More than a dozen prospective footballers turned up for the new club’s first training run this week, beginning preparations for the new 16-a-side league which kicks off in February.

Milli Gentle, a NSW under 18 representative last year, has been the driving force, pulling players together for a team from towns including Tumut, Tumbaraumba, Batlow and Adelong. 

The 16-year-old from Tumut has encouraged friends from the mountain towns to play, as well as talking fellow Kildare Catholic College students into having a run with the Bears.

Taylah Lees and Sophie Crowl have played at school level, but are excited to get involved more seriously. 

“I just like girls getting involved in a different sort of sport,” Lees said. 

Adelong’s Monique Bullock and Tumut teenager Shanae Freeman are familiar with the physicality, having previously played rugby league. 

They’re excited about seeing how they can adapt to a new challenge. 

Gentle, somewhat ironically, said it was the aggression and tackling that attracted her to Aussie rules. But she’s learnt the most important aspect – apart from having fun – is teamwork.

“Working as a team and making sure you’re backing each other up and making it easier for each other,” she said.

Riverina umpire Andrew Jackman, who works in Tumut, is excited to be coaching the Bears. 

“I’ve done some under 18s assistant coaching down in Melbourne, when I was playing,” Jackman said.

“It’s similar (with many teenagers joining the Bears) but different because we’ve got various levels of skills between the girls. Some have played only three or four games and others have played 10-20.

“So our first sessions are going to be really skills-based.”

The Bears and CSU are the first two teams committed to the new competition, which will run on Friday nights from February 23 next year.

AFL southern NSW game development manager, Marc Geppert, said there has also been interest from Leeton and Griffith (which is currently running a women’s competition).

Established women’s AFL clubs, the Riverina Lions and Cootamundra are also expected to field teams, prior to their regular season commitments in AFL Canberra.

“The initial interest was there from the Lions and Cootamundra and the idea would be to get two teams from both of those club,” Geppert said.

“They’ve got really good numbers and it will work perfectly for their pre-season.

“For other clubs, it’s their only chance to play in 2018, so we’re trying to urge clubs to get their teams in as soon as possible so we can look at the structure of the competition.”