Our first Lady who Leagues

A new initiative we are starting this week is featuring fabulous women who love their NRL. It doesn't matter what role they have in our game, be it professionally, as a family member of a child who plays NRL or just as a fan of our wonderful game.

Our first Lady who Leagues is Rochelle. Rochelle is a mum, marketer, South Sydney Rabbitoh supporter and a lover of social media with a healthy ego.

This is her story:
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I'm in a unique position as a Lady in League – I'm a mum of 4 – 3 of my kids have or still play in the NRL. One has moved on to become a ref, whilst we lost our princess to Netball 2 years ago.

Mr Football is 6 and plays for the Rouse Hill Rhinos – he lives and breathes football – from his own game right through to his beloved South Sydney Rabbitohs.

Sitting on the sidelines watching him – I cringe at the tackles, I celebrate his dummy half runs and we currently are sitting on 10 tries for this season. He is Mr Football – he celebrates every try like a First Grade Player in the NRL – he is a team boy and loves his mates.

His only fault during his last game was he blew a kiss to his grandma after scoring – we reminded him that Adam Reynolds or Sam Burgess wouldn’t do that !

He practices in the backyard all the time – flicking passes to himself. Commentating his moves or kicking goals on the plumbing pipe goal posts his dad made up for him.

He records every NRL game on Foxtel, knows every player, every stat and knows how many points each team are away from his beloved South Sydney Rabbitohs.

My 14 year old son is now a referee in the Parramatta District, encouraged to be a referee to keep him in the game was one of the best moves we could have made. He has flourished as a referee and has earnt the respect of the coaches, players and especially the parents.

It is the hardest thing being a mum on the sideline with your son who is refereeing, the parents can at times be quite outspoken, in steps my 5 year old daughter to remind the parents that it is her big brother out there and they should watch what they say.

I believe he has a true future in the game as a referee and he takes his job very seriously – so much so that he even referees the games on Foxtel.

My 8 year old daughter was a foundation member of the Princesses of League at the Kellyville Bushrangers – 2 years ago we were experiencing our 15 minutes of fame, some would argue we had more like 12 months of fame – it was one hell of a ride and to this day her photo with Nathan Hindmarsh still pops up in the NRL marketing material – we really should have negotiated image rights on that one.

So you see, im a mum of a player and a referee and I sit on the sidelines with two very different perspectives – it makes for an interesting dinner conversation and provides us with many of life’s joys – seeing your kids out on the field enjoying life.

 

 

 

 

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Rochelle, we think you are fabulous. Thank you for your contribution to the game that we all love so much.

If you want to be our next Lady who Leagues, make sure you submit a story by next Friday to be featured on the site.

Love,

@LadiesWhoLeague