Val our first lady
MORNINGTON Football Club
would not be the success it is without the lifelong dedication of
Val Hardie
and most likely neither would football across the MPNFL.
Val’s unwavering
commitment to football and footballers on the Mornington Peninsula over 40
years has earned her the inaugural MPNFL Woman of the Year award.
Val started a 20-year association with South
Mornington Junior Football Club in 1970 following her mother, who was one of
the original founders of the club.
As a young girl, she worked in the canteen and washed the
jumpers every week, moving on to fill almost every job including as a Committee
Member and Team Official and earning life membership.
From 1978 to 1981 Val
was assistant secretary of the Mornington Peninsula Football League under the
leadership of Ken Lyons.
In those days sexism was
the norm and Val had to drive league executive members to various premiership celebrations
and wait out in the car while the men went in to celebrate with the club.
If a woman entered the
football club in those days there would be a warning call of ‘Woman on the
Floor’.
In 1982 Val became the
assistant secretary of the Mornington Football Club and then moved on to be
secretary from 1986 to1990, and then a gain from 2002 to the present day.
During her long
involvement with the Bulldogs she has also acted as the Gate Attendant and Canteen
Manager, together with other duties including cooking meals twice a week for
players, washing Guernseys, strapping players and property steward, which meant
that she had to hand-polish the footballs every week!
There is not much Val
has not done around the Mornington Football Club.
Val is also very
community minded and has acted as a Foster Mother in the 1980s and 1990s. She fostered
children and has gone through the heartbreak of giving them back when they had
to go back to their families.
She has been a proactive
advocate for Foster kids in the Family Courts and even in Parliament over a
long period.
The MPNFL congratulates
Val on her achievement.
Last Modified on 16/06/2010 16:46