DESPITE the home and away season coming to an end, Melbourne Football Club made history when they took on North Melbourne last Saturday.
This wasn’t a case of Moloney versus Swallow, but a case of Hovey versus McKill. For the first time in history, the Melbourne Football Club side was made up of 20 girls aged between nine and 13 years.
After being selected from the South East Juniors League, the girls took part in rigorous training at Casey Fields before being presented with their official Melbourne playing kit. VWFL State player and All Australian representative, Kara Donnellan was elected coach of the all girls Melbourne side.
Coach Donnellan said, “This is a great opportunity for young girls to participate in Australian Rules while representing the Melbourne Football Club. This is a fantastic initiative for these young girls, and it is something that we should see more of.”
Georgia Gee was given the honour of captaining the Melbourne side, and Tyla Hanks was awarded with the title of Best Team Player for Melbourne. Both girls were commended for their efforts in front of their teammates and supporters.
The Melbourne Football Club - in conjunction with the AFL - is committed to supporting females in football. By 2020, the AFL plans to have a national women’s competition with games like last Saturday’s being a vital stepping stone to achieving this goal.
