Women and girls make an incredible contribution to our game, both on and off the pitch. Throughout Female Football Week (1-10 May), we will be sharing YOUR stories to celebrate this contribution with the wider Victorian football community.
Today, Alexandra El-Kishen proudly speaks about breaking down barriers and giving back to the community.
My name is Alexandra El-Khishen and I have been a volunteer/committee member at the Melton Phoenix FC since 2014.
My son had just started playing football in 2014 and I took on the role of Team Manager. I was also involved with the committee as a junior co-ordinator. It was a tough role and the hours were long but volunteering was just so rewarding.
Giving back to the community was something that I will always cherish. It was from that moment that my passion for football had begun.
As a woman, it was very hard to break down the barriers that existed. Stereotypes and inequality existed within sport, in particularly regarding female leaders. This was something that I wanted to research further in order to improve my own awareness and help shift people’s views.
This was the reason I became a female advocate for my Club and was determined to raise the profile of women in football. At Melton Phoenix FC, we have managed to break down stereotypes and inequality and have now become a fully inclusive club.
Melton Phoenix has now secured a women’s team this season registered a girls team at the junior level. Our President, Michelle Williamson is a past player at Melton Pheonix and backbone of the success.
Our committee consists of a mixture of women and men who together, make such a great team. They have promoted a healthy environment for all females at our club and this is continuing to grow.