Women in Coaching Month: Rogers Cup coach proud of growth at Souths

South Fremantle Rogers Cup coach Lauren O’Connor has seen the growth of women’s coaches with her own eyes over the last few years at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.

When O’Connor arrived at the Bulldogs three years ago to take up a position as an assistant coach with the Rogers Cup program, she was the only female on the coaching panel.

Now there’s four, including WAFLW head coach Pia Faletti, among 55 female coaches across the WAFLW and Rogers Cup competitions.

“When I started at South Freo, I was the only female in the program,” O’Connor recalled.

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“So now to have Pia (WAFLW head coach Pia Faletti) and Nat (WAFLW senior assistant Natalie Szelid) in the program and also Alli (Rogers Cup assistant coach Alli Nokes) who I’ve poached from East Freo, she’s working with me now, is incredible.

“To have four females in the program is fantastic and to network with other females across the league is awesome as well and I’ve grown as a leader and a coach because of it.

“It’s been awesome to have these programs and also see this growth because young females want to see role models and even in coaching, role models are so important.

“It’s just going to keep getting better every year with more females coming through and more role models for our young ladies.”

The 24-year-old admits she wasn’t the best player and always wanted to get into coaching, so jumped at the chance when it came her way.

“I wasn’t the best player but I always knew coaching was something that I was probably better at, I just didn’t want to step away from playing,” she said.

“But a good opportunity game at South Freo and I took it with both hands and the club has been fantastic.

“I’ve always loved coaching, I’ve been coaching in multiple sports over my life so it’s something that I see as a pathway.”

O’Connor highlighted the importance of Women in Coaching Month to inspire the next generation of women’s coaches and show there’s role models out there.

“It’s incredibly important,” she said.

“We’ve come so far in such a short period of time and there’s still so much growth to come.

“I think giving us opportunities with days like today and opportunities in programs and the opportunity to coach is huge.

“The cohort is just going to keep getting stronger, we’re going to see more in the AFLW and WAFLW when these opportunities arise so hopefully we’ll see that flow through down into the community leagues.”

O’Connor is loving her current role in developing future WAFLW and AFLW stars at the Bulldogs.

“It’s been awesome, I’ve got a really good group of young girls,” she said.

“They’re young but they’re full of energy, they keep me on my toes and they’re also just eager to get better every day which is awesome.

“We’re not just trying to make good footballers, but good people as well. I’m big on the person first over footy.”

As for her advice for aspiring women’s coaches looking to get a start?

“Just take every opportunity, that was huge for me,” O’Connor said.

“Immerse yourself in not only the female programs, but the men’s programs as well.

“Also just networking, there’s so many programs out there for females.”

The theme for this year’s Women in Coaching Month is Keep Leading, Keep Coaching.

Stay tuned to WA Football’s website and social media channels for more features on inspiring women’s coaches in the month of July as part of Women in Coaching Month.

Find out more about how you can get into coaching here