News NMFC AFLW 2019

[Only Forwards]

It is growing but it wouldn't be close to netball's numbers.

Of course not.

Netball has been established for decades whilst girls footy is just really starting to make in roads.

I am on the committee of a Junior Footy club and it is starting to position itself so that it can establish a girls team next year. Like I mentioned earlier, there are significant grants being handed out for club redevelopment to enable the required change rooms and so forth to make girls footy happen. If the club that my son is part of is doing this then the vast majority of others are doing something similar.

 

[Donkey Chop]

I don't understood why the AFL have taken a staggered approach by not allowing all AFL clubs a license. So the clubs that have been selectively left out are at a disadvataged. It is also illogical that GWS is allocated Tasmania when two Vic clubs are foregoing home games to play there. No transperency just some clubs getting favoured over others

Because the talent pool isn't big enough. They want to get people hooked before the comp gets watered down. If they rolled it out with the elite talent spread across 18 teams it would fail. Even 8 is a risk IMO.

 

[shintemaster]

Collingwood doesn't need that - they have more than enough aligned families as it is. I think they just want to be a behemoth and not miss out on anything.

I suddenly realised yesterday that I was looking forward to supporting a North women's team, and when there wasn't going to be one next year, I had no interest any more. If they had made start-up women's teams, Big Bash-style, I'd have been ready to latch on.

Part of me wonders if it might not have been better to have a more state based independent team setup.

WA
SA
NSW
QLD
VIC Metro
VIC Country

Might have been a decent start.

 

[Event Horizon]

If it was grass roots local or state league, how many of the 8 clubs would bother to establish a team?

My point is, grassroots first, then when the participation is through the roof, then AFL gets involved and launches a league.
But they have done it back to front. Numbers just aren't there, to the point where they can barely scrape enough players for 8 teams. All for the sake of publicity.
Can women's football work at the highest level? Of course it can.
But are we at that point? Far from it IMHO.

 

[Duvel]

While I was pissed off to see North miss out on the license, and Collingwood awarded one.

There is a silver lining though, we still are going on with the development, academy, that we will eventually be granted license and be a powerhouse. Considering that GWS deal with Tasmania is only 2 years meaning 2019 talent pool can go to North, after North's entry into Women's League in 2018.

The other AFL club applicants, Richmond, Geelong, North Melbourne and St Kilda, along with the Eagles, have been granted provisional licences to be part of an expanded women's league in 2018, depending on development of the game in their areas. Source: AFL.com.au

 

[Hearts to hearts]

My point is, grassroots first, then when the participation is through the roof, then AFL gets involved and launches a league.
But they have done it back to front. Numbers just aren't there, to the point where they can barely scrape enough players for 8 teams. All for the sake of publicity.
Can women's football work at the highest level? Of course it can.
But are we at that point? Far from it IMHO.

It's a chicken and egg though. It's growing, for sure - I am involved with a very large junior club and girls' involvement is exploding - but there is a point at which an elite level competition will enhance growth, especially as the athletes at the top end decide whether to keep going with it or switch sports. The promotion it delivers can also go hand in hand with continuing development at grass roots junior and senior levels.

I am just torn, now though. I don't want to support any of these AFL clubs in any way - but if I wait, does North coming in become less likely? Bastards.

 

[ferball]

I coached a few junior teams, but not for 10 years or so.

Coached at least 10 girls and many went on to play in the SE Qld league for teams that seemed to be associated with Gold Coast area teams (Coolangatta, Morningside and a few others are or were in there.) Some even got to play for Qld. One of the girls I coached went on to coach a side to a GF as well. So women's footy exists in Qld and seems to be reasonably strong at the grass roots level considering its Qld and Rugby League is very powerful. I haven't coached for nearly 10 years but from what I understand girls participation is increasing rapidly and many are going on to play women's footy when they are old enough.

My eldest daughter is nearly 5 and loves footy so I'll be back into it soon i think. She's even starting to understand the game now. One of the reasons I'm not so gutted by Saturday's loss is that it was the first time she watched some of a North game with me and could comment on what was happening and how both sides were playing. Special moment for sure.

Yeah anyway grass roots footy for women (and girls) is growing rapidly.

 

[wolvesRoos]

This is going to be interesting.

I can't see where the crowds come from, I can't see where the sponsorship dollars come from and I can't see a TV network getting high enough ratings to make it a success.

I hope I'm wrong because if it's a success it will be great for Woman's sport and great for the AFL.

No u are correct. Dodged a bullet womans footy will be a drain on the clubs and on the league. No one will turn up..tipping crowds of 500 loads of free ticket give aways. I have read the AFL is desperately searching the country for girls that can play converting them from other sports. Its going to be like watching 15 first year majaks running around.

If premierships football teams ladies teams cant draw a crowd i dont see how afl ladies can. At least they had the grass roots established for years before so they could retruit players who could play

 

[Prefectionist]

Its going to be like watching 15 first year majaks running around.

There's going to be some wet dreams over that.

 

[Donkey Chop]

It's a chicken and egg though. It's growing, for sure - I am involved with a very large junior club and girls' involvement is exploding - but there is a point at which an elite level competition will enhance growth, especially as the athletes at the top end decide whether to keep going with it or switch sports. The promotion it delivers can also go hand in hand with continuing development at grass roots junior and senior levels.

I am just torn, now though. I don't want to support any of these AFL clubs in any way - but if I wait, does North coming in become less likely? Bastards.

You can be a neutral supporter, don't have to be emotionally invested in a side. It's like watching games AFL teams that you don't support, just watch it because you enjoy the game.

 

[kangaspurs]

I think people are getting a little too preoccupied with attendance and television viewing numbers. Similar to GWS, this competition will have been conceived with the long-term firmly in mind; it will be a generational project, the results of which should be assessed a few decades from now.

 

[The chorus]

Its going to be like watching 15 first year majaks running around.

This could well be true, but not quite as you expect. North Melbourne will be setting up academies in Melbourne and Wyndham for multicultural players. At the Community Cup this year there was a team from Werribee made up of (all?) players of African background and they could play. Our future hopes of getting a licence will to a large extent depend on us developing talent through the academies

 

[Engimal v2]

Part of me wonders if it might not have been better to have a more state based independent team setup.

WA
SA
NSW
QLD
VIC Metro
VIC Country

Might have been a decent start.

I think you're forgetting someone...

 

[shintemaster]

I think you're forgetting someone...

Just an example, not a policy document

 

[Twinkletoes]

I think you're forgetting someone...

shintemaster's a bloke who goes with trends so in his world there are no maps, so to speak.

 

[Mr Reliable]

You can be a neutral supporter, don't have to be emotionally invested in a side. It's like watching games AFL teams that you don't support, just watch it because you enjoy the game.

I can relate to that with BBL. I love the contests and couldn't give a stuff which team wins and loses. It's very relaxing and very enjoyable at the same time. I even forget which team Big 'Ed is the chairman of so I end up not caring which Melbourne team wins.

 

[Donkey Chop]

I can relate to that with BBL. I love the contests and couldn't give a stuff which team wins and loses. It's very relaxing and very enjoyable at the same time. I even forget which team Big 'Ed is the chairman of so I end up not caring which Melbourne team wins.

I must admit I deleted a post about what I thought of the concept as a whole, fair to say I don't rate it at all.

I was thinking along the lines of people that purely want to support woman's football.

 

[LT Smash]

There is a silver lining though, we still are going on with the development, academy, that we will eventually be granted license and be a powerhouse. Considering that GWS deal with Tasmania is only 2 years meaning 2019 talent pool can go to North, after North's entry into Women's League in 2018.

So we dedicate resources to talent development on a promise of being granted a licence eventually and in the mean time, the players we develop can be drafted by Collingwood.

 

[Mr north man]

So we dedicate resources to talent development on a promise of being granted a licence eventually and in the mean time, the players we develop can be drafted by Collingwood.

The AFL will be told by certain clubs that they must do anything they can to stop North from joining the women's competition so with that if we keep on promoting the women's football the players that we will groom to be footballers will be taken by other clubs such as Scumwood

 

[Mr Reliable]

I must admit I deleted a post about what I thought of the concept as a whole, fair to say I don't rate it at all.

I was thinking along the lines of people that purely want to support woman's football.

It's all relative. I'll watch it and see if it's any good. It doesn't have to be better than the AFL or the VFL. It just has to be the best thing on at the time.

 

[Royal Flush]

The only disappointment I have of not winning the a womens License is that i had this fantasy that we would be getting 3 million funding to build a granstand and house the womens footy department at Arden street with the ground to be modified to be ready to host womens footy and VFL footy and AFL preseason games.

 

[D23D]

The only disappointment I have of not winning the a womens License is that i had this fantasy that we would be getting 3 million funding to build a granstand and house the womens footy department at Arden street with the ground to be modified to be ready to host womens footy and VFL footy and AFL preseason games.

That's still a future dream. Make it happen Euge!

 

[Caracas]

The AFL will be told by certain clubs that they must do anything they can to stop North from joining the women's competition so with that if we keep on promoting the women's football the players that we will groom to be footballers will be taken by other clubs such as Scumwood

We were never going to be included as it was confined to eight teams. That was a given and very understandable, from my viewpoint. Hopefully, it's a success and we join them in a couple of years.

 

[Dodecahedron]

Met Bridget Barker when she did a talk at a Father/Daughter breakfast at my daughter's school. She's one impressive young lady.
Played footy, coached 2 premierships at Melb Uni, worked with indigenous youth near Alice Springs before landing the job at The Huddle.

Apparently North have been nurturing women's AFL for years. We allowed the Melb Uni women's team to train at Arden St for 5 years when they couldn't find a venue at their own Uni. We recently extended the deal by 5 years. To clarify any confusion, when North gets its AFL Women's licence, Melb Uni would be considered our "VFL side".

Like our "No Pokies" stance I don't think our club has sold itself well enough on its efforts with female footy.
Bridget reckons we need to demonstrate the development of girls at the Tassie academy (and elsewhere) in order to secure a Women's AFL licence next year. We have most of the other things in place, including a lady who quit her law job to lead the charge.

And and yes, I want North to have its own VFL men's team too.

 

[Kangatango]

Don't know if I could handle following 2 North sides, that's a whole lotta stress to cope with...