Action at an exhibition Australian Rules women’s football match betweeen the Greater Western Sydney Giants and the Sydney Swans at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Tuesday. (Photo: AFP)
Action at an exhibition Australian Rules women’s football match betweeen the Greater Western Sydney Giants and the Sydney Swans at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Tuesday. (Photo: AFP)
It’s almost 160 years since the first Australian Rules football club was formed, but women will take a significant step forward in the male-dominated sport when a female national league starts next year.
Women have long been involved in Aussie Rules — a dynamic game similar to Ireland’s Gaelic football — with half of the sport’s fanbase made up of females.
Yet the deeply traditional AFL, where two singlet-clad teams of 18 handle and kick a rugby-shaped ball on large, oval fields, has usually focused on men’s teams.
Last year, the surprisingly high viewership for a televised women’s exhibition game caught the attention of administrators, who decided to bring forward a national women’s competition by four years to 2017.
“I think we’ve probably realised across the last 12 months that the groundswell in interest and participation from females in the game justified establishment next year rather than waiting any longer,” AFL official Simon Lethlean said.
It’s not the only step into new territory for Aussie Rules, which is also eyeing China with Port Adelaide set to play a league game there next year.
Women’s AFL participation soared by 46 per cent in 2015 while sports-mad Australia has also witnessed a surge in the profile of elite female athletes.
