She Runs The Game – Amanda Caplan

My first role at AJAX was on the sidelines; cheer squad and supporter for my two sons who joined the club in under 9’s and wife to a hands-on team manager. I found myself, more often than not, filling in the weekly duties of timekeeper, orange bearer and general admin support.

This was life at the Caplan house; we lived and breathed it from the very start.

Fast forward a number of years and the hands-on team manager husband is now happily on dog and cheer squad duty on the sidelines whilst it’s me putting up the goal post padding and carrying my Team Manager clipboard.

It is also my two daughters that take our focus first thing on an AJAX Saturday as this is the AJAX Women’s Senior team, “The Jackettes”, that I have the honour of managing.

How times have changed!

But whilst we – a Women’s football team – are happily here and visible, for many years our growth had been slow. There were many reasons, not the least being widespread attitudes and beliefs about the dangers inherent in the sport and the perceived heightened risk of injury.

The recruitment of female players has been a challenge, and this seems commensurate with the general experience of most clubs.

However, our coach, Joe Nankin, has been admirably dogged in his pursuit of Jewish players to fill our team, and this determination, together with the long-awaited arrival of some serious talent from the Junior club, should ensure the long-term stability of our Women’s team.

So, despite the initial stagnation, The Jackettes’ numbers are on the rise and, I can assure you, there’s NOTHING like being a member of the Jackettes.

Being a part of this team is hard to put into words. It is unlike being a part of any other team I have seen before – at any level, any age group, or any sport – and between four children, I have seen my fair share.

There is something special about us. It’s more than pride in our club, it’s bigger than that.

We belong to our own community, we’re connected to each other – and if you ever see us at a training session, what I am trying to describe is tangible.

You can see the good old-fashioned fun and shared camaraderie, and the ripple effect our players take with them from this, both on and off the field.

Several years ago, when asked to fill this role, I was reluctant to move outside of my bubble and accept the challenge but accepted it partly out of a sense of obligation as the mother of 4 children – 2 sons and 2 daughters – playing footy at AJAX.

I also accepted it, I realised later, because of the innate sense of belonging I felt from day one at the club. On the sidelines, in the club rooms, driving to games, AJAX melted into our lives like a beloved family member.

I needed to be part of the life force of the club that had needed us to be just as big a part of theirs.

Being the Team Manager of the Jackettes has given me more in return than I could ever have hoped to give.

I have front row seats to bask in the evolution of our women’s team; from a fledgling group to the flourishing one growing today.

I have the opportunity to spend Saturdays watching my two gorgeous daughters on the field, who each year astound me with the goals they set and achieve as athletes, and I get to connect with a group of amazing, driven, hilarious, accomplished, respectful and enthusiastic women.

How lucky am I?