Comet Bay College’s VET teacher Sarah Christensen (nee Kerry) was recently named WA’s 2022 Chemist Warehouse AFLW Community Ambassador.
The award recognises members from the football community who have been instrumental in facilitating and nurturing the remarkable growth of women and girls’ football.
Sarah has affectionately been dubbed the ‘glass-ceiling breaker’ after devoting her time to developing and progressing women’s football. It is a title she is humble about.
“I didn’t work hard doing what I was doing to get recognised, I was just doing what I loved,” she said. “I found out about the Ambassadorship when I saw a missed call on my phone from the AFL. They told me I had received multiple nominations for the role, but I still to this day don’t know who put my name forward.”
Sarah’s love for football began when she first got her hands on a ball at the age of five.
“My parents tell the story that I came home with a ball from pre-primary and announced to them that that’s what I wanted to play, and I’ve been playing it ever since….obsessively,” she laughed.
Sarah has represented WA and Australian Navy and is currently the Head Coach and Captain of her team at Secret Harbour. She joined the Peel Umpires as a teenager, and led the charge for women as the only female field umpire in the region, eventually going on to officiate over 200 games.
Hoping to inspire the next generation of female footballers, Sarah began her coaching career, where she coached junior and senior women’s sides for eight years, before coaching the State Academy for four years and currently the development coach for Peel Under 15s. She even coaches her daughter’s team.
“I knew I was different growing up because I was the only girl playing among boys,” Sarah said. “Even in high school, I was the only girl in our AFL specialist class and was the top student. I was allowed to train with the boys but when we competed against other schools I was sidelined, running water instead. Women’s sport has come such a long way since then. I constantly tell my daughter how lucky she is.”
Congratulations, Sarah!