International Women's Day: More than a game

The coach of the Bass Coast Breakers football team, Bianca Hellmuth-Pask, has been involved with football for decades.

Over the years, she seen a lot of changes to women’s football, both on field and off. But the path to pursuing her passion in the male dominated sport hasn’t always been easy.

In primary school, Bianca was just one of the boys at the local Little League.

Her dad used to take her down to play football and “everything was fine”.

“As a child I grew up not knowing any different,” Bianca said.

But when she moved to high school, things started to change.

She was the only girl in her school who played football and other players at the Little League were starting to question why she was there.

She still vividly remembers a young boy at her school telling her she shouldn’t be playing.

“It was a defining moment for me.”

And a devastating one.

“I was playing a sport that I loved playing, and didn’t feel I was allowed to. There wasn’t an option, there was no women’s team, so I suppose I believed it. There were physical and mental barriers back then,” she said.

Her love of the game kept her involved, taking on a coaching role at Little League, but on the field, she had to swap football for softball.

It wasn’t until she left school that Bianca found her way back to football, through a chance discovery.

“In my early 20s I was working for Woollies and moved to St Kilda. The woman’s football team trained at the oval behind work.”

The rest, as they say, is history. She joined the training sessions and a few years later started playing for the St Kilda Sharks.

Stints playing for North Heidelberg and Melbourne Uni followed.

During that time, she witnessed the Victorian Women’s Football League (VWFL) blossom.

“When I first started playing, there were about six teams in all of the VWFL. By the end of my playing career, there were approximately 15 clubs, some with three teams, and there were three divisions.”

She also witnessed the first women’s football exhibition match (17 years ago) and many of her fellow players were instrumental in the foundation of the League.

Watching the progress of women’s footy over the years, she thinks now society is ready to fully embrace a female league.

“You hear commentators talking about women’s football, and for some people, it’s better to support their club’s women’s team than the men’s!

“It’s all moving in the right direction.”

When she moved to Phillip Island three years ago, Bianca was initially approached to play for the Bass Coast Breakers before being offered the head coach role for the 2020 season.

While it’s still challenging for women to pursue their football dreams, Bianca thinks the road has gotten easier.

“The avenues are there now, but as girls get into their teens, I see them questioning whether they should be playing football. It’s a mental issue,” she said, noting that while it’s an accepted part of a man’s world that they play sport, it is not always the same for women.

She said if her players drift away, she makes sure they know the door is always open for them to return.

And she’s a passionate believer in the benefits of football for women, on and off the field.

“There’s such competitiveness and drive in football and you can use that in your everyday life, that confidence.

“When you go for the ball, you have to be 100 per cent committed and you can take that into your work, and your relationships.”

Bianca believes the expansion of women’s football will create positive change for women in every aspect of their lives.

“The self confidence and belief you get from football changes the way women react in other spheres of the world.”

Back on the local field, the team is training twice a week and Bianca’s looking forward to the 2021 season, after Covid saw the 2020 season put on hold.

“I haven’t officially coached a game yet,” Bianca admitted.

“But I think I’m more passionate about it now then I was back then.”