This Sunday March 8 the Central Coast Mariners will take on Melbourne City at Central Coast Stadium that coincides with International Women’s Day. Kick off is scheduled for 3:00pm, so bring the lady in your life along to Central Coast Stadium and say thank you to the beautiful women who are crucial to the beautiful game.
International Women’s Day is a worldwide tradition that sees men honouring their mothers, wives, girlfriends, and colleagues – and on Sunday we are celebrating the unwavering involvement of Sharon Baxter, the Central Coast Mariners Football Business Manager.
Sharon has pledged her heart and soul to the Mariners for almost nine years, making her one of the longest serving staff members in the Hyundai A-League. Add that to her 14 years of committee member service with Terrigal Football Club and you can understand why she is a huge part of football on the Central Coast.
A mum to three children: Emily, Ryan & Luke – Sharon also acts as a mother to the Mariners playing squad; she is a prime example of how valuable women are to our game and goes above and beyond her job title on a day to day basis, which goes as far as housing newly arriving players in the spare room of her own home.
‘Shaz’ as she is affectionately known, started her football journey well before the existence of the Mariners. Her commitment to the game began at age 17 when she managed her little sister’s team and raised funds for her to travel to Portugal, Japan and the United States after she was selected in the Australian Futsal team.
Ask any Mariners player past or present and they will all tell you that ‘Shaz’ will do anything for her players who are more than just ‘players’ to her.
“When a player comes along to the club at first they are just a name on a piece of paper. Then they arrive and you watch these players grow into a part of the Mariners family and that’s what I love most about working in football – we are all one big family even though we have players coming and going. Saying goodbye is the saddest part,” Baxter said.
Beyond the Mariners, since joining Terrigal Football club’s committee ‘Shaz’ admitted that at first she was reluctant to take the presidency role (which she has now held for 8 years) because she assumed it should be a man.
Since taking on the role as president there are now more female committee members at Terrigal and she wishes that she had taken the role as president even earlier.
“As a female in football I think I can get away with a little bit more than the men sometimes. At first I thought being a female in football was a disadvantage but I quickly learnt how accepting the football community is to everyone,” Baxter said.
Sunday March 8, 2015
Match: Central Coast Mariners vs. Melbourne City – Hyundai A-League 2014/15 Round 20
Venue: Central Coast Stadium, Gosford
Kick-off: 3:00pm (AEDT)
Tickets: Click here to purchase
Television: Live on FOX SPORTS 505
Radio: Live on 96.3 Coast FM & ABC Grandstand
Twitter: Join the match conversation using #CCMvMCY #CCMFC
