Rouse Hill Teen Nikki Wins Coaching Honours

Nikki O’Neill, the first Under-9 coach for Northwest Lightning AFL club, is already making her mark, winning the Female Rookie Coach of the Year and the Young Leader of the Year (NSW) awards.

The Rouse Hill local won the coveted Young Leader of the Year award for her wonderful commitment, leadership and generosity. “It was so different from any other sport I’d played and I just fell in love with it from the start,” said Nikki, 17.

“I also had a really good coach in my first year so I knew how important that role was, I actually got the coach’s award at the end of it. In playing, I learned the value of positivity and resilience and I thought that was important to pass on to other girls in the club so when the opportunity came up, I put my hand up for it.

The biggest lesson would be, probably, to always try to build a relationship with every kid. If you don’t have a relationship with the kid, they won’t want to listen to you or, like, won’t want to respect you in any way, when you try to coach them on-field. I think they really like to maybe have a younger woman around them, someone they can see themselves in and look up to, rather than say a dad.

“It’s important for me to give back. At Northwest Lightning, so many good things have come to me ever since I started playing there. I would tell anyone, especially young women considering volunteering, that they should do it, because it’s just volunteering a really small thing … but it can have a really big impact on their life and your life, and I would tell them that they should definitely do it.”

The Northwest Lightning was formed in 2016 as a joint venture between Westbrook Bulldogs, Hornsby-Berowra Eagles and Pennant Hills Junior Demons with all-girl teams from 7-17 years.