Women's involvement in footy continues to push forward
In a week when the Australian Football League (AFL) announced its desire to see more women involved in officiating, thanks to assistance from the Australian Sports Commission, in the form of Sports Leadership Grants for Women, organisations in Western Australia have already taken the initiative and are working towards involving more women in football in all capacities.
28 July 2010
Individual women and organisations who were committed to support,
encourage and provide appropriate ongoing opportunities for women were invited
to apply for the funding.
West Perth Football Club District Manager Andrew Ridley said the club had identified supporting female football as a major priority.
“We have seen a 100 per cent increase in the involvement of women playing football yet there aren’t many female coaches or officials,” he said.
“It’s important for us to encourage women to become involved in various roles both on and off the field as the game continues to grow.”
Following on from the club’s initiative earlier in the year to teach mums the basics of football, the club has been named as a recipient of a Sports Leadership Grant for Women for 2010-11 and will use the funds to help develop female coaches.
Western Australian Women’s Football League (WAWFL) board member Carolyn Hills was another to benefit from the program.
“I currently sit on the WAWFL board as the Secretary and I have aspirations to pursue administration in football,” she said.
“I’ll be using the money from the grant to develop my knowledge of governance in sport.
“There are two key areas that need to be addressed to help the progression of women’s involvement in football. The first is to help develop and support healthy, quality and sustainable clubs. The second is to close the gap between Auskick and Reserves grade football for girls. Currently the minimum age for girls to begin reserves is 15, yet they finish Auskick at 12, so there is an issue there.”
Patrick de Haan from the West Australian Football Commission said they had received funding through the leadership grants to assist with assertiveness training for women.
“It was something that was identified to us by women. They felt that assertiveness was a key skill and would give them an opportunity to go further in the football industry,” he said.
“The training also gives them an opportunity to network with other women and share their knowledge and experiences, which is always invaluable.”
Patrick echoed the AFL’s sentiments saying he hoped women would be given the opportunity to apply their learning in any capacity they wished.
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