Anouk Meereboer may be the first female to lead a senior men’s team in the Latrobe Valley Soccer League (LVSL) competition as the Head Coach of Sale United Football Club, but it’s her dedication to be a true advocate of women’s football that was recognised during this year’s Female Football Week as she was awarded Ally of the Year.
Born in the Netherlands, Meereboer quickly became obsessed with football, first as a player, playing the game across the world in South America, North America and Europe before emigrating to Australia over 10 years ago.
She played for a range of teams including Box Hill United FC, Casey Comets and Southern United, before joining Sale United and finding her passion in coaching.
“All of my friends played football [growing up] so it was easy for me to get into the game and I just started loving it, and I took that with me to Australia,” Meereboer said.
“I got asked to coach some of the junior under 10 and under 12 boys [when I was playing overseas], and I have no idea why at the time, but I said yes to it.
“I love just seeing them improve and them enjoying the game as much as what I do.
“It’s interesting to see how [football] has been played differently in different countries, but in the end has been the same as well.”
Her passion and dedication to football is what has seen her become a true ally in the women’s game and become instrumental in getting more women involved at both playing and coaching levels.
“It is so important because girls need to see other females doing these things for them to realise that they can do it as well,” Meereboer said.
“We need to have those female role models out there around the club and the community.”
Meereboer quickly learned the importance of having female representation and visibility in football after one young girl in the Mini Roos told her that she had decided to play after seeing her coaching and playing around the club.
“It was surprising, I had never thought about it before. I never saw myself in that way or thought that I would have that impact.
“But it was really cool to hear that she was doing it because of me.”
This wasn’t the first time Meereboer has experienced such great feedback. After seeing mums around the club, but noticing they were not overly involved, she decided to organise the GoSoccerMums program to get them to be more a part of the community. Now she has mums stopping her on the street to talk about all things football.
“I just posted [the program] to the committee and they were keen, [but] honestly we weren’t sure who’s gonna want to do it and who was going to volunteer but luckily, I was able to get the right people together,” she said.
“I just wanted to get more females involved, those that never showed interest in the past but whose partners might have been coaches around the club.
“So seeing them doing GoMums and really enjoying it and seeing them more around the club and taking on more roles has been really good.
“We have some good facilitators and then me to back them up, and so [when] we got going, the first [time] we had 24-25 mums or females registered.
“Then kept it going in term two, and we got another 22 registered, so that was really, really awesome to see.”
She’s also helped organise and facilitate the GOSevens, GOFives, GOGirls programs, was part of Gippsports ‘LetUsPlay’ campaign, coordinated coaching and referee courses, while also taking on the role as a Football Australia Schools program deliverer at local primary and special schools.
“I’ve just been trying to get more sport going, more football in a social way so anybody can enjoy it; doesn’t matter what level you play,” she said.
“One of the ladies who started the GoSevens moved to Darwin so then I took it over from her and actually doubled the numbers in the mix comp which was great to see because there was definitely a flow on to this year with numbers.
“Just seeing if you walk around the club now how many people are involved and in general all have a smile on their face.”
Meereboer, however, does have mixed feelings about winning the award for all of her hard work and hopes that it inspires others that they can also impact others just as much.
“It feels really weird, to be honest,” she said. “That’s probably not the right word for it, but to me, yes.
“I push a lot of these things and I am quite involved at the club, but there are so many other people involved and without them, we wouldn’t be able to push this much and make these things happen.
“So for me getting the award, it does keep me motivated to keep doing the things that I’m doing, but I think so many other people should be receiving the same recognition.
“On the other hand, it is great: you don’t always get as much recognition as a coach and you don’t always see straightaway that the end result can be really positive.
“It keeps you looking at the bigger picture and shows that you’re doing the right thing, or at least trying to do the right thing.”
