We look forward to an amazing night for the launch of the UTFNC Season 2019. Together with our newly elected club president Craig Waters, the committee and coaching team invite you to join us to prepare for the season ahead, but also hear from some incredible guest speakers.
A small snippet of their careers thus far are detailed below, but to hear how their journeys became what they are today, you’ll have to be there on the 6th of April – at the AP Pavilion.
Chelsea Roffey
An innate interest in uncharted territory lured Roffey to the intrepid world of goal umpiring at age 17. Jumping head-first into waving the flags for gender equality, it became evident that playing to her strengths would enable her to thrive. In 2012, Roffey became the first woman to umpire an AFL Grand Final. But the true breakthrough was becoming the first umpire in history to be cheered (yes, cheered!) by the crowd ahead of that epic battle between Sydney and Hawthorn. Other highlights include having her face connect with the end of a trademark Drew Petrie spoil in Tasmania. She has umpired more than 200 games, 16 finals and sat on the bench as the emergency umpire at five AFL Grand Finals. Roffey has explored themes of culture, equality and performance in a range of forums; including as an invited guest of the APEC Women’s Leadership Forum in Beijing, the United Nations Status on the Commission of Women in New York.
Matt Burgan
Having an AFL media career spanning more than 20 years, and right through the biggest internet growth period of all time, Burgan has seen a lot in his career. His successes in the online world of AFL are immense. Burgan has worked with
afl.com.au and the Melbourne Football Club, which saw the club awarded the AFL best content award. In 2018, Matt was instrumental in reporting on Melbourne’s first finals series in 12 years.
Jen Phelan
After joining the army straight after school, Phelan suffered an injury and went on to reinvent herself as a journalist. In a male dominated field, she was able to push through to become one of the longest serving journalists with AFL Media. She has worked on the AFL Website for 15 years, and is also a regular feature on
afl.com.au ’s daily news show Footy Feed.
We look forward to seeing you there.
Comments 1