Women’s footy set to return
Women’s AFL is set to return to the North Coast as a feature event on the Senior Competition Grand Final day.
The introduction of Women’s matches in the 2017 season has been an unmitigated success with over 40 local women joining in the fun of the first four matches staged. This is an incredibly strong indication that starting a Women’s competition in 2018 will see player numbers swell even further and AFL North Coast will stage further matches to offer women the chance to try their hand before committing to playing next season.
The first of these chances to play will be on Saturday 2 September at C.ex Coffs International Stadium as part of the Senior Grand Finals. Not only will women have the chance to play on the premier surface in Northern NSW, but will also have the chance to showcase their sport to the large crowd that will be present. No prior experience is necessary, with the vast majority of women who have been involved to date having only taken up the sport this season.
Paul Taylor, AFL North Coast Football Operations Co-ordinator, said that the interest in Women’s footy has been unprecedented. “We’ve been amazed by the level of interest from women to play the game and the numbers have grown with every match staged.”
“There’s no doubt that the introduction of AFLW at the start of the year has really opened a lot of people’s eyes to the potential. Just like AFLW we’re seeing women make a successful transition from various sports including Soccer, Rugby Union, Basketball, and Netball. People are really enjoying the challenge of playing a new sport and, as other sports season’s wrap up, we expect that more women will come and try our sport.”
The local growth in Women’s footy follows on from the hugely successful introduction of a Youth Girls (13 to 17 years) competition this season. There are now well over 120 female players aged 10 to 17 playing competitive AFL, with over 80 of these playing in the Youth Girls competition. The Grand Final of the Youth Girls competition is on Sunday 27 August at C.ex Coffs International Stadium, starting at 12:40pm.
Any women (aged 16+) that are interested in playing AFL are welcome to be a part of the match at C.ex Coffs International Stadium on Saturday 2 September, which starts at 2:10pm. For further information about the match, or upcoming training sessions, please contact one of the AFL North Coast Female Football Champions – Cambridge McCormick (Port) on 0439 798 575, Alana Hanson (Coffs) on 0413 963 860, or Laura Connell (Grafton) on 0452 605 293.
