Of the 136,000 female participants nationwide, 50 of the top women footballers will take to the MCG on Saturday afternoon in a historic event, representing the Western Bulldogs and Melbourne in an AFL-first curtain raiser match.
The inaugural clash acts as a cornerstone of the 2013 women’s round this week, AFL National and International Development Manager Andrew Dillon said, and will showcase the ever increasing standard of women’s football across the nation.
“Women’s round is a significant element of the AFL fixture as it gives us a chance to celebrate and reflect on the role that women play in our game,” Gillon said.
“It is fitting that this year’s theme for women’s round is talent, particularly given there are extremely talented women in all facets of the game – they are administrators, they are officials, they are players, they are coaches, they are volunteers and they are fans.
“In 2013 there are more than 136,000 female participants, 5,000 coaches and 2,000 umpires involved in Australian football.”
50 of the most talented female footballers were pre-selected in the first AFL national women’s draft in May to participate in Saturday’s exhibition match, which will see women represent AFL clubs in a fully sanctioned event for the first time.
Bulldogs forward Shaun Higgins may not be donning the red, white and blue on Saturday night as he rehabilitates a fracture in his foot, but the 25-year-old will instead be acting as an Assistant Coach to the inaugural Western Bulldogs’ women’s team.
Pairing up with appointed women’s coach Peta Searle (current VFL Assistant Coach at Port Melbourne), Higgins will play a role in Saturday’s historic event, imparting wisdom and knowledge of his experience to help the Western Bulldogs’ women’s team get over the line.
Higgins and Melbourne’s Jack Grimes will both have match day duties in the round 14 curtain raiser.
“We are both excited to be involved in this and no doubt when you have got the best of the best, it’s going to be a good performance on Saturday night,” Higgins said.
“We’ve got a training session on Thursday which I am looking forward to meeting a few of the girls and pass on a little bit of the knowledge and experience that we go through as full time AFL players to them – and hopefully they can take something going into Saturday.”
The 25-year-old is confident Saturday’s match is a step forward in bringing women’s football into the spotlight and increasing opportunities for women in AFL.
“It’s going to be bright, it’s no doubt just a small stepping stone this is, but it needs to get put into the public eye,” he said.
“It is a great initiative by both footy clubs and also by the AFL and to play on the MCG would to be a dream to wear AFL colours for a lot of the girls.”
View the women’s team player profiles here.
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View all the latest news ahead of Saturday’s women’s round clash here.
