Women’s AFL Comes to Port

Interest continues to grow in Women’s AFL on the North Coast, with 32 individual players joining in to the three matches staged so far this season, and plenty more expressing an interest in future matches.

Next up for the growing wave that is Women’s AFL is the first ever match in Port Macquarie which is to be held on Saturday (29 July). The North Coast Women will be taking on the travelling Tamworth Kangaroos at Wayne Richards Park as the curtain-raiser to the Port Magpies v Grafton Tigers match with an open invitation to anyone interested to join in.

Paul Taylor, AFL North Coast Operations Co-ordinator, said that momentum continues to build. “With matches already played in Grafton, Inverell, and Coffs Harbour there has been limited opportunity for the growing band of women from Port Macquarie and surrounds to sample AFL. The Port Magpies have done an excellent job of promoting the match and have had at least a dozen players express an interest in playing their first match. These ladies will join with several from the area who have played matches already, plus players from the rest of the region who just can’t get enough matches and there will be excellent numbers to take on Tamworth.”

“The women who have played so far this season are a diverse group. They range in age from 16 through to mid-40s, there are mums and daughters playing together, and they come from backgrounds in Soccer, Netball, Basketball, Rugby Union, and even Dragon Boating. The vast majority have no prior experience in AFL but all of the women who have played have had an absolute ball and always go away with a huge smile on their face, keen for the next game.”

The plan is to generate enough interest through this match and subsequent activities that the Port Macquarie Magpies are able to field a team in an AFL North Coast Women’s competition in 2018. The match is at 1:30pm on Saturday 29 July and will be preceded by Under 18 (11:45am) and followed by Seniors (2:55pm).

Anyone interested in playing but hesitant as a result of not knowing the skills or rules should come along to one of two training sessions scheduled this week. Training will be led by Cambridge McCormack, Women’s Footy Champion, on Wednesday 26 and Thursday 27 July between 4:30pm and 5:30pm at Wayne Richards Park.

For more information about either Saturday’s match or the training sessions please contact Cambridge McCormack on 0439 798 575 or the AFL Northern NSW office on 6659 6000.