Sal Rees
Sally Rees was an Australian rules footballer and official.
Widely considered a pioneer of women's football, Rees was the first person to play 200 games in the Victorian Women's Football League. She was a founding member of the Darebin Women's Sports Club, and was also involved with the Pascoe Vale Sports Club as a player and coach.
Career
The Fairfield Falcons Football Club was formed in 1987, but the club was on the verge of folding by 1990. A group of women wanting to play football, including Rees, revived the club under the same name and the Falcons returned to the Victorian Women's Football League in 1991. Rees became the club's president in 1994.In 1995, Rees caused controversy when she became the first women to nominate for the draft of the men's Australian Football League. Rees wanted to promote women playing football, and her nomination resulted in the AFL amending its draft rules to prevent such an incident happening again. The following year, she played in the Falcons' inaugural VWFL premiership.
Rees instigated the club's name change to "Darebin Falcons" in 2000. She became Darebin's playing coach in 2001 but stepped down from the role at the end of the 2002 VWFL season.
In 2005, Rees became the first person to play 200 games in the VWFL.