At ANU WFC, football is about far more than a 90-minute match. For the club’s Division four squad, the Scooters, it’s about building a culture of connection, resilience and fun.
After tearing both her ACL and meniscus in a non-contact movement, coach Con McRae found herself sidelined from playing for an indefinite period of time. Determined to stay involved with her team, McRae put her hand up to fill the side’s vacant coaching role alongside fellow former Scooter Tash Malan.
“I wanted to stay involved with the team, and I thought I can give this a go,” McRae said. “Doing it with Tash and doing it with this squad has just been so much fun.”
Co-coach Malan, who balances playing in her own team in division three with coaching, echoed the sentiment. “It’s definitely hard from the time it takes,” she said, “but I love it so much, and I care about everyone here so much.”
McRae and Malan’s coaching philosophy is not about what happens with the scoreboard, but what happens across every other facet of the team. The coaching duo achieves this by prioritising encouragement over criticism and reinforcing the strong relationships the side has built in their years playing together.
“Our attitude sets the tone,” McRae explained. “So, no matter what we’re feeling, we try and come in with a nice peppy attitude so that the team can match it.”
The team’s name “Scooters” was settled on after years of name changes which evolved as the team itself did. “Scooters” was chosen by the team, who previously wore orange kits, as a reference to the orange electric scooters which litter the streets of Canberra.
As ANU WFC is the oldest and largest women’s football club in Canberra, they participate with more than one team in most of the Capital League divisions. For the Scooters, having another team from their club in the same division only adds to the togetherness, and the friendly competition that derby day brings.
“I actually really like it,” McRae said. “It’s such a nice challenge. Especially when you know them. We’ve known these guys for seven or eight years now”.
The Scooters utilise the size of ANU WFC at trainings by scheduling regular practice matches and merging training sessions with both their sister team in division four and ANU teams of other divisions. These sessions allow the Scooters to share ideas and tactics on the field but also build up connections and friendships off it.
The strong sense of connectedness across the club’s different teams and divisions provides a solid network for these footballers, with ANU WFC teams able to share talent between divisions on game days when squads are short on players. This network also extends beyond the winter season as many of the teams, including the Scooters, form social summer squads in the summer 9s comp run by ANU WFC each year.
An individual area of focus for the Scooters this season is injury prevention sessions before matches and trainings. These sessions specifically focus on prevention of ankle and knee injuries, as well as rehabilitation for players with pre-existing injuries and those who have picked up new injuries throughout the season.
“I tore my ACL and my meniscus” McRae recalled. “I can’t see that happen to anyone on my team. I’d hate that.”
The Scooters made the move up from division five to division four after bowing out in the semi-finals in 2023. While results are not the Scooters’ measure of success, they would still love nothing more than to return to finals football after narrowly missing out last season.
You can find the Scooters playing home matches at Willows Oval at 2pm on Sundays or find their team updates and match results on the ANU WFC social platforms.
Words: James Whybrow
