Positivity on the Footy Field
Charlotte Sanderson reports on Victorian women's football teams finally getting a fair go
The growth of local Victorian women’s football teams has contributed to building a more equal and fair environment for women of all ages in local AFL clubs.
North Ringwood Saints Football Club - in one of Melbourne’s eastern suburban football leagues - has shown a drastic increase in the number of female players since the 2019 debut of their women’s team.
North Ringwood Saints Football Club player Lauren Harris has been with the club since they began and has seen a dramatic change in popularity after they returned from a Covid break with more players too.
“We would get 10, maybe 12, at practice and now there’s three teams and 60 girls,” said Harris.
Harris is also a mother, and praises the club for supporting mums as well as offering their children a place in junior teams. “A lot of the first year senior women’s players were mums,” she said.
Harris attributes the surge in participation to women’s growing dedication and love for the sport but adds there is a lot of work still to be done with the male clubs. “Everything we’ve gone to them with and shared, they’ve changed…they’re learning," she said. "It has been men’s football for so long, especially for some of the older life members, its just what they know."
Another senior women’s player on the same team - Amelie Walters - says in the four years since she began playing, a lot has changed also regarding the respect the club now receives. “In the early days, for sure we got the short end of the stick,” she said.
The Eastern Football and Netball League (EFNL) is one of many football leagues that promotes Australia’s premier local football competitions in Victoria and has shown its recognition towards equal and fair treatment for everyone at their clubs. The EFNL Code of Conduct states, “Availabilities are made for players, regardless of ability, size, shape and sex.”
As numbers of women players throughout football leagues in Victoria have grown, so has equality on the field.
Berwick Football Club senior player Brooke Watson said, “Women get priority on the oval, the same as men do now. Senior women's and senior men’s teams are the same,” she said.
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