The annual Female Football Week awards recognise the contributions of women in football at grassroots levels, including coaches, referees and administrators.
CommBank Coach of the Year 2023 was awarded to Ann Gourley of Gosnell City Football Club in Perth. The Belfast native is an integral part of the club, leading the female football program and having a position on the committee.
She came to the club after migrating to Australia in 2007 and – after a four-year break – returned in 2018 to help build the women’s program from the ground up at Gosnell City.
“She has been involved in the u12s, u14s, u16s and Women’s sides, creating a safe and supportive environment where the girls can interact with their community and their sport in a positive manner, allowing the girls to flourish into great young women and footballers,” wrote one of the people nominating her for the award.
“I have not witnessed a dedication to a club and to the players as she demonstrates.”
Gourley’s dedication to the sport began all the way back to her childhood. Women’s football in Northern Ireland was a rarity, and she had to stand up for herself in order to earn a right to play on the streets.
“You just went down, you toughed it out, you just said ‘I’m playing’, and just went out to play with the boys,” she explained.
“There was nothing structured back then, especially in Northern Ireland in the 80s – there wasn’t much around that you could do.”
It was in her role as a youth worker that she began coaching for the first time.
“The kids used to say – it’s not fair, we don’t get to use the hall on the youth club, the boys are always in it but we want to try to play football,” she recalled.
“From there it all kicked off – I started my own team.”
That team was known as Newington Girls. At the time there was no youth league, so girls as young as 9 in that team were playing in the top division against adults. One of those players was Marissa Callaghan, the current Northern Ireland captain, who started playing for Newington at 13 years of age.
“I had no idea about coaching back in 1995. They just came to me as a youth leader,” she said.
That youth team – that eventually integrated into Cliftonville FC, currently captained by the very same Marissa Callaghan who started at the club all those years ago – led Gourley to a career coaching various Northern Ireland national teams, including being involved at senior level.
It’s a remarkable story. Australian football is lucky to have someone like Ann Gourley involved.
When she first came to the country, she worked with Football Australia as a regional development officer in Western Australia, all while coaching Gosnells back into the Premier League.
After the return of her and her teammates to Gosnells, she’s noticed a massive growth in interest in the women’s game that isn’t always keeping pace with facilities.
“This year, across all our registrations it’s all increased. We had to close our registrations early, because we couldn’t take any more kids. We had to cap it. We have two teams in every league. The club had to say we have to stop – we can’t facilitate the number of kids that want to play here,” she explained.
“The area that we’ve got is not going to be big enough – there’s not enough change rooms. There’s not any female only change rooms. There are not enough pitches. Where are we going to go?”
She hopes that one of the legacies of the FIFA Women’s World Cup will be seen in the form of government funding to help upgrade facilities at a community level and ensure that everyone in the country who wants to play football is able to.
“We’ve changed on side of roads, sides of pitches, behind sheds – we’ve been everywhere!” she said, with a hint of exasperation that is familiar to anyone involved in the grassroots game across the country.
She spoke highly of her club’s commitment to gender equality with the resources that they do have. In the female football side of the club, three out of four coaches are currently women. That means that young players are able to look up to them and see the possibilities ahead of them.
She recounted a story where a young player was inspired by her coaching.
“One of the wee ones come off she said ‘you know miss, I like playing football but I think I want to do what you want to do – I think I could see myself coaching.'” Gourley recounted.
“It’s not just all about playing – you’re not all going to be brilliant, or be the next Matilda. This sport has brought me all over the world, it’s given me all sorts of opportunities, and it could do the same for you.”
Her club provides opportunities for coaching and refereeing certificates as the players get older. Young players have also been given practical experience coaching miniroos or u12s. This means that they can get a taste for the rewards that coaching can give, and can pass their knowledge down to the players coming after them.
For Gourley, awards such as this one mean that she can continue to inspire the next generation in Perth as she has done her whole life.
The key is having the ability to be involved in the game and being supported along the journey.
“You can go further – you can be an administrator, you can be a coach, referee, official, volunteer – you can do loads of stuff in this sport, as long as you’re still involved in it,” she said.
With people like Ann Gourley at the helm, no doubt many more will continue to be involved into the future.
