Post date: May 9,  2025 10:38 PM

It’s hours after the grand final and the sun is literally setting on our maiden season as the Cooks River Titans’ first-ever women’s over-35 football team.

It’s dark, the other team have long gone and we’re all belting out Queen anthem “We are the champions” with our coach and club president. You would have thought we’d won.

In fact, we lost 2-0 to top-of-the-table Balmain but by God, we felt like the biggest winners on Earth.

You see, for almost every woman in this team, myself included, this was the first time we’d ever played football. ‘Underdogs’ doesn’t even begin to describe us.

Anyone who knows me knows I’ve been a football tragic my whole life and spent many years as a football journalist.

From reporting on games, to watching my brother, husband and now son play, I had spent decades on the sidelines, never part of the action – until now.

At 46-years-old it was finally my turn.

And I wasn’t the only one.  

Among the 19 of us in the squad, who’s ages ranged from 40 to 55, there was an overwhelmingly joyous sense of women who were finally doing something just for themselves - a collective effervescence, if you will.

French sociologist Émile Durkheim coined the term ‘collective effervescence’ in 1912 to describe the joy and unity people feel when they come together for a shared experience. Think a stadium erupting into cheers at a sporting event or an entire crowd singing together at a concert. I think it applies here too.

And it was this collective effervescence that galvanised and propelled this team of rookies all the way to the grand final.

This week we mark Female Football Week, a nationwide initiative to acknowledge and promote the important role female’s play in developing the game and to celebrate the immense growth of women’s football at all levels.

The Titans team celebrating their remarkable season as Runners Up with their family and friends. 

This growth is no more evident than in our team. We were part of the 16 per cent increase in female football participation seen across the country in 2024 that came off the back of the Matildas’ historic run at the FIFA Women’s World Cup.

Speaking to Cooks River Titans’ club president Nick Kambounias he says the “Matildas effect” was clearly evident at his Inner West Sydney club, where four new female teams were formed last season across various age groups from under-9s to our over-35 team.

“For the first time I had mums who were bringing their kids to games ask if we had an over-35s women’s team at the club. Over time, more and more asked so we put the word out and managed to get enough numbers to form the club’s first ever over-35 women’s team,” Kambounias said.

“I just feel so proud that this club has been able to provide an opportunity for anyone at any age who wants to play the sport.”

As it turned out 13 of the women in our team have kids playing for the Titans. We spend our Saturdays cheering them on and they return the favour on Sundays while running amok together on the sidelines.

Not only were we a team of first-timers, but we were also a team of strangers. Only a few of us had met before last season, while we were up against teams that had played together for years. Yet somehow, when we came together, it was like a puzzle falling perfectly into place.

I can’t remember a time in my life when I’ve experienced such sheer joy and felt so inspired. When we come together every Sunday all the noise of work, family, life is silenced and for 90 minutes, we have the stage.  

Exhilaration and pure joy (collective effervescence) as the Over35 Women win their preliminary final in Golden Goal extra time to book a spot in the Grand Final. 

And what a cast we are.

While most of us had never kicked a ball before, there are three who’ve played regularly in recent seasons with a couple of others who last kicked a ball decades ago in their youth.

Our captain, Fiona, is one of the three, her years of playing providing a touch of much needed experience. Able to play in any position from goalie to striker, she is steady, dependable, brilliant.

Her sister, ‘smiling assassin’ Edwina, a relative veteran having joined us after two seasons of playing, her fearless steadfastness in defence matched only by the permanent smile on her face.

And Steph, our midfield dynamo, who played with us in the early games before rightfully moving up two divisions, could score goals in her sleep.

Then there’s rest of us newcomers.

Our amazing goalie Elise, who had never stood between the sticks before, spent half the season trying to figure out if she was left or right footed and remarked after a game once as she put her glasses on: “Oh that’s better. Can’t see a bloody thing out there”. But none of that stopped her from pulling out countless great saves, including a crucial one with her face, to get us out of trouble many times.

Defender Marie Rose, who at 55 is the most senior of the bunch, lives on a farm in Berry and commutes two hours to play games. She missed the first half of a match once because her heifers had “gone walk about”. To watch her fly in for the most perfectly timed slide tackles like someone half her age was just a thing of beauty – tell me that’s not inspiring.

Our other defenders Fotoula, with her incredible long balls, Ghada with her power and precision, who juggles football with three kids, a full-time job and studying her Masters, and Carly, who relishes the one-on-one battles so much it’s no surprise she’s a brilliant lawyer.   

Our defensive midfielder Alba who plays with such fire and grit, she won’t let anyone past without one hell of a fight and dance teacher Mel, who brings a flare and elegance to our forward pack.

Midfielders Renee, who has such presence and composure on the pitch, and her wife Helen, who manages to have game-changing impact almost every time she plays. Then there’s Alicia, who whirls around the pitch with such energy it sometimes seems like there’s more than one of her, and the tenacious Trinah who seems to be able to get past player after player.

Our two speed demons Pamela, who’s as solid in defence as she is up front, has become so obsessed with playing football, she is devastated anytime training or games are called off, and striker Maria who not only has blistering speed, which at over 35s is a huge asset, but reads the game so well. Both also have such fancy footwork, it’s hard to believe they’d never played.

Then there’s me with no sense of direction or athleticism, just a love for the game and a willingness to learn, doing my best every week not to make the beautiful game look ugly.

Sandra and Sol, who sadly missed most of the season with injury, make up the 19.

While we all shared the same strong desire, we had varying levels of ability, fitness and skill. But put us all together and this team became so much greater than the sum of its parts.

Our coach, Alan, proved not only to be the world’s most patient man but the bravest to take us on. His guidance was everything, we hung off his every word like gospel.

Week by week we grew into our positions and built a confidence we never anticipated. We went from happily expecting to finish wooden spooners to propelling each other to the grand final. Against all odds we’d become an overnight sensation 40 years in the making.

While it was tempting to think “I wish I’d done this 30 years ago”, I truly believe this was the exact time this chapter was meant to be written. We and this experience came into each other’s lives at the exact time we all needed it most.

What this team brought to each of us extended way beyond the pitch. From supporting each other through job losses, helping with last minute book week costumes, looking after each other’s kids, and sharing advice on everything life threw our way. We’ve forged life-long friendships and watched our children do the same on the sidelines.

For me the impact was profound. At a time in my life when I was just going through the motions and looking back feeling like the best was well and truly behind me, this team of incredible women and what we achieved together was one of the greatest joys of my life. We may not have taken home the trophy, but I walked away with something far more enduring: a renewed faith not only in my own ability to learn new things but in what women can accomplish when they lift each other up.

Then there’s the lessons I hope I impart on my seven-year-old son watching on, that winning comes in many forms, it’s never too late to chase a dream, and women can be just as brave, bold and fearless as men – just to name a few.

Major events on home soil leave a lasting legacy. The Women’s World Cup united a nation, shifted the narrative around women’s sport and drove incredible growth in football. In less than 10 months from now, Australia will once again take centre stage as hosts of the AFC Women’s Asian Cup, building on that momentum not just to empower the next generation of stars, but remind women like us, at any age, that the field is ours too.

As the Titans’ first women’s over-35 team, we hoped our unexpected success would inspire other women to take the leap. And that’s exactly what’s happened.

Playing our second season, we’re no longer the rookies. We’ve welcomed five new recruits, four of whom have never played before.

Together we’re writing the next chapter, and we can’t wait to see how it unfolds.