MELBOURNE continues to show its support to the growth and development of women’s footy by supporting the girls from Hallam Senior Secondary College’s AFL Women’s Academy clinics.

 

Every Thursday afternoon during term two, the Hallam Senior Secondary College’s AFL Women’s Academy students run an all girls Auskick Clinic, with 45 grade five and six girls from Maramba Primary School.

 

The girls are taught basic football skills, such as handballing, kicking and marking, as well as participating in a small game of Rec Football at the conclusion of the session.

 

Scott Hunter, physical education teacher from Maramba Primary School, praised the program run by the Hallam Senior Secondary School students, saying it gives young girls the opportunity to have a go at a sport like footy without any intimidation from the boys.

 

The Hallam Senior Secondary students spent time with Melbourne academy coach Kelly O’Donnell, learning key trigger words to assist them when teaching the younger girls AFL skills.

 

The session was valuable for the academy girls, as they were required to write lesson plans for each clinic as part of their Vocational Education and Training in Schools (VETiS) certificate.

 

Mikayla Waddell from Maramba Primary School is enjoying the clinic, and wrote this article for her school newsletter:

 

I have had a great experience doing Auskick, it teaches you new things and I just love it. I love footy and I kick with my dad whenever I am with him. Whenever I play Auskick I enjoy myself. I play with some of my friends when I play Auskick.  It makes me feel really sporty and I hope I can play more and more sports when I get older. I want to learn how to chest mark and I’m thinking that I will by the end of Auskick. In the future I think I will be really good and I might be even with my friends. I think the reason why there is girls Auskick only is because the boys are rough and they could play their own auskick or footy.

 

Hallam Senior Secondary students Jessica Walker and Cahli Parker have given us an insight into the clinic sessions.

 

Both Jessica and Cahli are heavily involved in women’s football - Jess plays in the back pocket and on the ball for Hampton Park Redbacks, and Cahli plays fullback for the Cranbourne Eagles.

 

The first Auskick session went well. We went up and met all the girls at Maramba Primary - they were all very excited to get into action.

 

This session had to be run in the gym, as it was cold and raining. The girls got split into groups and given team names, such as ‘The Forwards’.

 

Most of the girls were pretty confident in giving everything a go, and were having fun with the drills and their friends.

 

They seemed to think that we were very funny and had a good laugh.

 

After the drills, we got into a big game, where all the girls said they wanted to kick goals! In the end, the girls all received a backpack, a football, and some other goodies.

 

All participants were given a Melbourne drink bottle, which they were very happy to receive! This was a successful session, everyone had fun and it was nice to meet and teach the girls.

Jessica and Cahli.