By Shannon Brien
For St. Alban’s Youth Girls player Madeline Keryk, the appointment of the AFL’s first female coach Peta Searle to the St.Kilda Football Club is inspirational.
“I think Peta being appointed is only a sign of good things to come for women in football,” she says.
First picking up the football when she was in primary school, Madeline developed a passion for the game after participating in an Auskick program in grade prep. From there she followed her teammates into the junior competition, as she continues to play for today with the St.Albans Football Club. While the game can be unforgiving at times, Madeline loves football because it is a constant challenge and being part of a team and working together is a rewarding experience.
“I think the future of women's football is a very bright prospect, in recent years participation numbers particularly in the Youth Girls competition has sky rocketed, meaning there is a lot more talent coming through at the top end entering into the Victorian Women’s Football League,” she explains.
With the introduction of the first National Women’s Draft last season, the AFL has been a great supporter of providing opportunities for women to further their careers in football both on and off the field, with the AFL Women’s Round held this weekend.
Amanda Tessari of the Wyndhamvale Youth Girl’s squad, was influenced to lace up the boots by her older brothers at a young age and has been playing football ever since. She loves the hardness of the game and how it can be free flowing. Amanda is also a keen observer, noting the way her favourite player, Joel Selwood always puts his head over the footy which she tries to implement into her own game each week.
“Not many people know women’s football is actually the fastest growing segment of our game, which is great to hear,” she says.
However it’s not only women on the field who are having a positive impact on the game, with a number of females taking on responsibilities in administration roles in the WRFL each year.
Meredith Angwin, leads NAB’s portfolio management and project delivery organization, has only been a part of the WRFL Board for six months but has enjoyed every minute of it.
Following in the footsteps of her parents who are both life members of the WRFL, father Ron was President (1981-1991) and mother Thelma was Treasurer (1982-1991), it was her love of the game that brought her to assume the role of an Executive Member on the Board at the start of 2014.
“Football has a diverse fan base,” she says. “There are just as many women following the game as there are men which is fantastic.”
With the evolvement of women’s participation in football growing from spectators to players, administration roles and even presidential roles in the WRFL, Meredith believes it’s important for football to change in conjunction with the needs of society.
“I am used to bringing together different people in terms of changes through my work,” she says.
“In football there is a constant level of change every year and I deal with how we are going to approach this.”
With the WRFL one of the fastest growing leagues in the state, it’s great to see that the fastest growing segment of the game, women’s football, is in safe hands.
Last Modified on 26/06/2014 09:34