From Volunteer to Operations Manager: Meet Courtney

24/09/2026

Match days at Wilson Storage Trevor Barker Beach Oval are the way they are because of Courtney Banks. As the Operations Manager at Sandringham Football Club, she is already at work long before the siren sounds, ensuring ticketing, security, food and beverage kiosks, sponsor activations and merchandise are all in check. No two days look the same as Courtney’s role goes far beyond game days, covering marketing, volunteers, membership, sponsorship, club events and general admin. Although she did not always know she would end up in this position, a love for community and getting involved has helped shape her career. 

Courtney was always surrounded by football growing up - her dad was Treasurer and her brother played at the Narre South Lions. She recalls volunteering in the canteen on match days and doing homework in the club rooms on training nights. During her time at the club, she helped with player sponsorships, took on the responsibility of being the team manager for her brother’s football side at age 15, and even started playing at age 16 when the club was struggling to find the numbers to field a youth girls team. However she only managed to play two seasons before a broken collarbone cut her final season at the club short. She then found other ways to stay involved, taking on the team manager role for her own team and completing a coaching course with the intention of taking on a coaching role the following year. Unfortunately the girls team struggled to find numbers so Courtney moved into an Auskick Co-ordinator role instead. When she wasn't at the club or at school, you'd find her supporting Richmond, whether it be at the 'G or on TV. 

At school, Courtney was always fascinated by psychology and human behaviour but knew she didn’t want to become a psychologist. Marketing offered a way to apply that interest in understanding how people think in a different way, and so she completed a Bachelor of Business with a Marketing major and Human Resources minor at Monash University.

Throughout year 12 and university, Courtney volunteered at the charity Windermere Child & Family Services. There, she saw how some organisations managed their events within their marketing team and her mentor, Maree, encouraged her to follow that route.

“All my friends used to say that I'd be running a footy club one day. I always knew I wanted to be in the not-for-profit space - whether that was a charity or sporting organisation. Doing sports marketing and not-for-profit marketing units at uni definitely reinforced that.”

- Courtney on her career journey.

In early 2019, Courtney took on two internships - one at the Institute of Public Accountants (IPA) working in events and marketing for a membership‑based professional body and the other at Sandringham Football Club as a season‑long events intern, helping deliver match days and club events.

She juggled three days a week at IPA, one day plus game days at the Zebs and one day at university. These experiences exposed Courtney to membership, events, marketing and other member-facing experiences in both corporate and community settings.

At Sandringham, Courtney went above and beyond her job description as an intern to learn as much as she possibly could. A typical Thursday looked like arriving at the club at 10am, working on events and match days with CEO at the time, David Cannizzo, then staying in the evening during training to help the Football Manager, Josh Vella. On match days, she helped with President's Lunches, worked at the gate and supported around the ground activations.

Courtney’s willingness to get involved wherever she was needed eventually led to a permanent role at Sandringham.

When her internship finished, the club saw the value in creating a new role - Events and Membership Co-ordinator. This meant Courtney could continue building on the work of the past year as an intern, taking on responsibilities outside the events work she had originally started with. The role gave Courtney more experience across membership and marketing and a better understanding and appreciation of how different parts of the club worked together.

Then COVID hit and her role changed again. When the 2020 season was cancelled, some roles were no longer required, one of them being Courtney's. However fortunately for her, she was offered another opportunity through Windermere, where she had been volunteering for around five years. A parental leave position became available in the Marketing and Events team, and when her contract ended, Courtney was offered the opportunity to stay on. Throughout this time, Courtney stayed connected with the Sandringham Football Club, providing support when needed and taking on a casual role as Match Day Manager. With the AFL/VFL industry starting to get back on its feet, Marcus Ashcroft, Sandringham FC CEO at the time, offered Courtney a full time role as Operations Manager. It was a difficult decision for her, as she was passionate about both organisations, but ultimately she chose to return to Sandringham. She felt as though she had unfinished business and missed the feeling of being part of a sporting club. For her, the decision was very much about the people. However, she still remains connected to Windermere, organising hikes every few years to raise funds for the charity. 

With staff numbers reduced, Courtney began taking on more responsibilities across the club. With essentially the CEO, Football Manager and Courtney keeping things running, she became heavily involved in match day operations and home game logistics. Her work was no longer limited to one area; she made sure everything from match day logistics to the day to day running of the club were taken care of. 

What had started as an events internship had turned into a broader role at the club. Courtney was getting a first hand look at what it actually took to keep a football club running. 

When Football Manager, Josh Vella went on parental leave, Courtney stepped into the role whilst continuing to manage her own position. For around eight months, she was doing both jobs full time. Her efforts during this time were recognised when she received the Extra Mile Award in 2023. Even after Josh returned part time, Courtney continued to take on parts of the Football Manager role. She also became more involved with the women’s program, particularly around training and match days.

She describes Sandringham as a place where people have a team-first mentality and are willing to help wherever they are needed. Everyone has a role to play but there is also a shared focus on the club and its community. After spending so much time at Sandringham, Courtney felt she had unfinished business there. She wanted to go back to the people she had worked with and the community she had become part of. That connection has stayed with her. Courtney is still in contact with many of the people she worked with when she first joined the club. 

That sense of community is one of the things Courtney enjoys most about working in sport. Her role allows her to be involved in different parts of the club and meet so many passionate people - whether its the players, the volunteers, the members, the sponsors or the broader community who visit the club at an event or on a match day. 

Since joining the Zebs, Courtney has found herself more interested in the operational side of sport. It was not necessarily where she expected her career to go but it is something she discovered by being willing to try different things. 

“Put your hand up and gain as much experience as possible. Get to know people and build positive relationships with everyone you meet. It’s very much about who you know, as well as what you know, in the sporting world.”

- Courtney's advice to those wanting to pursue a career in sports.

Her internship at Sandringham showed her the value of doing more than what was expected and building relationships wherever you go.

She also encourages people to try things they might not initially see themselves doing. Courtney believes it is difficult to know what you enjoy until you have actually had the chance to try it. 

“You don’t know what you do and don't like until you try it. I think a lot of people have an idea in their head of what a particular role is, and what working in sport is like, but until you actually give it a go, you don't really know,” she said. 

Her five years of volunteering at Windermere also taught her to be patient. Opportunities in sport do not always come up straight away but staying connected with organisations and the people within them can pay off when the right opportunity eventually arises.

From helping in a junior football club canteen as a teenager to becoming the Operations Manager at a VFL club, Courtney’s career has been built by getting involved, putting her hand up to do more, getting to know people and learning along the way. 

Although she did not start out knowing exactly where she wanted to end up, each opportunity helped her figure out what she enjoyed and where she could make a difference.

Written by Amelia Tran & Hayley Lim - Sandringham FC Media