Tina Phillips is the Female Football Coordinator at North Turramurra Football Club and has also been coaching with NTFC for several seasons.
Can you share a summary of your journey in football?
I started to play football after my second child was born, 15 years ago. I joined a team with a friend who was keen to play. I thought it was a good way to get fit and to have some time out, meet people and have fun. When my children started playing I started to get involved in managing their teams, then coaching teams and then joining the NTFC committee and the NSFA Female Football Working Group. I am still playing and love being part of a team, the friendships, the laughs and meeting new people. I also love being involved in our local club and seeing new people joining and loving the game.
How does NSFA Female Football Working Group benefit you as a Female Football Coordinator?
It is a great way to connect with volunteers from other clubs who are sharing a similar role to dream together, work together and share ideas. One of the great things about the group is that even though we are all from different clubs we are working together to do what is best for the players and for the game.
While being at North Turramurra FC what does the club do to positively engage their members? North Turramurra have a high retention rates for its players.
North Turramurra FC is a small but growing club that is focussed on being a Community club. Our club motto is “talk with your feet and play with your heart”. As a club we decided that we wanted to be a club where people could have fun playing football with their mates as our priority and therefore aim to form teams where friends can play together. We are active on social media, sharing stories and photos celebrating all the teams. We try to build community through club events, raising up coaches from within our club and having our teams get along and cheer on other teams. At our junior training we have the opportunity for people to order and have food delivered at the end of training which makes dinner easy for parents and a good chance for connection among teams as they often sit and eat together after their training session. One initiative that has been a huge success with the female players is having special rainbow socks for the girls’ teams/players and pink and black socks for the women’s teams. We also have great sponsors from our local North Turramurra Community on board supporting and working with our club to provide BBQ’s and member incentives.
How does the club leverage off the association opportunities to service your members?
NTFC have high player participation rates in the XLR8 holiday programs and NSFA summer football, which is how we have been able to launch 2 women’s teams in 2 years. We encourage our players to attend the clinics throughout the holidays and the school terms as a way of developing their skills and having fun together in the holidays. We communicate every opportunity offered by NSFA to our community members, encouraging them to get involved whether it be skills, coaching, supporting the Northern Tigers at home, as well as engaging XLR8 coaches to work with our club coaches to enhance our junior coaching.
How does North Turramurra contribute to the wider football ecosystem? Can you recall a moment where you have put the ecosystem before the club to enhance members playing experience?
Being a small club we don’t have teams in all age groups and we don’t have development squads in the various age groups. We encourage players who show potential or have a desire to go further to join a larger club with a development squad and give it a try, as it is important that we focus on what is best for each player. We had a talented group of Under 8 boys move to Turramurra United this year so they could join a development squad where I am sure they will thrive with the challenge and extra training but their parents and siblings are still part of NTFC. It will be exciting to see how they develop as players. We see it as a win that they are playing football, not where they are playing.
Can you share some things you are looking forward to this season?
So many things! I am looking forward to coaching some of the junior girls teams and watching them grow as players. FFW and all the exciting things planned for this week, the Skellern Cup later this year which is such a fun filled day. Getting around and supporting different teams from our club on the weekend. Continuing to meet with the FFWG and seeing it grow. Most of all I am looking forward to seeing the smiles on the faces of players as they have fun with their friends and teammates playing football.