Manly United is life for Phoebe Gilbane
Phoebe Gilbane has been starring for Manly United in recent weeks of the National Premier Leagues Women’s season, already making the competition’s Team of the Week four times in the last five matches.
The wing back is very grateful for the personal recognition as defenders miss out on the praise that often goes to their teammates further up the pitch.
“It’s always something that you like to get, and it’s nice, especially as a defender because it’s hard to get recognised”
Gilbane is Manly through and through, having played for the club since the under 15’s, she now not only stars for their First-Grade side each week but also coaches the Under 15 girls and helps with the SAP program.
Not only is Gilbane very busy with Manly United, but she is currently temporary teaching 2 days a week whilst she is in the final year of a teaching degree at university.
The 22-year-old admits that she is constantly around the club but says she wouldn’t want anything else because the of the excellent people and culture that they have on the Northern Beaches.
“I think I’ve spent all my birthdays at Cromer Park!
“The club is just amazing. I think we’ve got a really good club dynamic, where all the staff or players, as well as through SAP and youth leagues, they’re all supportive of each other.”
Gilbane says the support that first grade gets at their games with the youth leagues staying to watch every week is a sign of the development pathways the club has built.
“If you look at our first and reserve grade, we’ve got a lot of our Manly juniors, which you don’t see at a lot of the clubs.”
As a coach, she is very passionate about the development at the club, and says she loves getting to see the girls improve and inspire them to be better players.
She has her under 15’s team playing very well, currently sitting in 4th place on their table after a couple of wins in a row.
Despite Gilbane’s great form, Manly are struggling to get results so far this season, which sees them in 10th spot on the ladder currently.
Although they haven’t had a win since round 4, the defender believes the results aren’t reflective of the team’s performance.
“I think we’re starting to put the performance together, but just not getting the results, which is very frustrating.
“But I feel like, if we get one result, they’ll just come through I’ll be worried once we get that for the rest of the competition, because once we get our confidence back, it’s just going to flow.”
Like many National Premier Leagues Women’s players, Gilbane’s next career goal is to get a professional opportunity with an A-League Women’s club, and given her reliable form, this is likely to come sooner rather than later.
-By Annabelle Banfield
