Emma creates history as first female president of the Bushrangers
Beechworth will have its first female president in its 163-year history after Emma Carey was recently elected to replace outgoing president Adam Fendyk.
Carey will share the role with Dan Cooper with the pair co-presidents.
She will juggle the presidency alongside working full-time as a Workforce Capability Manager for Venita and being a mother of three young girls.
Whilst Carey is making history as the first female president for the club, she said that it was not ever at the forefront of her mind when taking on the position.
“I’m excited for the challenge ahead,” Carey said.
“It’s not something that I set out to do but I guess being on the committee for the past three years, I’ve had a really good mentor in Adam (Fendyk).
“I really respect the way Adam conducts himself in his professional life and he has had a big influence on me for the past couple of years.
“I’ve used some of the things he taught me in my career as well.
“I’ve found those skills that you learn being on a committee also translate to working in the professional world.
“I guess I’ve always liked a challenge but I was nervous when I was thinking about taking on the role and asked a few people around the club what they thought I would be like as president.
“The feedback I got was that you are only as good as your committee.. which I agree 100 percent.
“We are fortunate to have a really strong committee at Beechworth which is one of the main reasons that I decided to take the role on.”
Carey revealed that the club failed to fill the role of president at its annual general meeting before holding a special meeting.
“Adam rang me just before he was about to get on a plane to India before the special meeting and told me that Dan Cooper who is one of the club’s major sponsors was interested in being president but had never previously been on a committee,” she said.
“He suggested that Dan and I could be a good fit as co-presidents.
“To cut a long story short, I guess the rest is history.
“I knew I couldn’t commit to the job by myself with the kids and a full-time job but being co-president alongside Dan really appealed to me.
“I guess the biggest advantage is having the two sets of skills.
“I’m not too sure how many other clubs do something similar but Adam got the idea from Wangaratta who have co-presidents in Jon Henry and Elleyn O’Brien.
“I know Adam was getting a bit burnt out as president in the end because it’s a big job for one person.”
Carey was born in Myrtleford and first became involved with Beechworth after she met her husband, Brayden, in 2009 while he was playing for the Bushrangers.
Brayden played more than 200-matches for the club, is a previous coach and is also on the committee and has taken on the role as Football Operations Manager.
Emma said it was a proud moment for her personally to become the first female president at Beechworth.
“It didn’t really occur to me that I was the first female president until someone mentioned it to me,” she said.
“I just naturally thought that the club would have had a female president previously because there have been some fantastic female leaders at our club.
“I was a bit blown away but having three young daughters, I was proud to show them that you can achieve anything you want if you are willing to do the work.
“I’ve never played netball since arriving at Beechworth but I love that community spirit of the town.
“It has been a real eye opener for me on how club’s operate behind the scenes.
“Yes, you have got the game every Saturday during the season but it’s what happens after the game, before… that’s the part that I enjoy the most.”
Reference: The Border Mail (December 8, 2024)