By: Tash Gunawardana
Chirnside Park’s Meghan Stephens will play her 100th game this Sunday in the Deakin University Eastern Region Women’s North Division preliminary final against Park Orchards.
“There is something about coming home, one of my favourite moments is the first training night back at the club in pre-season, still coming into end of summer, the smell of the grass seems different and the possibility of the season still lays ahead,” Stephens said.
“I love that quiet moment before the chaos of a football season starts.
“The longer the years roll on and the stronger our women’s program gets, the rooms build more history and culture, so again it’s nice to be home, we operated out of a small back room for a while, humble beginnings.
“But with the increase in women’s teams and council support we were able to secure some portables short term while plans for a club room upgrade is drawn up, it’s nice, its ours and we continue to make it our own.”
When Stephens runs out this Sunday, she will become only the second player in her team’s history to reach the 100-game milestone.
To play 100 games as a female footballer is a rare feat.
Club Premier player Lauren Howell has known Stephens for nine years at the club but played football alongside Stephens for six years.
Howell’s best memory of Stephens is an unusual and funny saying that all of Stephens’ past and present teammates will never forget.
“When you boil a potato, it goes soft and when you boil and egg it goes hard, so we should be the egg and rise and harden,” Howell said.
Chirnside Park women’s coordinator and long-time friend Renee Cellante spoke about Stephens who is known as ‘Skip’ at the club.
“When I started at Chirnside, ‘Skip’ was already at the club and she was the captain at the club when I joined,” Cellante said.
“She has always been our cultural leader for the team, she definitely makes an impact for sure.
“She was originally our captain, then a leadership mentor in 2014, assistant coach in 2016, won the president’s award in 2017, then was the women’s head coach in seasons 2017-18.
“She’s always been a part of my footy journey and most of the girls’ careers.”
If you talk to anyone at the club, they will all say Stephens is a warm, understanding and well-respected woman and someone who is a real leader who sets the tone for Chirnside Park’s culture.
According to Cellante, Stephens would have reached this milestone earlier if it was not for her many sacrifices made off field.
“An on-field leader, who has a lot of voice and you can always hear her,” Cellante said.
“Always in the huddle will say something really memorable.
“Everyone knows ‘Skip’ for her well-known line ‘Put em’ in the dirt!’, and she is the first one to be motivational, make sure you go on and put em’ in the dirt (and) that’s what she’s most well known for.
“It’s more than just a game for ‘Skip’.
“There was a stage there where ‘Skip’ thought she was not going to make her 100 games this year, because the team she is playing in kept forfeiting and she was devastated.
“She’s going to kill me if she hears me saying this, 100 games is a big deal but nothing compared to what she has given the Chirnside Park women’s and Chirnside Park Football Club as a whole.
“It’s a huge milestone, the second to achieve it now at Chirnside Park, it’s a small part of what she has given to Chirnside.
“Massive milestone for a player to get to 100 games, women’s footy has not even been around for that long.
“Many girls now play footy, because it’s a social thing but ‘Skip’ lives and breathes it.
Stephens intended to retire at the end of last season after she finished coaching, but footy drew her in to play again.
Her teammates and the club as a whole do not want Stephens to ever leave.
“’Skip’ is a foundation Chirnside Park women’s (player) and she is always going to be the epitome of the Chirnside Park women’s culture,” Cellante said.
“If she ever did retire it will continue on the way that it has and it’s a massive testament to her for that culture she has created.
“We’re a team that is known to be good sportswomen, humble and we work hard, and all of those key values have instilled in the club by players like ‘Skip’.”
