Bartram juggling motherhood and coaching and loving it

But the dual roles don't come without its challenges.

With twin daughters Luna and Dustie just shy of seven months, as well as Bartram being a single mother, life is pretty hectic in the Bartram household.

But Bartram says she wouldn’t have it any other way, enjoying her time at Macorna Football Netball Club this season and the outlet netball brings her.

“It was seriously the best thing for me to be able to go and do netball,” she said.

“I knew straight away it was the right decision, even though I did toss and turn in my mind whether I should still follow the dream of being an A grade coach or the dream of being a mum.

“But I was determined to do the two of them together.

“It has been the best outlet and they’ve been the best people. On Saturdays, I have a million people who help me out while I coach.”

A former Echuca United premiership coach and captain in under 17 and C reserve respectively, Bartram accepted her first A grade appointment at the Tigers at the beginning of 2020.

It was a long time coming for Bartram, who has plenty of experience coaching at both the senior and junior level at United and her home town of Cohuna.

“I was also on the bench with Drysey (Lisa Drysdale) in A grade (in 2019) and it was probably there I thought I do have the knowledge to do A grade; she was asking my input and I was speaking in huddles,” Bartram said.

“So it was her that pushed me along, and said ‘you’re ready to coach A grade'.

“She’s a mum as well, so I was asking her if she thought I could do it and the overwhelming response from all the United girls – because we’re all still close friends – they all said you’d be mad if you don’t do it.”

Before accepting the job at Macorna though, Bartram didn’t yet know what was to come, with the COVID-19 pandemic and her pregnancy setting up a fairly interesting 2020.

“COVID-19 was quite hard; I hadn’t met anyone (at Macorna) yet, but I still tried to coach as best I could while in lockdown,” Bartram said.

“Then in April I found out I was pregnant with twins and decided I would continue to still coach.

“I’m a single mum and was contemplating whether I could still make that work.

“It was a non-season though, and I didn’t have to travel, which was a blessing while I was pregnant.”

Turning her attention towards the 2021 season, Bartram utilised the time to her advantage, and when Luna and Dustie were born prematurely just after Christmas, the new mum found herself recruiting in the most unusual of circumstances.

“I was trying to recruit players while I was still in hospital,” she said.

“And I was on bed rest for the month leading up to it, so I had lots of time to be on my phone.

“I finally got to come home near the end of January, then pre-season started first week of February.”

Recruitment though went as well as Bartram could have hoped.

“It was funny. Obviously heading back closer to home (Cohuna), I have a lot of connections,” Bartram said of the 25-minute distance between Macorna to Cohuna.

“I’ve been able to recruit 50 percent of the current senior playing list. I was ringing or messaging anyone who I had good connections with,” she said.

“The response was really good. And it all started to fall into place.

“The club's never had numbers like what we’ve had this year.”

With the help of her sister Penny, Bartram said she was able to juggle pre-season training with having newborns at home.

“My sister came to live with me for the first three months,” Bartram said.

“So, when I was well enough, I was able to go out and do pre-season and conduct trials while my sister stayed home with the babies.”

That help, and the help of what Bartram calls a "village of people" has continued to allow the mum to do what she does.

“One of my premiership teammates from United, Bobbi Aitken, has the girls every Thursday night,” Bartram said.

“At the start I was like, I either want you to play for me or babysit, what are you going do?

“She was adamant she was going to retire, so without her coming and having the girls - because it's really five hours by the time I get to Macorna, train and come home - I would have no hope of doing any of it.

“And it's the same thing when I get there on a Saturday; we’ve got a little pram squad, it's unreal. As soon as I get there someone says who has the girls while you’re coaching? Without that, there is no way I could do it.”

This culture of supporting each other and other mothers is what Bartram loves most about her new club.

“Macorna is beautiful in that mums bring their kids to training, so it's nothing to see five or six kids on the sideline pushing a pram, or a mum breastfeeding on the sidelines in between training,” she said.

“I have not really seen that at a club before.

“In these small communities, if we don't get the mums back playing, first, you are short of players. But also, that return to sport is so important for the mums - they love the support and outlet it gives them.

“And it’s such a good positive environment for kids to be around sport and these strong women.”

Set about lifting the every-struggling Macorna off the bottom of the Golden Rivers League, Bartram is enjoying the challenges of being a new coach.

But there is no doubt the season has been hard, with COVID-19 restrictions continuing to stifle momentum, while an Achilles injury to key United recruit Erin Delahunty was also a blow. Bartram was confident Delahunty would have “ripped open the competition”.

“That little lockdown half-way through, that was really hard for the club,” Bartram remembers.

“I was trying everything to keep the players motivated, but you could feel within the group, everyone thought that could be it.

“And because I’m the head coach, I’m in charge of all the coaches.

“So between the three of us, I said to them ‘we’re the first people to coach through a pandemic. Be kind to the players and yourself. We’ve got to try and keep it fun and our fingers on the pulse of the group’, because mental health really does kicks in.”

Last weekend Bartram and Macorna was meant to face off against the competition's best in Murribit before the current Victorian lockdown was implemented.

When the season does resume, and setting the goal of finishing as strongly as possible, Bartram's hope is to win two of the last three games as the Tigers seek out a third win of the season.

“Macorna was on the bottom of the ladder in every grade for probably the past 10 years,” she said.

“It’s a great club as in it's very social and the people are like family, but they were really wanting this success.

“We kicked off with the best pre-season. We’ve only had the two wins, but we’ve lost most of our games by less than 20 points.

“I spoke to the girls about how it's not just about this year, it's about where we’re going over the next three years.

“So if this year we get off the bottom of the ladder, maybe next year we make finals, then maybe the third we’re in the top two.

“It's sticking together and knowing as a group that is where we are heading and encouraging people to come out and play for us.

“It’s about making all three grades stronger, so we can all be competitive.”