The Monaro Panthers are a Capital Football foundation club with over fifty proud years of history and big plans for the future.
Beyond 90 sat down this week with Emma Stanbury (recently appointed Monaro Panthers NPLW1 coach for season 2021 and W-League player with 14 appearances), Nichole Overall (decorated inaugural patron of the Monaro Panthers women’s programme, historian, current club player, and wife of Queanbeyan mayor Tim Overall), Paul Townsley (2020 Head Coach and newly appointed 2021 Women’s Coaching Director), and John Santolin (Club Secretary, with 19 NSL appearances for the club in 1985) to talk about the club and their women’s football plans for the next few years.
Emma Stanbury, 2021 Monaro Panthers Women’s Head Coach
Stanbury indicated as early as August this year when speaking about her guest stint at Tuggeranong United, that she had her eye on a coaching role in the future, and the news that she will not be part of the next Canberra United squad has opened her thoughts towards bringing that future forward.
“Things didn’t work out with Canberra United and I had to ask myself a couple of questions. I could have pursued another W-League club, I could keep playing in the ACT football league, or I could go to Sydney, or I could do what has been another side-passion of mine for many years, which is coaching. I had a bit of a look online, looked at a few positions, spoke to a few clubs, and got into contact with Paul. And as soon as I spoke to Paul I realised we would make a very strong team together. We think very similar, our philosophy is similar, he’s very approachable and has a kind nature, so then I spoke with John, Michael, Nichole, saw what the club and what the Brindabella partnership were striving for in the next couple of years to achieve a women’s-only programme, and I realised this has got just so much opportunity. It’s very exciting times and it ended up happening really fast, I didn’t need to consider it long.
“Paul is going to be a bit of a mentor for me. This will be my first time coaching in a senior role; I’ve done a lot of assistant work, but this is the first time I’ll be taking the reins. Paul’s going to be overseeing the whole programme from the juniors up, and he’ll be working with Reserve Grade, but we’re wanting to have more of a senior squad; our main focus is creating a clear pathway for the girls and making sure that development progress is second to none. It will be a fluid partnership, sharing ideas, and doing what we think is best for the club.
“We had our first [NPLW1] trial today and our last trial is next week on Saturday October 17th at 10.30am at Riverside. Those interested can contact me before-hand [see below]; I’m selecting players to come in. It’s already a step above what we’ve been known for before, and the trial today was fantastic and of high quality.”
Santolin also mentions at this point that “… we found out today that today is the best turnout that we have had in preseason trials for years. So already the effect of our new people [is having a positive effect].”
“There’ll be a few more players coming in next week and I welcome discussion with anyone wanting to come in and try out for Monaro Panthers next season”, Stanbury notes.
NPLW 2021 trials for Reserve Grade, U17, U15, and U13 are also imminent. Contact details for those trials can be found below.
Stanbury’s point about putting together a more senior top flight squad is no doubt a response to a characteristic she has observed as a player for Tuggeranong United and in looking at the Panthers player profile the last couple of seasons, both of which fielded predominantly younger players. To be successful in the league, there needs to be a healthy balance of youth and experience.
She won’t, however, be adding her own playing experience to the player ranks in 2021. Not keen on the idea of being a player-coach due to the competing interests of both roles, Stanbury currently has no plans to further her playing career right now – but never say never.
The Jerrabomberra Sports Precinct
“Queanbeyan and Palerang Regional Council has agreed to fund $21 million for Stage 1 of the Jerrabomberra Sports Precinct, which will see a number of football pitches (two artificial, two grass, three warm-up grounds, and a hockey pitch)”, explains Santolin.
“Stage 1 commences next year and work is expected to be complete in 2022. Stage 2 will be an indoor centre (basketball courts and the like), and Stage 3 will be an aquatic centre.
“Football should be able to be played there in 2022. It’s situated at the old Tralee site.
“It’s going to bring football from everywhere into that one space. This goes to our point about our regional footprint, we’re already down to Bega, the Coast, towards Goulburn, and this is part of Capital Football’s footprint as well, according to their strategic plan.
“And it’s part of Council’s overall strategic plan for the region which is exciting; the place is just buzzing now, and this is one aspect of it. And so there’s confidence in the region and that’s due to really good administration for several years now by the people who have been there for a while. [Mayor] Tim Overall has done a sensational job driving this initiative which is not just for football, but all codes. [Deputy Premier of NSW] John Barilaro initially got the project going, so together with local members, local member council, there’s this spirit of going forward and excitement, and of course with the World Cup in 2023, we have intentions of using the precinct to create some programmes, and it may be a possible training base or hub for the World Cup.
“So they’re the things that we’re really looking forward to; Council is involved with the club and vice-versa, and we have outreach plans for our region, bringing kids/disadvantaged kids here for a bit of education and sport, so it’s a whole lot of things, not just our first grade women.
“The Monaro Panthers and Queanbeyan City football clubs will both have an arrangement with and access to the precinct.”
Mentoring and culture
Santolin explains that “… Culture is at the heart of what we’re trying to do.
“We’re trying to create our own thing which is going to be sustainable and which will allow people to contribute.
“We want women to know that this is their programme. If it goes well, we’re all going well. We want to be welcoming. We want players to be able to walk in, feel confident, and take ownership of their own club, it doesn’t matter if they become stars or not.”
Stanbury’s work on mentoring and culture will largely be with the senior squad, but not exclusive to it.
“I will be [working on] mentoring the senior squad once selected. Don’t get me wrong, I want to be as much a part of this club as possible, and I want to go and visit the younger girls and chat with them. What I’m hoping to run is a pre-season block before Christmas and that would be about a month or so of training, and in that we’ll be doing some team bonding – I think team bonding is massive – and getting a feel for the characters in the team, you’ve got your funny ones, you’ve got your serious ones, and it’s a matter of balancing it in a respectful environment.
“I’m big on having a family environment, with girls in the juniors forming bonds and coming through the years into the top grades. I want the girls to come and work hard for each other in a respectful and family-style environment.
“I’d also like each of the girls in the senior squad to have a chance to be a leader and a mentor to an aspiring young footballer in the club who can have someone to look up to.”
Overall expands on these points.
“At a grassroots level we’re fostering and encouraging an environment and a culture that these young girls and women coming in then aspire to that level; aspire to be mentored by these older players, these quality players that they can see and have a pathway to themselves, that nurtures you even if they don’t get to that level, or decide that being at that level is not for them (or not attainable due to age).
“But you’re still part of that family environment, and part of this whole network that includes men as well as women. A family environment that says ‘we are all here for each other’.”
A unique plan to support players of all ages and stages
With a top flight coach who has W-League experience, a patron who is not only a current player but also prominent in the community (Overall is current Monaro Local Woman of the Year, President of the Meals on Wheels Queanbeyan Branch, the Independent Chair of Headspace Queanbeyan and the inaugural Patron of Molonglo Support), and the grassroots ties of current Matilda Karly Roestbakken, the club has no shortage of inspiring women to draw upon to serve as role-models for women and girls of all ages in the club.
So exciting to meet former @NewcastleJetsFC @WLeague @CanberraUnited player Emma Stanbury – & to be asked to be official Patron for a new initiative focusing specifically on the support & promotion of girls & women playing football in the Canberra region! 😊⚽️#WomensWorldCup pic.twitter.com/3eW8EBkBB3
— NicholeOverall (@NicholeOverall) September 26, 2020
As Overall explains, “I’ve been invited to be the inaugural Patron of the Brindabella/Monaro Women’s Programme, something that’s not usual in this space but it’s exciting and a great privilege. I didn’t start playing football until I was 40, and we just finished our Community 3 league top of the table and undefeated which is exciting at my age.
“The programme that I am patron for covers players whether they are 6 or 66, regardless of level.
“I’m excited by the idea of supporting and encouraging and promoting the women and girls regardless of age to come and play this fantastic sport and to be able to do so in an environment like this, knowing that there’s nothing like this out there.
“How it all came about is that I had an idea and talked about it with John and other parties – what we’re talking about is so new and unique and we’re talking about an entire circle of life in some ways.”
“It is quite different for girls and women, and things might happen where they are at the premier league level but have school or study or relationships and things, and rather than stopping playing, they have alternatives that they can continue to play and potentially have that pathway back, it’s a cycle really we are talking about. Anyone interested to be part of this initiative can certainly reach out to us, because one way or another we want to be able to welcome and encourage as many as we possibly can.
“We’re thinking about the whole environment … specifically concentrated on what we need as girls and women in this space. Girls and women do go through different stages and do play sport differently to boys and men. I never like to see it when they get to 17, 18, 19 and get distracted or have other responsibilities and things they turn their attention to, and they step away from it and potentially never come back. The talent that could be there, the quality that could be there … and then once they do step aside, such as Emma when she decides she no longer wants to play at that level, there’s still opportunity to [return to football at some point, perhaps even in a different capacity].
“So I’m really excited to be in this role, to be able to continue to cultivate that, and to promote and even make organisations such as Capital Football sit up and pay more attention to the women’s game, realise how important it is.”
“As we head into 2023, obviously never a more important time, but we were already on this bandwagon; we just want to make sure that we make the most of the opportunities that are going to open up between now and 2023, and get as many on board as we possibly can.”
The Women’s Programme isn’t just about catering for premier league level players.
“We also want to welcome any girls and women to join us regardless of what level they are at. That’s the whole idea of this programme and this women’s initiative we are talking about. The programme is a partnership with the Brindabella Blues and encompasses Community, State, Junior, Senior, and NPL women’s football. We’re ensuring that we have opportunities available to girls and women playing across the board. If they do come and trial for the first team and don’t make it, that’s not to say that we won’t have other teams and other opportunities for them to slot into, for them to be part of this [women’s programme], and under this positive direction.
“We don’t want women or girls to be disappointed or to walk away because they may not have made the grade or cut at that time. There are other opportunities that we’re going to be presenting that still allow a potential pathway, and obviously then at our higher levels we’re concentrating on that quality and the best team that we can possibly have but still facilitating whatever level and whatever ages girls and women are at to continue to play … or even begin playing, as I did when I was 40.”
Those interested – juniors and seniors – can contact the club via email at Johnsantolin@bigpond.com
Santolin gives credit to Townsley for revitalising the women’s programme over the last year or so, including the formulation of the arrangement with the Brindabella Blues to create a pathway for their players to play in NPLW under Panthers colours.
“We had the third highest number of registered women Premier League players of all the clubs in 2020. With our women’s three year programme, and the memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Brindabella Blues FC, Director of Women’s Football Paul [Townsley] has this year agreed to take on a more managerial role in furthering the programme. He was instrumental in bringing Emma over to the club.”
Townsley chimes in at this juncture: “We have implemented a structure, we have a development pathway, we have state leagues [programmes] at both clubs, U18’s, a whole junior programme at both clubs, some 300 girls and women with the premier league. We’re working very, very hard to facilitate a pathway to develop them, we have Emma with her experience, knowledge and contacts, we have Nichole working really hard with the state league girls to create this blended philosophy and programme that in two or three seasons’ time could be one of the stronger programmes in Canberra.”
“There has been a lot of hard work that’s been put in over the last year, [to create] a genuine and transparent pathway, and a safe environment for our players to become strong independent young women.
“We’ve got organisations and companies that want to sponsor female football with us, that are in the wings at the moment.”
Says Santolin: “We’re now ready to go, we’re about to launch, but there’s the matter of readmission to the NPL hanging over us.”
The fight to stay in the 2021 NPLW competition
The Capital Football board recently endorsed a decision to restructure the format of all National Premier Leagues competitions, with all leagues to have eight teams. The two competitions that are affected by this decision are NPLW and NPL2.
Capital Football CEO Phil Brown remarked that “… In the NPLW, an eight-team format with three rounds increases the number of matches from 16 in the previous structure to 21 matches in 2021, aligning the NPLW competition with the number of matches played in the men’s competitions.”
Beyond 90 understands that all nine existing NPLW1 clubs need to provide a submission to Capital Football by October 19th 2020, outlining their case to remain in the competition. A decision will be made by the Capital Football board in early November. It is currently unknown what the assessment process will look like, or whether club submissions will be accompanied by interviews, for example.
Monaro Panthers NPLW1 results over the last two NPLW1 competitions were not compelling, finishing with the wooden spoon in 2020, and equal bottom in 2019.
But as Townsley outlines, “People have to understand that development comes in cycles. It takes time to develop players, and many of our 13’s, 15’s, 17’s have come from Brindabella and were stepping up a significant standard of football… they have all bought into the programme; they all want to come back; there was definite improvement over the season.”
Santolin adds that without the partnership MOU with Brindabella Blues, “… we’d have five to six girls turn up each season for Under 15’s. The partnership brought an extra 12 girls from Brindabella, some of whom have never played. But they had Jack Roestbakken as their coach, sheer enthusiasm … and it got to the stage where they wanted to train five nights a week. As Paul says, they were improving, not winning, but the enthusiasm was infectious – boom boxes at training … they lost every game until the last one when they beat Canberra United Academy.”
“… and the vast majority of those girls will be looking to take part in the summer competition and will be training during the week over the summer”, finishes Townsley.
The scope and terms of the submission are unknown, but are likely to take in a wide variety of factors including facilities, playing surfaces, coaching qualifications, programmes, structures, community/council support, and plans for the future.
On a number of these criteria the Monaro Panthers would seem to be well positioned. Their submission will be a joint submission together with the Brindabella Blues, further illustrating the strength of that partnership.
Santolin explains that if the decision goes against the Panthers, they may need to turn to Football NSW.
“If Monaro is not accepted back into the league, there is nowhere else for us to go except out. There’s no relegation/promotion [from State league to NPLW] and there’s no NPLW2.”
It was only a few weeks ago that Monaro’s home ground – Riverside Stadium, recognised as one of the finer football surfaces in the region – hosted finals playoff games.
No matter the outcome, Monaro Panthers are determined to press on with their initiatives. The club aims to be a strong local option in serving the needs of current and aspiring girls and women players in the Canberra and Queanbeyan Palerang region. They hope to build upon the interest and momentum that the 2023 World Cup will undoubtedly unveil in the women’s game between now, the tournament itself … and beyond.
