Since the introduction of the AFLW, junior girls’ football has continued to grow in popularity and participation, providing pathways for girls that wouldn’t have existed a decade ago.

According to a report from the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation female sport participation rates increased between 2021 and 2022.

Increased support and improved coaching have led to a 14 percent increase in the number of girls playing Aussie rules football, with participation rates for those 15 years or older doubling in recent years. The growth has also been evident interstate with South Australia experiencing a 12 percent increase in female registrations for Aussie rules football.

Local football clubs have witnessed this rapid growth and implemented support plans to make the rise of female football more sustainable.

Blackburn Junior Football Club has one of the most successful junior girls programs in the Eastern Football Netball League (EFNL). The female talent from the club was on display during the 2024 Coates Talent League Girls’ grand final when several former players competed on the big stage. Blackburn president Sharyn Berry says the club is doing everything it can to grow the sport for girls both on and off the field.

“We provide equal access to grounds, regardless of skills or teams or gender,” she tells upstart. “We’re pretty much 50/50 on our committee in terms of male and female, and then we have a pretty even split across all our roles.”

“We’ve just continued to grow and be a destination place, we have specialist groups just for girls at our Auskick sessions, and we continue supporting them through the council Gender Equity Plan.”

Berry has been the junior club president for more than two years and has seen immense growth at the club over that period.

“If we continue to grow [the girls’ program], that will continue to grow the demand,” she says.

Access to football has been a bit tougher for girls in regional areas, but it hasn’t stopped them from finding ways to play. Essendon AFLW defender Georgia Clarke didn’t begin her football career until she was 15, two years before the inception of AFLW. The lack of resources available to girls in her regional area meant she had to travel great distances to play the game she loved.

“I did my Auskick years but then obviously I’m from Hamilton and there was no girls footy in Hamilton,” she tells upstart.

“After Auskick I didn’t play again until I was 15, at Ararat Storm which was an hour and a half away for me.”

Clarke’s talent was quickly recognised at Ararat and kickstarted a rapid rise through the elite pathways, which began with the opportunity to play in the VLine Cup. Selections and achievements followed the teenager as she soon earned a spot on the Greater Western Victoria (GWV) Rebels’ list, with selection into Vic Country to follow. The opportunity to represent her state was made more remarkable by the fact that she was two years younger than the rest of her opponents.

“Everything happened in eight months,” she says.

“I was really the only girl from my area to do it at the time, so I didn’t really know what was going on, I just sort of followed along with it.”

Since her junior career, times have changed for the next generation of female footballers who have grown up playing the game.

“It’s actually funny, these young ones coming through that are 18 have probably played more footy than our 32-year-olds,” Clarke says.

“They’ve been playing from Auskick, right through to when they’re drafted.”

North Melbourne AFLW player Georgia Stubs says access to better coaching has been another of the most important factors in the development of female football.

“I think I’ve seen it grow with the coaches coming in, having older people come in and be really enthusiastic and try to help the girls get better, [and] become better players,” she tells upstart.

Stubs was a shining light for the Eastern Ranges throughout her juniors which resulted in her being drafted with pick 30 in the 2023 AFLW draft. Since joining the Kangaroos, she’s been involved in clinics to help grow the sport in Tasmania, appealing to girls that previously haven’t been exposed to the game. The 19-year-old recognised that while the boys’ and girls’ teams may be different in skill level, it’s important for clubs to embrace both of them equally, so the programs can grow in cohesion.

“I feel like clubs making an equal environment is really big, to encourage a one-club idea is really important,” Stubs says.

“It allows the girls to know they’re important and helps them flourish more.”

Other beneficial changes are in the works, too. The AFLW draft has previously been state-based, providing players with the choice to nominate to either a state or national selection pool. However, the upcoming 2024 draft will be the first entirely national draft, meaning any player can be selected anywhere. AFL executive general manager of football Laura Kane says the move to an all-national draft is a step towards a greater competitive balance.

The 2024 AFLW draft will also see the introduction of a minimum two-year contract for new draftees, providing further job security for players. This coincides with a 20 percent increase in remuneration for draftees.

The expansion shows that the female pathways are continuing to grow, as too are the hopes of young girls who now have an attainable dream of playing AFLW.

Article: Mason Loring is a second-year Bachelor of Media and Communications (Sport Media) student at La Trobe University. You can follow him on Twitter at @_MasonLoring

Photo: Supplied by Blair Burns and used with his permission.