Sport
5 March, 2026
Shae to lead the Bloods
TERANG Mortlake has announced the historic appointment of its first senior women’s football coach, with talented sports star Shae DeFrancesco taking the reins.
DeFrancesco was involved as a player in the first ever Terang Mortlake under 18 team and is excited to take on the role.
“Yeah, it’s a big, big honour to be the first coach” she said.
“I'm absolutely stoked about it.”
Starting out her football career with the Deakin Sharks when they were based in Mortlake, DeFrancesco then made the move to Terang Mortlake.
“I started in the under 12s and under 14s boys’ teams with the Sharks and transitioned to Terang Mortlake in the under 14s, where I played my last year there as a female who could play.
“Then I started playing girls footy after that.”
DeFrancesco played for Cobden the following year and was then involved in the initial meetings of the Terang Mortlake under 18s.
“We got a team going and I played three years of that, combined with some time playing with the Rebels and V-Line Cup.”
The past few years has seen DeFrancesco line up for Geelong teams’ Geelong Amateurs and Modewarre.
“It’s been incredibly hard for me with work commitments to make trainings but I really enjoyed being able to play with my mates who live in Geelong as well.”
The excitement levels are high leading into Terang Mortlake’s first season of senior women’s competition.
“Everyone is just so pumped to get going, we're only three weeks out now from the first round.
“The under 18 girls have been training as well as the women, numbers are progressing along nicely.”
DeFrancesco represents the Simpson Cricket Club over summer, and on Monday night was crowned Cricketer of the Year in the Colac District Cricket Association’s women’s competition.
“I think I’ve coaxed a few of the Simpson girls to come out and play,” she said.
“There’s been a bit of interest from others about playing too since it was announced.”
Coaching has been a big part of DeFrancesco’s family.
“I was coached by my own dad back when I played with the boys in under 12s.
“My grandfather Tex (Geoff Stafford), was a pretty renowned footballer back in the day; my great aunt who was Tex’s sister-in-law, commented on the page and said “Tex would be so proud of you," and my grandma said the same thing; it’s a bit surreal at the moment.”
As for expectations for the season ahead, DeFrancesco said it was all about creating an enjoyable environment.
“It’s tough to know what you’re capable of as a brand new outfit, a lot of the girls that are training and have put in their interest to play this year have been girls that have played under 18s with the Terang Mortlake side so there’s a baseline of skills already.
“The emphasis this year is to have fun and keep coming back, play what you can, and just enjoy being able to play women’s footy because obviously that was something that was never around when I was a bit younger.”