A league of their own
SAMANTHA LANE
June 15, 2010
Lauren Arnell gets a kick away as Kiara Bowers and
Monica O'Brien (No. 14) try for the tackle at the MCG in the Green All
Stars versus Brilliant Gold from the AFL women's high performance
academy. Photo: Jason South
THE vision is grand and, if realised, will change
the fabric of the Australian Football League.
''I would imagine that Melbourne Women's Football Club
will be running around before Melbourne play Collingwood one day. And it
might even be Melbourne versus Collingwood women,'' said AFL female
participation manager Jan Cooper in between cheering on the 40 women who
played a curtain-raiser at the MCG before yesterday's main football
event.
''I would imagine there would be maybe four teams out of
Victoria in the first instance, and one out of each of the other states
and territories. I'm not quite sure how we'll do the Northern Territory
bit, but we've got 10 years to work that out.''
Members of the Green All Stars team from the AFL women's
high performance academy in the dressing room before the game against
the Brilliant Gold team. Photo: Jason South
If Cooper has her way - and the West Australian
mother-of-two's energy is so infectious it makes you wonder whether 10
years is an over-estimation - it will be normal for women to literally
kick off a day at the footy.
''If it is aligned with AFL clubs that would be my
Rolls-Royce version,'' Cooper said. ''But if it's not we'd take the next
best, which would be state versus state.''
Once a state volleyballer and cricketer, and later an
assistant head trainer at Swan Districts when the football club won
back-to-back premierships in the 1980s, Cooper seems to have a way of
making big things happen.
Last week she oversaw the first AFL women's high
performance academy camp - something she and Dean Warren, the AFL's
community development manager, dreamt up only 12 months ago at the end
of the women's national championships.
''I remember saying to Dean, 'it's lovely that the girls
get a medal for being an All-Australian player, but it's got to be more
than that, we've got to do something in between','' Cooper said
yesterday.
And so it came to pass that 40 women, aged between 16 and
34, from all around Australia, found themselves lodged in a Melbourne
hotel this week, devoting every waking hour to becoming better
footballers.
The landmark five-day camp, which cost the AFL about
$45,000, culminated in a match of two 20-minute halves between the green
and gold a couple of hours before Melbourne played Collingwood.
The 15,000 or so spectators witnessing events by the time
the women's match ended in a two-point victory to the gold team, were
clearly engaged. A late tackle laid by Kiara Bowers - ''Turbo'' to her
teammates - drew an audible gasp. Strong marks were warmly applauded and
the reception continued when the teams left the field.
''Pure exhilaration,'' was how Lauren Arnell, a
23-year-old former state basketballer, now Darebin Falcons player,
described the experience that her boyfriend and family watched from the
stands.
Also in the team was Natalie Thomas, a former Matilda who
has recently exchanged the round ball for an oval one; Nikki Harwood,
who represented Australia three times in badminton, and the skilful
Kirby Bentley, who has more than family ties in common with her second
cousin, and Fremantle footballer, Roger Hayden.
For Leeann Gill, yesterday's victorious coach who has 15
years experience - 12 directing male teams - this was a career high
point.
''I said to the girls out there, I had to get to the age
of 50 to coach a game on the MCG. It has been one of the best weeks of
my life,'' she said.
The camp began last week with a three-hour session with
the hierarchy of the Melbourne Football Club that ran way over time. But
everyone from senior coach Dean Bailey, to his assistants and football
manager Chris Connolly - a huge supporter of women's footy who proved it
with a welcome speech that wasn't just encouraging but empowering -
wanted to share some tricks of the trade.
Former Essendon forward Scott Lucas took a session on
goalkicking and the women had their techniques filmed and analysed. Many
for the first time.
Retired North Melbourne player Jason McCartney spoke
about leadership and inspired discussion about how the women perceive
themselves, how they can be stereotyped, and the things they would most
like to stand for. Then, at a function on Sunday night that had to be
relocated to Carlton's San Remo Ballroom due to interest levels, Stan
Alves and David Parkin presented the green and gold guernseys the women
played in.
Teenage male footballers are exposed to this type of
attention, expert grooming and specialist coaching as a matter of course
these days. But clearly the AFL, ever-keen to expand its reach and
appeal, has realised a large football population has been left largely
unattended and perhaps undervalued.
No longer.
''If these girls become mothers and they've had a
fabulous AFL experience, guess where they're going to take their sons
and daughters? To an AFL game, to an AFL setting for them to learn,''
Cooper said, making it all sound so logical you wonder why the penny
hadn't dropped earlier.
''I don't want to be critical because I just don't think
the men at the decision-making levels have had the opportunity to
understand the girls' passion for the game, and then how skilful they
actually are. And because there's not that big critical mass yet it has
kind of been that last cab off the rank. But they (the AFL) are
absolutely avid about this now.''
There are clearly some significant challenges to overcome
yet. Even getting suitable uniforms for yesterday's game was
problematic after manufacturers would only provide shorts and jumpers
cut for men's figures. But with football's most powerful force now on
board like never before, one suspects such inconveniences will soon be a
thing of the past.
Last Modified on 29/06/2010 16:14