A TOTAL of 13 teams from right across the wider Geelong region will take part in the inaugural Geelong Girls’ Gala pre-season football extravaganza at the Lara Recreation Reserve this coming Saturday.

Organised by the Women's Participation Taskforce at the Geelong Region Football Committee (GRFC), the innovative new event will feature a 7-a-side half pitch format that will include Girls’ Under 12s, Under 15s and Open Women’s age categories.

The focus of the event is to aid existing GRFC clubs to boost their participation numbers with the recruitment of new female players, either at Junior or Senior level. There is still room for more teams to join but registrations will close at the end of this week. 

Victorian State Sports Minister John Eren will be a special guest at the event, along with ex-Matilda captain, Melissa Barbieri.

Barbieri played in four World Cups, made 86 international appearances for Australia and led the Matildas to Asian Cup glory in 2010. She signed for Melbourne Victory for the inaugural season of the Westfield W-League in 2008 and won the Goalkeeper of the Year award that year. She also took out the W-League Goalkeeper of the year award again in 2013/14, this time playing for Adelaide United.

“We will have a whole group photo taken with both Melissa and John, followed by a short presentation and welcome to our special guests,” explained a spokesperson for the GRFC Women’s Taskforce, Rebecca Horrocks.

“This is a great thing for the exposure of our inaugural event and will go a long way to further boosting the profile of female football in this city,” she added. 

All the action kicks off at 8:30am with the first group games of the U12s and U15s junior divisions.