A former Bluedogs junior player, who returned to Bangalow after years away, Gigi Curley (Tsang) stepped into the club’s presidency this season, the first time in the club’s history that there has been an all-women executive. 

For a club with around 400 playing members, from MiniRoos under 5s through to senior teams, keeping everything running requires an enormous effort. Add registered coaches and volunteers and the Bluedogs community grows to almost 500 people, making it one of the larger football clubs in the region.

“I don’t think people realise how big the club actually is,” Gigi says. “It’s a lot of games, a lot of people, a lot of parents, a lot of communication and then a lot of juggling resources as well.” Luckily, her experience in managing operations – not to mention parenting two young children – gives Gigi the perfect skill set for coordinating the efforts of one of the biggest soccer clubs in the region. “It’s definitely been a learning curve,” she says. “I didn’t realise how much work there is involved.”

But in true Bangalow style, Gigi hasn’t been working alone. Running the club has really been a team effort, she says. One of the highlights of her first year has been the support of a very active club committee, with members (65% of whom are women) bringing skills and experiences to the running of the club. “It’s a really good mix of people from different backgrounds and we can all contribute in different ways,” she says. That support has been particularly important in a season Gigi describes as one of change and transition.

For a number of reasons, this year is the first time in recent times, the Bluedogs did not field teams in the upper tiers of the men’s competition, while the women’s team endured a difficult start to the season following injuries, player changes and a disrupted coaching arrangement. Things came good towards the end of the season, however, with consecutive wins for the women in August. 

The executive is taking a longer view, developing strategies to nurture players and reinforce the club’s culture. “It’s a period of change, transition, rebuilding that culture of the club, working with our juniors and bringing them through into the seniors,” she says. “We’re looking at a three-to-five-year plan.”

Central to that rebuilding is a goal to make soccer accessible across ages, abilities and levels of competitiveness. The recent World Cup has reignited a love of soccer in people of all ages, and while Gigi would like to see Bluedogs teams competing at the highest levels again, she is equally enthusiastic about social and lower-grade football. “I’d love to field a women’s lower grade team of beginners who just want to play and have fun,” she says.

The season has presented challenges off the pitch too. Bangalow’s fields sit beside Byron Creek, making wet weather an ever-present issue. The March flash flooding damaged the club’s main goals, which the Bluedogs are now raising money to replace. Despite a particularly wet season across the Northern Rivers, Gigi says careful management helped Bangalow keep its grounds available more often than many clubs in the region. 

Even when the ground is playable, there is work to be done. Line marking becomes difficult when the grass is too wet, while mowing schedules and repeated rain create a constant juggling act. 

But the maintenance doesn’t stop in the off-season. Gigi reels off a long list of volunteer tasks that need to be completed in the spring and summer, in the lead-up to player registrations opening again in February. The goalmouths need topsoil and dressing, equipment must be returned, a stocktake is done, the grounds need attention and the list goes on. But it’s not all work and no fun. The junior presentations happen on the fields in September, while the seniors get to celebrate at the Bangalow Pub, which this year came on board as a sponsor of the club. “The hotel has been really great stepping in this year and supporting us,” she says, adding that the club was also indebted to support from The Myofunctional Space, HPS Plumbing, McGrath Northern Rivers, Jarrett Excavations, Butcher Baker, Bangalow Cellars, Jamesons Strata and The General Store, Bangalow. 

Longer term, Gigi hopes to work with Byron Shire Council to improve facilities at the grounds, including the ageing change rooms and canteen. “They haven’t changed since I was a junior! They’re exactly the same,” she laughs. 

This year, the club also worked with sponsor Black Cockatoo Retreat to assist families who might otherwise struggle with children’s registration fees. The initiative, led by club secretary India Reynolds is something Gigi would like to develop into an ongoing community fund: “We want to keep the fees as low as we can so that everyone can participate,” she says. 

“The Bluedogs have always been a big part of this community,” she says. “We really want to have the community involved, coming down to games on the weekends, but also giving back as well and supporting the people who live here.” 

Gigi knows firsthand what the club can mean to local kids and families. “I grew up in Bangalow. Soccer was everything,” she says. “I’ve been fortunate enough to go away, have a great career, come back and be able to move back to Bangalow and live here. I want to give back to my community.” 

While the club had a mixed season on the field, for Gigi, strengthening the connection between the Bluedogs club and the community of Bangalow has been the winning goal.