Words: Staff Writers

This Mother's Day we thank all the mothers that help to make our sport and PlayStation 4 NPL Queensland great.

To express our appreciation for the efforts so many mothers make behind the scenes we asked our clubs to each nominate one mum for their outstanding contribution to their PlayStation 4 National Premier Leagues operations.

We wish all our PlayStation 4 NPL Queensland 'Soccer Mums' a very happy Mother's Day. 

Donna McCormack
Redlands United FC
Mother to PlayStation 4 NPL Queensland player Cooper McCormack (Under 14 Boys)

Donna has provided a massive amount of support to the club over the last two seasons. She has given up a substantial amount of her time to fundraising initiatives, coordinating and promoting holiday camps and acting as the club's unofficial kit officer as Redlands transitioned the whole club's playing and training apparel to BLK Sports.

Donna has given countless hours to assist staff and coordinators in developing marketing material, preparing lunches and prize packs for holiday clinics. She's also assisted in organising and distributing over 800 new kits and training packs for junior and senior players at the start of the year - a massive effort given the sweltering heat of summer.

"Donna has been a God send for me. Her willingness to put hours in to organising camps and the distribution of kit coupled with her bubbly personality and good humour is appreciated by everyone at the club." - Martin Hampson, Redlands United FC General Manager

 Karen McDonald 
The Gap FC
Mother to PlayStation 4 NPL Queensland player Victoria McDonald (Youth Women)

Karen has been part of The Gap Football Club for 3 years and is known for her welcome smile and friendly chat at the fields.  This year Karen took on the role of registrar. She spent every spare moment fielding enquiries and answering questions and following through that payments were made and that all paperwork was in order for both the individual players and the club.

Karen is continuing with this role as The Gap has just started its SAP program for younger girls in our area. The club doesn’t function without volunteers.  And with a wry smile said it also helps to get to see the family as they are always playing football. 

“Helping out in the club is important to me as the sport is so important to my family” - Karen McDonald

Deb Hermann
Western Pride FC
Mother to PlayStation 4 NPL Queensland player Mitchell Hermann (Under 15 Boys)

Deb is currently managing the Under 15 boys team and has done in previous years. Her family have been involved with Western Pride since the beginning of the PlayStation 4 National Premier Leagues and has worked in all areas supporting committee, players, coaches and families.

Her involvement has included helping with the Senior Matches, uniform and kit allocations, serving in mobile canteens for trials and more, plus being a Super Mum, Working and managing the team which she does to the book and professionally.

 

"Debs contributions to our club have been many times humble and behind the scenes. She is a quiet achiever and it is with great pride that I join in the nomination of our Deb to bring the attention to her to thank her for tireless efforts and get some recognition. Happy Mothers Day, Super Mum Deb!" - Pat Boyle, Western Pride FC General Manager

 

Darlene Finnigan
Palm Beach SC
Mother to PlayStation 4 NPL Queensland player Heath Finnigan (Under 18 Boys)

Darlene has been with the club for many years, the whole Finnigan family are involved in the club. In addition to Heath in our PlayStation 4 NPL programme, Darlene's children include Drew who plays in the Gold Coast Premier League, Britt who used to work in the Bar, Ellie who works the coffee machine and husband Neil who is the groundsman also our U/18 Coach and also the First Team Manager.

Darlene has covered many voluntary roles over the years and is a wonderful lady with a big heart. She travels to all of our away games and has a permanent seat in our grandstand. Without people like Darlene involved our club would be much worse off. We sincerely appreciate her efforts for Palm Beach Soccer Club.

"Palm Beach Soccer Club is like a second family where the children feel like “they belong”. I get great satisfaction giving something back to our club, knowing it helps the players, coaches and managers as well as the general community, who also use our facilities." - Darlene Finnigan

 

Tracey Owens
Moreton Bay United FC
Mother to PlayStation 4 NPL Queensland player Olivia Owens (Under 15 Girls)

Tracey is a genuine unsung hero of Moreton Bay United and (catchment club) Albany Creek Excelsior. For more than 15 years Tracey has worked tirelessly in the background, giving up weekday evenings and weekends to manage her children’s teams. Tracey is also an ever-present at sign-on weekends, junior carnivals, presentation days and, it seems, every other club function. For three years she was also Registrar. Hundreds of club members know and have been helped by Tracey.

Tracey also manages daughter Olivia’s Under 15 Jets team.

“Tracey epitomises the tag of devoted soccer mum and manages to combine this with her additional roles of team manager, canteen helper, registration assistant and fundraising assistant within our club. Tracey is reliable, pleasant, helpful and always courteous and no matter what the task, she is always there with a smile on her face to contribute.” - Tony Dooley, Moreton Bay United Board Member & Albany Creek Excelsior President

“I love volunteering. It's fun to get out and mix with the great bunch of committee people and it shows your kids that, if you don't get in and help, things just don't magically happen. There are people who genuinely love football and their club.” - Tracey Owens

Liza Lambley
Brisbane Roar FC/Queensland Academy of Sport
Mother to PlayStation 4 NPL Queensland player Lachlan Weir (Under 18 Boys)

Liza regularly looks after the other players in her son’s team, particularly the players who are boarders and don’t have family in Brisbane. This involves dropping them off and picking them up from games and training. She says all the parents pitch in to ensure all the players are looked after.

“All mums and dads give up a lot for their children when they play elite sport. Lachlan has played since he was two and it has involved all weekend carnivals when they were little, washing full kits after games and ferrying them around at the drop of a hat but none of us would have it any other way. I treat the boys in the team as if they were my own.” - Liza Lambley

 

Emily Wilkes
Sunshine Coast FC
Mother to PlayStation 4 NPL Queensland players Abbi Wilkes (Youth Women) and Kyle Wilkes (Under 13 Boys)

Emily does a bit of everything at the club. She caters for match days at the stadium, ensures all clothing is correctly printed and sized, works at the canteen when games are at Kawana Soccer Club, puts together team kits for home and away games, helps handle merchandise sales to parents and supporters, and helps the club out in all other ways when possible. She spends a few hours a day in the office making sure that everything is correctly organised and ready for games at the weekend.

“Because I want to help the club in all ways possible so that it makes things easier for other people. The more effort people put into the help, the better the club will be in the long run.” - Emily Wilkes

Amanda Wenzel
Olympic FC
Mother to PlayStation 4 NPL Queensland players Dylan Wenzel-Halls (Youth Men & Senior Men) and Declan Wenzel-Halls (Under 13 Boys)

Amanda is an enormous help to Olympic FC by selflessly volunteering her time to a number of essential club tasks. Not only did she assist with the massive sign-on events in January, she has continually volunteered every week since then to sell merchandise or help with administrative duties.

"Her respect, honesty and charm supports the values of our Olympic FC brand. She is always eager to help the club in any way, at any time and we are extremely grateful for her efforts." - Alannah Pearson, Olympic FC Head of Administration

Jacqui Karambasis
Northern Fury FC
Mother to PlayStation 4 NPL Queensland player Sean Karambasis (Senior Men)

The Karambasis family is a football family through-and-through. Jacqui plays in a local indoor competition; she is manager of daughter Tiarna’s team in the Inter City Cup; husband Takis is coach of the U-18 Boys team at Northern Fury. Whenever something needs doing – whether its painting the change rooms, making out lines, helping with merchandise – Jacqui and Takis are amongst the first to put up their hand. For them, Northern Fury is a vital part of the Townsville community and a great way of their family enjoying time together.

“Jacqui is one of the many outstanding mums we have at Northern Fury who give so much time to help the club keep ticking-over. Every sporting club around the country needs mum-and-dad volunteers to help with kids’ teams and with running clubs in higher-tier competitions like NPL Queensland. Without the input, time and dedication of Jacqui and many other busy mums like her, we’d be struggling.” - Rabieh Krayem, Northern Fury FC Chairman.

Samantha Brebner 
Peninsula Power FC
Mother to PlayStation 4 NPL Queensland player Victoria Brebner (Youth Women)

Sam's official role on our Women's Division committee is treasurer. However, as demanding a role as that is, she does so much more. So far this season she has also helped with registrations, team management, ground official duties, and anything else the club has required. This being our first season in PlayStation 4 National Premier Leagues, there are many responsibilities required from the club that we are learning along the way, and Sam is one of the first people to respond when the call goes out for help. Her work at the club is invaluable.