AFL gets its first female coach and the focus is on her family - Women's Agenda

AFL gets its first female coach and the focus is on her family

Married father of four, Mick Malthouse, has been appointed Carlton coach for three years.

It sounds absurd, doesn’t it?

The truth is the sentence above would never be written. A man in sport, or any other profession for that matter, would never be defined by his relationship or family status. It certainly wouldn’t be mentioned before his coaching credentials, the actual qualities that got him the job. Nor should it.

Regrettably, things are different for women. Consider the case of new St Kilda development coach Peta Searle.

Searle is the first woman coach in the AFL. This is a very big deal.

Women are slowly climbing the executive ladder in the AFL. Sightings of women on AFL boards aren’t quite as rare as Tasmanian Tigers and it’s not unusual to see women in administration or exercise and sports science roles. There’s even a smattering of us in the media, although you’d be forgiven for not noticing at times. Some pockets are impenetrable; the pastel shirt-wearing former player brigade is a formidable beast and they protect their patch fiercely. But never before has a woman muscled her way into the coaching ranks. Until this week.

Searle’s appointment is groundbreaking and important because it sends a powerful message to girls that coaching at the elite level of football is possible. You can crack the boys club if you’re good enough (and blessed with truck loads of resilience and humour).

The usual suspects, the ragers who huff and puff on talkback radio and clog websites with their bile couldn’t wait to let rip. It’s tokenism in the extreme. What is happening to our great game? What’s next, women playing AFL?

Actually it is the AFL’s plan to have a national women’s competition by 2020.

Unquestionably Searle got the job on merit. As head coach of the Darebin Falcons in the Victorian Women’s Football League she led the club to five consecutive premierships. She was the first woman coach in the TAC Cup Under 18 competition, an assistant to Gary Ayres at Port Melbourne in the VFL and she represented Victoria at state level. On top of all that she’s a qualified teacher.

Despite her long list of football and teaching credentials some media reports chose to highlight Searle’s status as a “single mother of two” before anything else.

Strangely, this is how Women’s Health Magazine reported the news.

“This is Peta Searle. She’s a single mum from Melbourne who is leaving her job as a primary school teacher to take up a new position as St Kilda Football Club’s assistant coach: it’s the highest position ever held by a female in the AFL.”

It should have read – this is Peta Searle. She’s a five-time premiership-winning coach of Darebin in the VWFL and former assistant coach at Port Melbourne.

So is it relevant Searle is a single mother of two?

Well it is in the context of her struggle to stay in the football system. Searle walked away from her job at Port Melbourne a couple of months ago to return to teaching. She couldn’t justify renewing her contract of $5,000 – and this is where a reference to her private life makes sense.

Referring to her at the beginning of a story as a single mother of two diminishes her achievement. It’s certainly part of the story but it shouldn’t be ‘announced’ in the first sentence – it shouldn’t define her.

“But it’s the point of difference”, a male colleague said.

No, the fact she’s a woman is the point of difference.

Women have been defined this way since St Helena Augusta. Why? It feeds into the nurturing stereotype that serves patriarchy well. Sport is a microcosm of society and change is slow. I still get asked if I like sport after 17 years as a sports journalist for heaven’s sakes. Something I’m certain my male colleagues are never asked.

Next time a professional woman is defined by her private life just apply the Malthouse test. Simple really.

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