Lara Regan has had quite the year.
The 11-year-old was named Stockton Sharks volunteer of the year, having coached a team, worked in the canteen and refereed games.
Asked about her efforts volunteering, Lara said "I'll always be happy to jump in and ref or help out in the canteen".
The youngster also played for Broadmeadow Magic in the girls' under 11s, winning best and fairest.
She coached Stockton under 9s, the team her sister Taylor played for.
When Lara was initially asked about coaching her sister's team, she said "I'll need a clipboard and a whistle, Mum".
"It was interesting because there were different skills I had to learn and I had to get the players' focus," Lara said.
Lara gained some tips from Broadmeadow Magic's Damian Zane, who coached the men's first grade and girls' under 11s [his daughter is in the team].
Lara was also able to draw on the expertise of Magic's technical director for girls, Brad Jones.
Brad said Lara is "a little sponge".
"The big thing we spoke about was to make sure the kids were having fun," said Brad, who is doing a PhD at University of Newcastle on soccer coaching.
"Rather than tell the kids what they do wrong, we build on the things they do right.
"We challenge them and ask, can you now do this skill because you're so good at doing that skill."
Brad said "positive actions work".
"You still correct the skills, but in a positive way. You get the kids wanting to come back," he said.
Each week, Lara taught the girls "a skill or something they could use in the game".
"I would try and give the girls at least one compliment per training session and always cheer them on at games and give them praise at half-time and full-time. It was pretty fun to watch the team improve."
She took some of what she learned as a player and shared that with the under 9s.
Lara's mum Amy Stokoe said the girls looked up to Lara, given she was two years older and played for the Magic.
"Some of the shyer girls really found their confidence through Lara, which was one of the reasons it was so special," Amy said.
"They listened to what she said and did what she asked."
Amy said she and other parents of the Stockton team are shift workers, so the chance opened up for Lara to coach.
"Nobody said she couldn't, so she did.
"We sat down and talked about goals for the team, like passing to each other and trying to stay in position, remembering they were only under 9s."
Lara planned the training sessions to include a warm-up, skills and a game, while using a stopwatch to keep track of the time.
Lara also showed up at the Stockton club's coaching course.
"The club was so respectful. It's a small club that's gone from almost no girls to more than 50 per cent girls. They were club of the year this yea," Amy said.
"It was so lovely they let her have the space to coach a team.
"The president of the club, Lee Cummings, was coaching the under 10 girls. The two teams would train against each other."
Lara has been playing with the Broadmeadow Magic girls for two seasons.
"It's been really fun, getting to meet new girls and playing in a harder competition.
"I want to aim big, even though I don't expect it. If I get somewhere smaller, I'll still be really happy with it. But if I aim big I'll put in all the effort, even if I don't get that far."
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