circle. It really showed the enduring impact of the girl’s program, not just in fostering inclusivity and equality, but also in laying a clear pathway for them to excel in football.”
But the real reward for Bernie is seeing his kids succeed together.
“Nothing brings me more joy than seeing my Jimmy, Georgia and Meg share the experience of playing football and being part of a football club. It’s a unique opportunity for them to create shared memories.”
Bernie envisions several improvements in the coming years to enhance girls and women’s football. His focus includes developing natural footballers, promoting open play with free and clean ball movement and comprehensive skill development. Additionally, he’s dedicated to advancing injury management and rehabilitation strategies, drawing on La Trobe University’s studies revealing women’s heightened injury risk on the field. La Trobe’s findings indicate that 25,000 women playing AFL are susceptible to ACL injuries yearly, attributed to limited training exposure compared to men.
To clubs aspiring to support women and girl’s involvement in sports, Bernie offers valuable advice; create welcoming environments for female players. Organise tailored training sessions and events specifically for women and actively recruit female players. Ensure equal access to resources, facilities, and coaching staff. Crucially, foster a culture of respect, support, belonging, and opportunity within to drive women’s active participation and success in footy.
Bernie’s commitment remains and he continues to stay actively involved in football. Today, he finds joy in watching his daughters and son play, contributing not only as a proud parent but also as coach to the Senior Men’s Reserve team.
Bernie has been a driving force behind girls and women’s footy in our community. From coaching to coordinating, his passion has sparked a real change and allowed women’s sport to grow.
SMFNC 