Tom Monsigneur first joined South Adelaide Panthers in 1998 as a 13-year-old playing in the U14B side. This was the second year of South Adelaide Panthers existence – he wanted to join in 1997 however a player by the name of Fabian Barbiero was doing slightly better than Tommy in the central midfield position and got the spot, which Tommy states is ‘probably fair enough!’
The following year Tommy moved in to the U17/U19 squad, playing out of The Cove in the first year of Senior Football for Panthers. He stayed at the club until 2006 before transitioning in to amateur football.
Tommy returned in 2014 in a coaching role, assisting Senior Coach, Danny Graystone, and leading the Reserves. This continued until 2017 when Tommy took the opportunity to move in the Technical Director role for the club.
“Through doing my B Licence I guess I kind of got triggered to do it,” said Tommy.
“I saw things differently by doing that as well as from having my niece, Lilly, and nephew, Seth, involved at South.
“Things have changed so much since I was a Junior and it motivated me to try to make changes at the club for today’s Juniors.”
Tommy notes that he was surprised by how much he enjoys working with the MiniRoos age group.
“I definitely enjoy the role, of course it has its challenges, but I love it,” he said.
“I am actually surprised by how much I love working with the younger kids, the 5 and 6-year old’s.
“My time is so diverse in the role, I will go from working with Under 12s to Under 18s and then MiniRoos. I thought I would struggle with the little ones but it has been really enjoyable. They are sponges that take everything in and change so quickly, they are here because they love to play and I love seeing that.”
With close to 20 years of involvement with South, it isn’t surprising that Tommy says the club is imbedded in his family.
“My mum and dad are Life Members, so it is a part of all of us.
“It is a great place to come. Sure, it has its challenges, but it’s still great. So much so that I am trying to make this my living and build the club up.
“I used to see football as an away from work but now I just want to do it full time, I just love it.
“I love showing a kid 1 thing and it changes everything for them on the pitch. Having that involvement with them and kids coming up to say hi and knowing who I am and seeing the interactions developing between our Juniors and our Seniors is fantastic.”