Category Archives: player stories

Scoring success: St Mary’s women named top goal kickers in the league

Well done to Sarah Johnston and Serena Francke who have finished the season as two of the top five goal kickers in the NFNL Women’s Division 2 this year! Sarah is the number 1 goal kicker with 41 goals to her name – 17 more goals than the second highest goal scorer – and SerenaContinue reading “Scoring success: St Mary’s women named top goal kickers in the league”

NADIOC Week: Best on Ground recipients

Congratulations to our NAIDOC Round Best on Ground recipients Sarah Johnston from St Mary’s and Annette Carle from Whittlesea!⁠⁠Both players received a hamper from Kakadu Plum with products directly from Indigenous businesses or items that give back to Indigenous enterprises.⁠⁠Congratulations again Sarah and Annette 👏⁠

NAIDOC Week: Meet Cheryle Arden

To mark NAIDOC Week we spoke with senior women’s player Cheryle Arden about her football journey as a proud Indigenous woman. As someone part of the Gunditjmara, Yorta Yorta, Mutti Mutti, Kokatha and Arrernte tribes, NAIDOC Week is incredibly important to Cheryle. “For me, this week is important because it’s a time for all IndigenousContinue reading “NAIDOC Week: Meet Cheryle Arden”

NAIDOC Week: Take a look at our NAIDOC Round guernsey!

We are very excited to share our Women’s NAIDOC Round guernsey!⁠⁠These have been designed by Alicia Arden, in collaboration with her sister Julie Arden, and St Mary’s players Cheryle Arden and Judhil Canendo (pictured below).⁠⁠The four women worked together to create a unique design that reflects the Club’s local area and their own cultures. ⁠⁠TheContinue reading “NAIDOC Week: Take a look at our NAIDOC Round guernsey!”

Pride Month 2022: Meet Ruby Walker

Pride Month is about celebrating the LGBT+ community, listening to their voices, and sharing their stories, so this week we spoke with senior women’s player Ruby Walker about her pride journey.  “To me, Pride Month is a time to educate, reflect and celebrate the current world we all live in, which includes LGBT+ people.”  “It is aboutContinue reading “Pride Month 2022: Meet Ruby Walker”

Pride Month: Meet Serena Francke

To celebrate Pride Month, we spoke to women’s player Serena ‘Reenie’ Franke about her football journey as someone part of the LGBT+ community. Pride month is celebrated in June across the globe. It can mean many different things to different people, and for Reenie it is about celebrating the LGBT+ community and paving a welcomingContinue reading “Pride Month: Meet Serena Francke”

17 players join the Push for Better challenge to support mental health!

The Push-Up challenge has officially kicked off today and we have an incredible 17 players signed up to raise awareness for mental health!⁠⁠Each day, the players will do a different amount of push-ups based on a mental health statistic. ⁠⁠The first one is 74 push ups to represent the 74% of pet owners that reportedContinue reading “17 players join the Push for Better challenge to support mental health!”

National Reconciliation Week: Meet Judhil Canendo

To mark Reconciliation Week, we spoke with Senior Women’s player Judhil ‘Juddie’ Canendo about her football journey as a proud Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander woman. Originally from Yarrabah in Cairns, QLD, Judhil is part of the Kuku Djungan, Kaurareg and Yidinji (Wallabarra) tribe. In 2019 she made the big move to Melbourne, and afterContinue reading “National Reconciliation Week: Meet Judhil Canendo”

“Footy clubs are built on people like Jim” – Jimmy Girolami’s St Mary’s Story

Starting his footy career 17 years ago with St Mary’s Junior Football Club, and joining the Senior Club in 2014, James ‘Jimmy’ Girolami has now played about 250 games across both Clubs! Jimmy saw lots of success from a young age across about 140 games in the Junior Club. In Under 13’s he won theContinue reading ““Footy clubs are built on people like Jim” – Jimmy Girolami’s St Mary’s Story”