Peta Searle has done what no woman has done before.

Peta Searle is your average 40-year-old, mum of two from Melbourne.

But this week, she managed to do something that no woman has ever done before – she became the first female coach in the AFL.

Peta has dedicated most of her life to football. She grew up playing and played for 11 years, then switched from playing to coaching.

When Mamamia interviewed her in October last year, Peta was the head coach for the Western Bulldog women’s team, ran the AFL Women’s High Performance Academy and the Victorian Women’s stateside. All while working a full-time teaching job at a high school.

She had previously been the first woman to get a coaching role in the VFL (Victorian Football League), and spent two years with Port Melbourne, training up the boys along with Gary Ayers. She was also the first female coach in the TAC (another AFL league) with the Western Jets, and the first head coach of the AFL Victoria VWFL (Victorian Women’s Football League) Academy Coach/Mentor.

“I’d like to work in an AFL club as a resulting coach,” Peta told us last year. “The biggest challenge is for me, now, is getting into an AFL final. That’s tough. Every year I keep knocking on doors and keep asking questions, and every year, I keep getting turned back so that’s the challenge. Am I ever going to get to an elite level? I’m not sure.”

And just eight months later, she’s done it. Peta has been signed onto an 18-month contract with St Kilda Football Club, and is set to be their new development coach.

I asked her to tell us a little bit about what she was feeling:

Six weeks ago, I was working as a teacher at a high school and I was coaching with Port Melbourne. But footy takes up a lot of time, and I had to do what was right for my kids. I couldn’t coach AND have a full-time job AND raise my kids. So I made the decision that I couldn’t continue on with Port Melbourne and I was devastated about that.

I took up a job at St Kevin’s Old Boys Football Club, which was a lot less time commitment, but I needed to keep coaching to some degree and I put myself in a position to keep learning and keep growing and keep developing, and that’s what it’s always been about. But I always wanted to make a living out of football coaching – and now that opportunity has come!

I’m excited, I’m elated, I’m impressed by the way St Kilda went through the interview process.

There was a gap in their coaching staff which needed to be filled and I had to go through a gruelling interview process to prove that I was the right person – and luckily I proved that I had the right skills.

I was driving at the time when I took the phone call to say that I’d got it. I said to him, “that’s great, I’m excited, I’ll get back to you” – just so I could think the offer through. Once the relevant people were told, obviously I was very excited.

I certainly had to resign from my teaching job, but the school has been fantastic, and walking into the St Kilda football club for the first time on Monday morning was exciting.

It’s been a bit of a whirlwind with media. Once I step in and start coaching and doing the things I’m there to do, I’ll feel a lot more comfortable.

The club has been fantastic on every level. The feel about my appointment and the reasons for the appointment are a great fit. The players are fantastic and have been very welcoming, I think it’s going to work out very well.

At the end of the day, I always want to be a great role model for my daughter – she’s my benchmark. And this has shown that if you work hard, persevere, put yourself out of your comfort zone, you can open doors for yourself and achieve some great things.

A million congratulations go to Peta. All of Australia has been so excited to hear your news.

And in other sports news from the week…

Our Hockeyroos, currently competing in the Hockey World Cup, managed a 3-2 victory over Belgium in their third game of the Cup. It’s their third win which currently puts them on top of Group A. They’ll be playing their next game against The Netherlands on Sunday before finishing their group matches against New Zealand on Monday.

The rugby Wallaroos have been defeated in their first match of 2014, losing 38-3 against the New Zealand Black Ferns at Rotorua International Stadium on Sunday. This was the first match for the Wallaroos against International opposition since the Women’s Rugby World Cup in 2010; next up they’ll go against Canada in the final match of the Tri-Nations tournament.

Aussie tennis players, Ashleigh Barty and Casey Dellacqua, have sadly not made it through to the next round of the French Open, after they lost to Italians Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci during the quarterfinals of the doubles. The Aussies had a great chance of reaching the semifinals but were beat 6-0, 6-1 on Tuesday.

In international news, England has insisted that it has no plans to support a women’s version of the Indian Premier League, despite being one of the leading countries in women’s cricket. Shaun Martyn, who runs the IPL, has proposed a Women’s International Cricket League which would attract the world’s best players. England, however, remains wary of the plan, and have instead put their support into the new ICC International Women’s Championship – a one-day tournament which leads to 2017 World Cup qualification.

Have you seen anything in the news that you’d like to talk about?