Friday, February 14, 2025

YP welcomes women’s football

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Wilson McShane, Yorke Peninsula Country Times

Women’s football is set to return to Yorke Peninsula for the first time in over four years, with a new competition kicking off at Moonta Oval on October 27.

This marks the second attempt at establishing female football in the region after the previous competition was discontinued due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The six-week program will be divided into three age groups: open women, under 16s, and Superkick (ages 8-12).

Sessions will go for about two hours and will begin with trainings before transitioning into matches.

Moonta Football Club president Mark Durdin, one of the key organisers, emphasised the importance of providing local females with access to the sport.

“There’s nothing for females at the moment, so ideally in the next few years it would be great to see (a regular season) up and going again,” Durdin said.

“If the other YP clubs get on it and drive it over the next few years and not just make it a Moonta thing (the competition will be sustainable).”

Before this, females aged over 14 have had to travel large distances to play competitive football. For the past two seasons, Moonta has been part of the Mid North Women’s Football League at Crystal Brook; YP’s competition will not clash with that league’s 2025 season.

SANFL game development coordinator Will Schultz encouraged local girls to participate, noting the growing popularity of women’s football across Australia.

He highlighted that the competition could offer pathways to elite levels, particularly with the expansion of the AFLW to 18 teams.

“And the big thing is we’re not trying to conflict with other sports, we just want to give girls the option and choice to do something they’re interested in,” Schultz said.

“Now we’ve got a clear pathway to SANFLW and then AFLW for girls to go through.

“What we are seeing is an age group of girls who are growing up with footy and so the females who are now getting drafted have been playing footy for a lot of their life, which means the quality of the elite competitions is substantially improved.”

The competition starts at 10am on October 27.  

Yorke Peninsula Country Times 15 October 2024

This article appeared in  Yorke Peninsula Country Times, 15 October 2024.

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