WHEN Glen Iris Junior Football Club’s Youth Girls teams arrived at training last week, they were greeted by an unexpected guest.

Melbourne women’s team captain Daisy Pearce surprised the club’s under 12 and under 15 girls’ teams with a special training session and a leadership talk.

With the club based deep in Melbourne’s heartland area, Pearce said the evening was a great opportunity to engage with young supporters.

“It was a really good night with an excited, enthusiastic bunch of girls who love their footy,” She told melbournefc.com.au.

“There are lots of Dees supporters out there already, so hopefully we recruited a few more last night.

“We even got to sing their team song, which is ‘It’s a Grand Old Flag’, so it worked well, we could all sing along together.”

Melbourne’s ‘Delight and Surprise’ program works to engage participants at the grassroots level of women’s football.

Each session of the program is run by either a male or female Melbourne Football Club player, who arrives unannounced at a local football club to surprise Youth Girls footballers with a special training session and giveaways.

Pearce said the program showed young female footballers that there was a clear pathway towards the top level of women’s football.

“It’s a really great concept and great for these girls that love the game, to see that there’s a really clear pathway and somewhere that they can go with their football,” she said.

“I mean, it still surprises me now, the impact it has when you go out to these clubs and see how excited these girls are to see that there’s an AFL female football player.

“The club’s doing a great job in really promoting that concept and really embracing the idea of women’s footy – so I love being a part of it.”

Pearce said the initiative was another way the club showed its commitment to supporting and developing women’s football.

“Girls now, it’s a no-brainer for them – they do belong in footy and that’s the best part of all this,” Pearce said.

“Melbourne’s definitely been a big part in driving that and promoting that through the ‘We’ve got your back’ campaign and their genuine support of women’s football.”