Female football will be the focus at Deakin Reserve this Saturday 4 June as a Come and Try session, Shepp Notre v Mooroopna Youth Girls and the VWFL Shepparton v Melton clash combine to promote and profile female participation.
The event, a partnership between Shepparton FNC, Valley Sport and AFL Goulburn Murray, will start at 2:30pm with a Come and Try session on the hallowed turf at Deakin with Shepparton Bears coaches running a free coaching session for local girls and women to get out and have a kick and learn a few basic skills of the game.
The Shepp Notre v Mooroopna Youth Girls Round 8 clash will commence at 3:30pm with both teams looking to continue their positive form after some strong early season wins.
At the completion of the Youth Girls game State Member for Shepparton Suzanna Sheed and AFL Victoria Female Football Manager Darren Flanigan will officially launch Shepparton Bears as the region’s first Women’s team. Ms Sheed will then toss the coin to start the VWFL clash between Shepparton and Melton.
AFL Victoria Female Football Manager Darren Flanigan welcomes the new team into the VWFL.
"Its an exciting time for female football and participation across is growing massively with 200 new teams in the past three years" he said.
"The AFL’s national competition will also commence next year which will see the profile further increased and a genuine elite talent pathway put in place."
"Its fantastic to have a women’s team in the Goulburn Murray and congratulations to the Shepparton Bears for embracing the team and getting it up and going."
"With the local Youth Girls competition going from strength to strength over the past few years it is important for the player pathway to continue into senior football and for local women to have an opportunity to participate."
"The next step will be to establish a regional north east competition to minimise player travel and we will work to see this come to life over the next couple of years."
Shepparton FNC President Geoff O’Sullivan has already seen the benefits the team has added to his club.
"We have experienced great success in our club with the growth of our Youth Girls team over the past couple of years and how it has added to our club environment" he said.
"The team has settled in well into our structure and, as a club, we are pleased to offer opportunities for women locally to play our great game."
"It would be great to see a big crowd come along on Saturday and enjoy the Youth Girls and then the senior game against Melton to witness first hand the enthusiasm and quality of play."
Shepparton's Melinda Weston is enjoying being part of the new venture.
"We currently have a squad of around 23 players, and there is a great energy and enthusiasm amongst the team members" she said.
"We have a mix of age groups and previous playing experiences but they are all gelling well and really enjoying training and playing."
"There is also some quality talent in the side and we have won four of our first five games so we want to continue that momentum and play finals at the end of the season."
"We are still welcoming new players as numbers vary depending on player availabilities, so whether you have played before or not, if you have an interest don’t hesitate to contact us or come down to the club and get involved."
Last Modified on 05/07/2016 15:42