This year, Mother’s Day will be all about the soccer for Thornbury mother and daughter Mandy and Lily. Lily plays in the Darebin Falcons U8 Blues and her mum Mandy is assistant coach. It’s Lily’s first season playing soccer and she is loving it.
“I really like all my teammates and I’m having a lot of fun,” Lily said. “I like running and passing and I really like scoring goals.”
Lily’s highlight for the season so far was scoring a goal within the first 20 seconds of the match! “The goal was kind of free. I had the ball and I passed it to Ashley and she passed it back and I scored.”
It’s her mum Mandy’s first time assistant coaching and she is loving it as well. Having grown up with her dad and brother playing and coaching soccer, but never having played herself, she was nervous putting her hand up.
“I still don’t know what offside means,” she said.
But with her 17-year-old son Sebastian volunteering to coach and fellow parent Sam completing the coaching team, she has slotted right in and is up for the challenge.
“I love it. It’s really nice to meet new families and parents and it’s so nice to see Lily enjoying the game and having fun at training. It’s been fun and nice to experience it with her.”
It’s created a great way for mother and daughter to spend time together, with the focus firmly on the kids enjoying being out on the field together. They all get a good workout and Mandy encourages other mums to take the leap from the sidelines to the coaching arena.
“I’d say go for it. So far it has been really fun and it is rewarding to see the team learn together and have a great time,” Mandy said. “I’m learning new things every day. And getting to know people around you in the community as well is really nice.”
A big Happy Mother’s Day to you Mandy and Lily – and to all the Darebins Falcons Mums – you are all stars, have a great day!
