Family passion lives on as mum follows dream
MEAGHAN Cook, granddaughter and niece of two AFL footballers, says she can finally live a dream that was never tangible as a kid. The mum of three boys, pictured, is one of Ocean Grove’s inaugural senior women’s footballers. But football runs much deeper through her veins than simply being a new hobby. “My grandfather was Jack Cassin, he played for Essendon when it was the VFL, and my uncle was John Cassin, who played for Essendon and North Melbourne (and Fitzroy),” Cook said. “He was part of the 1977 Grand Final they (North) won.” But despite the instant family connection to Aussie rules, Cook, 36, decided pretty quickly that the maledominated culture was something she didn’t want to be a part of. “We’re a massive footballing family and always go to the Anzac Day clash, but I’ve never really got involved in it because I haven’t liked the way women were always on the sidelines,” she said. “I never liked the amount of money that was thrown at AFL footballers, especially when seeing a lot of women’s sport fall by the wayside. “I just didn’t understand why our country and our culture was centralised around one male-dominated sport.
“I didn’t like a lot of the male culture, the drinking culture. I didn’t like going to AFL games, the sort of abusive nature of the crowd.
“But when I started going to AFLW games, it was completely different.
“It was a supportive environment. People on the sidelines were just so encouraging and so warming.”
Despite a clear sense of pride in what the Cassins achieved in football, Cook, a photographer and baker, said she never really dreamt about following in their footsteps.
“It honestly wasn’t a dream because we weren’t allowed to,” she said.
“The dream was stopped before it could even start. It was against the rules for girls to play football growing up, it was that black and white. To see the likes of AFLW being played and gain traction, that’s when the dream became reignited.”
While Cook admitted she hadn’t been aware how far the AFL had progressed culturally, she hoped her sons would grow up to believe female footballers were the norm.
“Hopefully to them, that’s the norm growing up, not, ‘Oh, mum’s playing a men’s sport’,” she said.
“I’d like them to see me as a footballer, not a women’s footballer.
“So much country football is about the women cooking the food after training and things, so to be seen not just as an accessory to the game but part of the game has been so good.
“Women — and I think mothers — need to look after themselves and I’m a much happier and healthier person when I’m out and being social and athletic.
“Then I can come back and be a better mother.”