Kelli Halling is currently the Secretary of Balgownie Juniors and has been in that role since 2016.
Prior to this, Kelli was the Referee’s Coordinator and has also been the Canteen Roster Coordinator since 2012.
Kelli has been involved with the club since her eldest child started playing for Balgownie back in 2005.
“All three of my kids have played for Balgownie for at least 10 years and have all been referees. We have worked together as a team alongside a great committee,” she said.
In 2012, Kelli saw a need to better the canteen organisation and it wasn’t until she approached the club and offered to prepare and communicate the canteen roster where she than began her involvement.
“I like to give back where I can, particularly where I have the skills to do,” she said.
“I think communication is essential and I try to keep our team officials, and players/parents generally up to date with what is going on at the club and with their competitions.
“This has been especially important over the last few years with COVID-19, as well as the unfortunate wet weather events this year.”
Not only does Kelli love being involved with Balgownie but she has also made several positive changes within the club.
One of the key initiatives that herself and the committee implemented in the recent years was to purchase a female strip for all female players to wear.
“This was to make sure the females felt more comfortable in a strip suited more for them, rather than wearing the same as the what the males were wearing,” Kelli said.
Kelli believes that being involved in the committee; you are part of a community that has the same aim.
She feels that it is a great way to get to know more people, both in and out of the committee and provides an avenue to give back to the sport.
Kelli also feels that the female involvement off the pitch is just as important as it is on the pitch.
“We need to break down the perception that football is a dad’s sport and netball is a mum’s sport. As clubs, we need to make it more inviting for anyone, both male or female, to come along to committee meetings and see what happens behind the scenes,” she said.
“If you have a skill set that could be useful to your club committee, I encourage you to step forward and see how you could help.
“At the end of the day, if we didn’t have people volunteering their time to assist, our kids wouldn’t be playing football.”
Over the years, Kelli has really enjoyed her time with the Balgownie juniors and has had a positive impact on all players and committee members, on and off the pitch.
Story by Alison Dinh, on Twitter @alisondinh_