The inaugural season of the Deakin Youth Girls Football League in 2017 along with the continued success of the Ararat Storm have paved the way for for wider participation in the sport.

AFL Wimmera-Mallee football development manager Jason Muldoon said the standard would likely increase with each season as the girls were exposed to more training.

“We have three more teams coming into the league which is really fantastic,” he said. 

“The number of girls picked in the Rebels squad was a reflection of just how good and successful that first season of the Deakin league was. 

“That’s a really good indicator that the league is already on a very competitive path.”

The Horsham Saints won the league’s first premiership last season with the Horsham Demons and Stawell Warriors to join the side in the expanded 11-team competition.

Harrow-Balmoral were also set to join the youth girls league but have had to withdraw due to a number of injuries and players having moved away for school.

Muldoon is confident the club will be in a better position to field a side in 2019.

“They’re stepping back this year but we’re hopeful they can come back next year with more numbers,” he said. 

“The important thing is that they had a crack and are looking to be involved.”

This season will see the Horsham Saints and the Horsham Demons field senior women’s teams. 

Muldoon said the first season will be a chance for the sides to play a number of exhibition games.

“We’re looking to have a bit of a series which will give us some flexibility around the number of games we play,” he said.

“I would love for them to have six to seven games for the women to play – I think that would be a great starting point.

“Then after that I hope that it will develop in a full fledged competition by 2019.”

He said he just wanted to be able to give more women a chance to play the game.

“I can’t wait for the day that they run out to play a game” he said. 

“To see a Horsham Saints versus Horsham Demons game is right up the top of my list of things I would love to see.

“There have been a lot of people who have waited a long time to see that happen.”

Although games times have not been locked in at this point Muldoon said he hoped that would be done in the coming weeks.

MAT Taylor will continue to coach the Horsham Saints youth girls side and has also taken the women’s side under his command.

The two sides have been training together at Coughlin Park on Wednesday evening.

Taylor said it was simply to ensure there was always enough numbers.

“It’s just the same as how the senior men’s team train with the reserves,” he said.

A number of players have moved on from the premiership winnings youth girls side after becoming too old while others have decided to focus on their final years of schooling. 

It will mean there are plenty more opportunities for other players to step up during the 2018 season.

“All the girls heading into their second year have really come a long way,” Taylor said. 

“The average age of the group has also probably dropped little as well.”

Greater Western Victorian Rebels selections will also hasten the development of a number of the side’s players.

“I’m looking to forward to see how Kayetlan Harris goes,” Taylor said.

“She has come on leaps and bound after having a crack for the first time last season. 

“There will also be great opportunities for players who were just having a go last year to have a bigger impact this season.”

While the number and timing of the games that the Saints’ women’s side was still to be determined Taylor said it was exciting to make that natural progression in the game.

“There are still a lot of unknowns and the numbers fluctuate a bit each week but the ones we get down are having a real crack,” he said.

“They all just love it and make it really enjoyable to coach.”

Coco Ledgar and Meghan Pohlner had particularly impressed Taylor early.

“Sometimes I set up drills just to see them go head to head,” he said.

THE interest level has continued to grow as the Horsham Demons prepare for a second season in the youth league under the guidance of Terry Arnel.

He said that numbers training at the club had doubled in comparison to this point before this season in 2017.

“We’ve regularly had close to 30 showing an interest,” he said. “We started the first game with just 13 last year.

“The interest has been really strong on the back of last year’s success and the interest has come earlier as well.”

An initially young group in the inaugural season means that the Demons have been able to retain a large portion of the squad. 

Arnel said he could already notice the difference between the players preparing for their second season and the ones heading into their first.​

“Steph Glover won our best and fairest last year and has been showing the benefit of training with the Rebels,” Arnel said. 

“We have a handful of girls who will be able to bring that higher level experience back to help the rest of the group as well.”

Like Taylor with the Saints, Arnel has taken on the dual responsibility of leading his club’s women’s side.

“We’ve had probably around 12-14 who have been training and have said they would be able to commit,” he said.

 “There  are some who are giving it a go for the first time in their late 20s and there is a really variety of skills. 

“The important thing is just to get it started.”

He said that no mater the format that everyone seemed to agree that getting the concept started was a priority.

“We might as well do it tough for the first year and have something to build on,” he said. 

“We’ve already seen the growth within the number of girls playing after a single season of competition.”

Rod Summers will coach Stawell Football Club’s junior female team in the second season of the Deakin Youth Girls Football League following the departure of Andrew Bach in December. 

Bach stepped down from the role late last year, leaving a vacancy which Summers has now filled.

“It was something that had to be done,” Summers said. 

“The girls needed a coach so I put my hand up to help out so hopefully we can have a good year.”

Summers said despite a number of changes to the group of girls playing he expected them to continue to develop during their second season in the competition.

“We had a few girls move clubs and leave the game all together, which was expected,” he said.

“But we have also seen new girls come along and start to play which is a promising thing for the future of female football at our club.”

THE Ararat Storm will aim to continue as a dominant force in the Ballarat Football League Youth Girls competition in 2018.

Preseason started for the side in February with the chance of a three-peat on the cards if coach Krystal Cameron can ensure her side has another strong season.

“I think it will be a different look this season, will be a season of getting the girls together and understanding each other and how we play,” she said. 

“We are pretty settled though, we have lost a few due to age but we have picked up a few extras from other clubs which puts us back up at similar numbers from last season.” 

Pre-season did not just focus on fitness with Cameron having integrated a variety of different drills early.

“We had a few girls are already training with the Rebels, so we needed to be a bit mindful of that,” she said. “We were focused on team building, fitness and skills.”