Michelle Cowan (born 1982) is an

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

coach who was the inaugural head coach of the

Fremantle Football Club The Fremantle Football Club, nicknamed the Dockers, is a professional Australian rules football club competing in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. The team was founded in 1994 to represent the port city of ...

in the

AFL Women's AFL Women's (AFLW) is Australia's national semi-professional Australian rules football league for female players. The first season of the league in February and March 2017 had eight teams; the league expanded to 10 teams in the 2019 season, 1 ...

competition (AFLW).

Early life

Cowan lived in

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

, before moving to

Kambalda, Western Australia Kambalda is a small mining town about from the mining city of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia, within the Goldfields. It is split into two townsites apart, Kambalda East and Kambalda West; and is located on the western edge of a giant salt ...

at the age of four.

Coaching career

After completing high school, Cowan contacted all sixteen AFL clubs to seek a coaching position. After no interest from fifteen of the clubs, agreed to meet with her and appointed her as a

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

n based talent scout at just seventeen years of age. At 21 years of age, Cowan became the first female assistant coach in the

West Australian Football League The West Australian Football League (WAFL) is an Australian rules football league based in Perth, Western Australia. The league currently consists of ten teams, which play each other in a 20-round season usually lasting from March to September, ...

(WAFL) when she became the midfield coach with the

West Perth Football Club The West Perth Football Club, nicknamed the Falcons, is an Australian rules football club located in Joondalup, Western Australia. West Perth competes in the West Australian Football League (WAFL) and WAFL Women's (WAFLW) and is the oldest exis ...

. She spent eight years with West Perth before moving to the

South Fremantle Football Club South Fremantle Football Club is an Australian rules football club based in Fremantle, Western Australia. The club plays in the Western Australian Football League (WAFL) and the WAFL Women's (WAFLW), commonly going by the nickname the ''Bulldogs ...

, also as the midfield coach. In 2013, she was appointed the senior coach of the

Melbourne Football Club The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Demons, is a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. It is based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, ...

's women's team during the women's exhibition series and in the same year she was named as the Football Woman of the Year. She coached Melbourne for all three years of the exhibition series - winning 5 out of the 6 matches and in February 2016, she became the first female assistant coach in Melbourne's history and the second in AFL history when she became the player development and welfare coach. Due to family reasons she left the club in July and became the inaugural coach of the Fremantle AFL Women's team. After entering the inaugural AFL Women's season as favourites to win the premiership, Fremantle failed to live up to the pre-season expectation with the AFL head of female football and junior development, Josh Vanderloo, stating the reason was most likely due to injuries to key players and losing elite Western Australian talent to other states as marquee signings. Cowan finished the season with one win, five losses and a draw. Fremantle finished the 2018 season with three wins, finishing seventh. Cowan was in discussions to extend her contract for the 2019 season, but instead chose to resign as head coach. Cowan was approached by West Coast Eagles after leaving Fremantle, who offered her a contract for the 2020 AFLW season. She is also currently the AFL’s High Performance Coach / Mentor for the Female Coach Academy.

Coaching statistics

:''Statistics are correct to the end of the 2018 season'' Melbourne Exhibition Games 5 Wins 1 Loss , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="font-weight:normal",

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

, , 7 , , 1 , , 5 , , 1 , , 14.3% , , 7 , , 8 , - ! scope="row" style="font-weight:normal",

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

, , 7 , , 3 , , 4 , , 0 , , 42.9% , , 7 , , 8 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=2, Career totals ! 14 ! 4 ! 9 ! 1 ! 28.6% ! colspan=2,

References

External links

Michelle Cowan's profile
from AustralianFootball.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Cowan, Michelle Living people 1983 births AFL Women's coaches Fremantle Football Club coaches South African emigrants to Australia