Meet the teenage volunteer changing lives on the field

Every Sunday morning, 16-year-old Sophie De Masi swaps being a football player for a coach.

Sophie De Masi began volunteering in 2024 at just 14 years old. She was first drawn to football by watching her brother playing and then watching it on television, and now it’s a passion for her both as a player and a volunteer.

She stepped forward as a coach to support children living with disability to play football through the Starkick All Abilities program. Starkick is an all-abilities football program that caters for boys and girls 5 to 17 years of age. Children who by circumstance or choice, who may be unable or unwilling to participate in a traditional sporting team environment, are provided the support and resources they require to enable them to participate and have fun.

As a volunteer. Sophie helps with setup, running drills and coaching. She sometimes works with children one on one who have particular needs.

“I started Starkick firstly as a program through my old school for doing Mercy Service and I continued that on because I fell in love with all the kids. Being included in something like this is just absolutely my favourite thing ever. Seeing the smiles on the kids’ faces is priceless.” said Sophie.

“Starkick is important to me so I always try to manage my load to ensure I am available for a Sunday morning session. Starkick have been really understanding about my WAFL commitments and know if I could be there, I would be.”

How do you think your volunteering is contributing to a better future, for the kids and for WA?

Personally, I believe that the Starkick program contributes to the lives of young kids with disabilities by offering them a opportunity to play the game that we all love. It’s important that we close the gap and offer the same opportunities to everyone regardless of their abilities. Starkick gives kids the chance to make friends, stay active and most importantly to have fun. This year the WAFC ran a campaign about Starkick and the role of volunteers this had a ripple effect that resonated with kids my age. I had so many people reach out to me personally who asked how they can get involved in Starkick and the community. Teenagers often get a bad rap for doing the wrong thing, but I think it’ s important to recognise that there are so many individuals who care about the community and want to give back.