DARREN MONCRIEFF
Saturday, July 9, 2011
INDIGENOUS women in football will have the rare opportunity to do what their fellow male Australian counterparts cannot: play in a proper international competition.
That chance comes next month when the AFL holds its fifth International Cup in Melbourne and Sydney.
Held every three years, the 2011 International Cup will for the first time have a women's competition. There will be four teams -- Canada, Ireland, PNG and the US -- with the Australians, a mixed multi-cultural and Indigenous team, the fifth.
The Australian team is likely to have a healthy Northern Territory flavour.
Dual Olympic medallist Nova Peris has been asked to coach the side.
The AFL's manager for female football development, Jan Cooper, ruled out selecting players from the recent women's national championships as that would defeat the purpose of the largely developmental role of the International Cup.
"No players from the championships are really eligible as we don't want to select a first tier team otherwise they would thrash the overseas teams," she said.
"The Australian women's team will be selected from women participating in leagues around Australia.
Cooper identified three women's leagues where the team will be drawn from.
"A selection process is being conducted in the NT, the Sydney Women's AFL and the VWFL," she said.
"We are having some troubles selecting the team because the selectors identify players but some are unable to get the two weeks off work or study to attend, hence the reason we're looking more at the SWAFL and VWFL for the bulk of the players."
Women's football has surged in the past decade as has the number of Indigenous women in the game, particularly in the NT and lately in Western Australia.
Nyoongar woman Kirby Bentley won the Debbie Lee Medal (fairest-and-best) at last month's national women's championships, which saw all States and territories represented for the first time.
AboriginalFootball@westnet.com.au
Last Modified on 09/07/2011 10:38