We are proud to introduce our new Female Football Development Officer (FFDO), Fiona Craven, who has recently joined Football Canterbury.
In short, the role of the FFDO is to increase participation in and enjoyment of football for women and girls as players, coaches, referees, and volunteers with Fiona working with clubs and women/girls around the region to help facilitate this.
A life-long lover of football, and having experience as a player, a coach, and a club volunteer, Fiona has the perfect background to step into this role and help overcome some of the barriers that women and girls face in sport.
“There are many things I hope to achieve at Football Canterbury, however most pressing is to support clubs in developing their own programs for women and girls to stimulate the engagement and retention of players, coaches, and referees,” said Fiona.
“When looking to improve football it is important to build from the ground up: with grassroots football being imperative to make this happen.
“If coaching and development standards are improved for women and girls at the association level, then this raises the quality across the state and throughout the country: inevitably increasing the standard of the Matildas.
Fiona started her footballing career as an U8 player at Russell Lea Women’s SC and has been involved with football in Canterbury ever since.
A C-Licenced coach who also has experience coaching at NPL level, Fiona is currently the vice president at ACU FC, plays for the club’s AAW3 team, and was most recently an assistant coach for the senior men’s Australia Cup team.
“These various roles have helped prepare me for this position where I can take all I have learnt, as well as my love for the game, and put it into developing coaches, players, referees, and volunteers in our region.
“Professionally, my business background will also assist in my development of programs and event management for Football Canterbury.”
“Our opportunity to grow and improve football in this association is very exciting, especially with the Women’s World Cup coming up this year. Women’s football is the place to be in 2023!”
Clubs are encouraged to get in touch with Fiona for an introduction and to speak about potential programs and initiatives.
Fiona’s top five reasons to love football
- Feeling a sense of community that comes with being part of my football team
- The friends and connections I make from the sport
- The fulfilment I get when I pull-off a successful combination with my teammates that we’ve practiced at training
- The joy I feel when I see someone go from having never played before to scoring their first goal
- The excitement I feel when watching the Matildas play live in my home town
Image credit: Alen Delic
