Liza Whitson said she could not make the prizegiving because she was in Central Otago coaching the Otago 12th grade girls' team ahead of this this week's South Island tournament in Blenheim.
''I'm teaching girls the tactics and the knowledge of the game. It's quite involved.''
Mrs Whitson (42) started playing for the Mosgiel club when she was 9.
''I'm a true blue Mosgiel supporter.''
Last year, she snapped her anterior cruciate ligament when playing for the Mosgiel women's team.
To ease the pain of not playing, she started coaching the team.
Mosgiel was a great club for a family that ''eat, sleep and breathe soccer,'' she said.
''The thing I like about the club is that you can sit down with people from all generations and talk about the game,'' she said.
It's no surprise then that this football-mad mum's three daughters all played the sport.
Morgan (12) is goalkeeper in Otago 12th grade team off to Blenheim this week, Jade (9) played a season for Mosgiel before deciding to focus on dance and netball, and daughter Laney (7) plays in the 7th grade Mosgiel side, which Mrs Whitson also coaches.
As well as Otago and Mosgiel coaching commitments, she works full-time at Tahuna Normal Intermediate School as an art teacher and coaches a schoolgirls' soccer team.
After an operation on her injury, Mrs Whitson said she hoped to return to social soccer next year.
The family was looking forward to the 2015 Under-20 Football World Cup and would definitely be attending the games at Forsyth Barr Stadium.
