HAVING played the game since she was seventeen and joined the East Brunswick Scorpions, Debbie Lee has achieved many monumental feats in the game.
The founder of the St Albans Spurs way back in 1993, and the President of the Victorian Women’s Football League, this Sunday Debbie reaches another milestone, playing her 250th game when the Spurs take on East Burwood at St Albans.
She is only the second person to ever reach this milestone, and says, ‘Two hundred and fifty games is a culmination of a number of things - it represents the people I have met, the club I formed, the lessons I have learnt and the challenges I have faced.’
Debbie has been part of a changing game for women, and has played a major role in creating a thriving competition to this day, not least in her ongoing role as President of the VWFL. In another connection, the Club is also proudly sponsoring the VWFL, giving an extra dimension to Debbie’s involvement in the game, and supporting girls and women involved in football.
In a lengthy career across all facets of the game, there is no shortage of highlights and honours for Debbie, all of which represent the progress of women’s football for her in her ongoing endeavours, rather than individual honours.
There are two Debbie Lee Medals, paying tribute to her amazing contribution - one is through the AFL, which is for the best on ground medal for the AFL Women’s National Championships, while the VWFL has the Debbie Lee Medal for the best first year player in the competition.
It is also tribute to Debbie’s longevity in the game - as she says, ‘I have been playing footy more than half my life. It has been an enormous slice of my life, and has shaped me into the person I am today.’
Now, in her role as Community Manager at Melbourne, following time at the Western Bulldogs, Debbie is even more at the heart of the game, fostering the wider population, and taking programs such as Read Like a Demon and Digital Demons to the City of Casey and beyond.
Hers is a busy and full life, and, as she says, ‘I have three families…my family that I’m born out of, my family at the Spurs, and my family at Melbourne.’
There is no doubt that every member of these three families will be wishing Debbie
well when she runs out to play her 250th game this weekend.
