International Women's Day: Taking Tigers to new heights

Membership of the Redcliffe Tigers AFL Club has more than doubled since Gayle Wetzel Fitzgerald took the reins as the first female president in 2021.

As the club gears up for its 50th birthday celebrations this year, Gayle says she’s proud to be part of a team that’s growing the sport on the Redcliffe Peninsula.

“We’ve taken things in a different direction and we’re trying to make it the best club we can,” she says.

“Our goal is to get the club playing Division one - we want this to be a destination club instead of players starting here and moving on.

“Five years ago, we had 300 members and the prediction for this year is 700.

“Sponsorship is getting bigger because people want to be involved, and we have digital advertising out the front as well.”

It’s a busy time for Gayle, who bought a hairdressing salon last year, giving it a makeover and rebranding it this year as The Studio Hair & Tanning.

“Before I only used to work about three days a week and at the moment I’m doing six, but you have to put in the hard yards at the start.

“It’s a juggle trying to organise myself,” she laughs.

“Luckily I’m the owner, so if I need to take phone calls I have the opportunity to do that.”

“I set boundaries as well and I’m getting much better at delegating things, which is good to do and we’re getting a lot more people doing volunteer roles at the club.”