Pioneers of Women’s Footy honoured

The Pioneers of Women’s AFL on the North Coast have been recognised for the key role they played in establishing the thriving local competition that goes from strength to strength.

It is widely acknowledged throughout all levels of AFL North Coast that the introduction of Women’s footy has been an absolute bonus for the code, clubs, and community alike. With the competition only two years old it was not yet time to announce a Women’s Team of the Decade, but it was absolutely appropriate to recognise those who were there from the outset and quickly became role models for their peers.

The Female Pioneers are those players that were involved in the demonstration matches in 2017 before the competition was born, who then went on to play club footy in 2018 and/or 2019. Only a handful of these players had played competitive AFL prior to taking part in demonstration matches, with many making the transition from other sports.

Alana Hanson, speaking on behalf of the Female Pioneers said “We’ve just seen exponential growth in Women’s footy as more and more players come across and it’s something that I never really thought could get this big. It’s grown so much over a short space of time that we’re trying to keep up but it’s absolutely amazing to see.”

The full list of Female Pioneers is below: