Football has always been engrained in Bron Gulden.

Growing up in central Victoria it was part of the weekly routine for her to be at the local football club with her parents.

Bron was the youngest of three girls and her Dad was heavily involved in the local football scene at Bridgewater Football and Netball club in the Loddon Valley League. Her Mum was always on hand for canteen duties.

“The whole community would come together on a Saturday,” Bron said.

“I started playing netball there when I was about five or six and followed my Dad around the footy from even earlier I think. I was always at his side at the football all the time.”

Back in the 1970s, watching the boys run around on the local field was as close to the action as Bron could get as girls simply did not play footy.

Despite never playing Australian Rules, the passion of the game has been in her blood as long as those childhood memories.

Fast forward half a century and the landscape is a very different one and Bron’s love and involvement in the sport is as strong as ever.

She proved age is all but a number when last month she made her football debut at 55-years of age for the UNSW Bulldogs reserves side in the AFL Sydney league.

“I have never enjoyed playing sport as much, finally realising that childhood dream at age 55 was incredible, Bron said.

Now a mother of four which includes three who have taken up the game, away from her cameos on the field, Bron’s football journey continues through her children.

This year the Gulden family enjoyed the ultimate elation when youngest child Errol made his AFL debut for the Sydney Swans and eldest, Adam was named Captain of the Sydney Swans VFL team.

“We have always given the kids a footy,” Bron said.

“A footy was always in my hand and the first thing I gave to the kids.”

Like all parents juggling kids sports, particularly in the junior years , it was not easy but Bron said they made it work.

“It was busy,” Bron said with a smile.

“We made it work, we would go from game to game to game. That's all part of the joy, following your kids around.”

Bron’s involvement in the game in Sydney was reignited when Errol and daughter Senna started playing junior football with the Maroubra Saints.

“The club was always looking for volunteers and I am not one to stand back and watch so I put my hand up to be involved,” Bron said.

“I did a coaching course and helped out on the sidelines for Senna’s team when she was in under 6s and it's snowballed from there.”

Senna, her middle child, plays for the UNSW Bulldogs in the AFL Sydney competition and like her Mum, is involved in coaching the QBE Sydney Swans Academy Youth Girls program.

“Once I realised I really enjoyed coaching, I continued to do a few courses,” Bron said.

“It doesn't define me but it's something I really enjoy and being able to work with the Academy in the Youth Girls program is really amazing.”

The 5-year old Bron who frequented the Bridgewater Football and Netball Club  is now living vicariously through the current generation of girls who have the opportunity she didn’t have.

“It's great that they can see a really, clearly defined pathway but it’s just great that the girls are now held on the same level and platform as the boys,” Bron said.

“That is what resonates with me and a lot of the other parents. They are given the same amount of opportunities now and we are finding that equality and I think that’s so important. 

“The standard is also really improving. The girls that are in the Academy that are U17 and U19, a lot of them have come through the  Youth Girls Academy program ranks so you now start to see that high level of sport.”

As Mum and coach, Bron now finds herself on the sidelines being that influential figure that her father was to her. She gets a lot of satisfaction seeing her kids playing the game she loves.

She takes particularly pride in the fact she is able to watch her daughter and her teammates play the game she was not able to when she was growing up.

“From watching Senna play, I love knowing that she is part of a team sport that she really enjoys, you stand on the sidelines and see how tough it is but the girls really love it."