Mum's back on the ball with Bendigo Thunder Football Club

DURING the week, Cherie O’Neill is a wife, mum and part-time theatre nurse who is kept busy juggling family and career duties and running around after three active young children.But come Sundays during winter, she pulls on her footy boots and runs around the forward pocket chasing possessions and goals for the Bendigo Thunder women’s team.Until this year, the 33-year-old hadn’t played a match for premiership points since she was forced out of football more than two decades ago, after showing early promise as a junior with the Kangaroo Flat under-12s.“I used to play when I was in primary school and got as far as I could go before I was told that girls couldn’t play footy any more because it was too rough,” she says.“So I gave it up – it was a real shame.”Cherie was one of her side’s leading players back in those days, when she was coached by Kangaroo Flat football identity John Squire.And the foot skills and footy smarts the Hawthorn supporter developed as a kid in the late 1980s are clearly still there in 2011.Though she is the oldest player on Thunder’s list, Cherie has been a solid contributor since her debut in the Victorian Women’s Football League north-west conference on May 1.She has averaged a goal a game from her 10 matches so far this year, including a bag of four on home turf at Dower Park against Braybrook earlier this month.In its inaugural season, Thunder has proven to be a genuine premiership contender, finishing the home-and-away season in second place on the ladder and securing the crucial double chance heading into the major semi-final against top-placed North Ballarat this Sunday.At stake is a place in the grand final and the chance for the Russell Jeffrey-coached side to etch Bendigo’s name into the annals of Victorian women’s football history. “It’s good to get results,” Cherie says of the team’s stunning instant success. “They are a really good bunch of girls and there is a fair lot of talent among them.”Cherie was always a “sporty kid”, the second-youngest of five children who was never afraid to take the boys on at their own game.“My two older brothers used to play footy and I gave netball a go, but to be honest I found it a little bit boring.“Kicking the footy around the school yard, I could do it better than most of the boys so I decided to give that a try.”Despite her long hiatus from football, Cherie never lost her enthusiasm for the game. So when she heard about Thunder from general manager Bianca Rinaldi at a local women’s running group the two attended, she was curious to find out more.“I’d always wished there was women’s footy in Bendigo. “I thought I’d just go along to training one night and have a go… and I ended up signing up.”Cherie had kept her hand in over the years playing footy in the back yard with her own children. Though she says she needed to work on her conditioning, the Bendigo Triathlon Club member had a good fitness base on which to improve after competing in 400m swim, 18km ride and 4km run events over summer.“If anyone ever had a footy around, I would always go and have a kick,” she says. “So it has more been a case of brushing up on my skills and trying to work harder on my fitness.”The main challenge in her return to the footy field has been finding the time to fit her sport around work at Bendigo Health, while still spending as much time as she can with husband Dan, daughter Katrina, 3, and sons Mitchell, 9, and Joshua, 7.Thunder trains on Wednesday evenings, which makes it a very long day for Cherie.“I usually work on Wednesdays from 8am until 6pm, then go straight to training,” she says.“I use my support network – it helps when you have a very supportive husband. “Dan cooks and has the kids all organised, including taking them to their own footy training after school. He also gets them ready for bed, but usually keeps them up until I get home so I can sit down with them for half an hour and talk to the boys about their footy training.”Mitchell and Joshua have both taken up under-10 football this season – ironically playing for the Kangaroo Flat club their mum lined up for as a youngster.The Roos are also the host club for Thunder, providing a home ground, training facility and other support for the football newcomers, so Dower Park has become something of a home-away-from-home for the Kangaroo Flat family.Dan and the kids enjoy watching Cherie play each weekend and have even travelled to some of her away games, while her mother-in-law has also been among the private O’Neill cheer squad on occasion.She gave a big thank you to her family and said she could not be involved without their support.Cherie might be the most senior member of Thunder in terms of age, but surprisingly she says there have been no “granny” jokes doing the rounds in the change rooms or out on the field.“The girls haven’t made any smart comments about that yet,” she laughs, adding that the team is united on all fronts.“They are all very encouraging. The coach, Russ, has been great and I have always felt part of the team.”To any Bendigo women who might be considering taking up football next season, regardless of age or ability, Cherie offers this message: “Give it a go – you are never too old to play and it is a great club.“Even if you don’t want to actually play, come along and support the team – there are always lots of support jobs that anyone can do.”