Mother earns top coaching award
Move over Ross Lyon and Adam Simpson, WA football has a new coaching monarch.
Michelle Cowan is not a 236-game AFL veteran as a player and coach like Lyon.
Nor is she a dual AFL premiership champion like Simpson.
But she was crowned last night as the State's Australian Rules football coach of the year, as part of the 2014 Sports Industry Coaches and Officials Awards.
The Palmyra mother of two works in South Fremantle's football department and will coach Melbourne in a women's match against the Western Bulldogs at the MCG on June 29.
Last month, she was part of Melbourne's match-day coaching team under Paul Roos for a win over Richmond and also led WA's youth girls side as they became the first team outside Victoria to claim a national title at any level.
Cowan's award came in a week when St Kilda's Peta Searle became the AFL's first female coach.
A talented athlete in her youth, Cowan honed her skills growing up in Kambalda.
"I was always kicking the footy in the back yard with my brother … whatever opportunity I had to teach him how to kick properly, I took," she laughed.
But Cowan's career is no joking matter and she remains optimistic a woman will one day secure a senior coaching position.
"Never say never," she said.
"It could happen and who knows when, but I'd love it to be me."
