Since the day she arrived at Sunshine Heights Football Club, Sharyn Grima has never been afraid to get her hands dirty.
In 1983, she registered her sons for the juniors and volunteered to take on the team manager role.
Since then she’s been a member of the club committee, a representative to the league, the club’s delegate at tribunal hearings, an administrator, treasurer and, most recently, canteen manager, which is still her role.
Grima also broke new ground for football in the west when in the 1990s she became the first female president of a Western Region Football League club. “I think we were on a downhill slide at that stage,” she recalled. “[But] I had a good bunch of people working with me and we managed to get back on track.”
Thanks to Grima and a loyal band of volunteers, Sunshine Heights went on to become a force in the WRFL. The Dragons won the division 2 flag in 2008 and were promoted to the league’s elite echelon of teams. And despite working with a limited budget, the club stayed there for four years.
Grima recalls that achievement as one of many highlights in her time with the Dragons. Also near the top of her list is the under-11 premiership that one of her sons won in his first season of football.
After being relegated twice in the past five years, Sunshine Heights is now preparing for a new test as it drops to division 3.
But far from being deterred, Grima says everyone at the club is looking forward to the challenge of returning to the top tier.
“The year we won division 2 and went up to division 1 was amazing,” she said. “We stayed there four years, which was great. But, of course, money becomes the object and you can’t afford to pay players so we went on the downhill slide.
“Being in division 3 is exciting because it’s challenging. A lot of guys have come back to the club and are all looking forward to playing in that division.”
For her outstanding commitment to community football, Grima has been made a life member of the WRFL.
She was selected for the honour late last year and will be officially recognised at the competition’s season launch next month.
Grima said it was a huge thrill. “When you start doing these things you don’t do it for recognition. And you don’t really think about how long you’ve been doing it.
“Every year I say, ‘This is it’, but it’s a passion for me and I just keep going.”
