Due to strong community interest and high demand, an option for girls to play AFL has now become a reality.

The Shoalhaven Junior League will be introducing a club-based under 12s girls competition to their home and away fixture for next year.

Current Shoalhaven Junior clubs are Bomaderry, Shoalhaven Giants, Bay Basin Bombers, Ulladulla & Batemans Bay Seahawks. Clubs will start recruiting in early 2019.

This is a very exciting time for girls as the only previous option to play competitively was to play in the male-dominated club teams.

The games will be played in line with the other club age groups in the Sunday home and away competition that exists now.

All other clubs currently boast 9s, 11s, 13s, 15s and 17s, with the addition of the girls under 12s will add much more to this competition.

Girls are really quick learners and it’s noticeable that their skills improve weekly and so does their desire for physical competition.

Addition of the extra numbers at training allows coaches to expand their training drills. 

The girls that are transitioning to AFL want that little bit more physicality that their current sport has.

The opportunity for girls to progress through their clubs and then be able to participate in future AFL female academies is huge and could become their springboard to much better opportunities through the AFLW.

Information around come and try days for the clubs will come through their schools via the newsletter, so stay tuned.

In November, In a massive coup for the club, the Batemans Bay Seahawks was given approval to field a senior women’s team for the 2019 season.

The women’s side will play on Saturdays alongside the senior and reserve-grade men’s teams in the AFL Canberra competition.

The news is a strong indication for the future of the club and caps off a fantastic year which saw the senior men’s side win their first premiership since 2008.

Senior men’s coach Mick Kenny said interest in a women’s side had been strong for a while now, but the club’s efforts to move the juniors to the Sapphire Coast AFL last summer delayed the process.

“We’ve had a lot of people showing interest in it over the past couple of years, but we were trying to work out our junior and senior grades,” he said. 

“We feel the women playing on the same day as the men’s grade will be really good for the club going forward.”

The big winners from this decision are women and girls from Batemans Bay who will be given the opportunity to play regular, competition Aussie rules. Previously, players were forced to travel to either Moruya or Narooma to play footy.