A LANDMARK senior women’s Australian rules competition is set to be introduced to the Riverina early next year, under an exciting new plan unveiled by the AFL.
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Following the success of the inaugural AFL women’s competition at national level earlier this year, a number of new competitions for females will be introduced to the Riverina.
AFL Southern NSW will introduce under 13 and 16s competitions, aligned to Wagga and District junior clubs, that will begin next month.
The plan then would be for a senior competition to follow early next year.
AFL Southern NSW game development manager Marc Geppert said it is exciting times for the sport.
“AFL Women’s has been massive for us down here, providing a visual pathway to show girls they can play at the top level,” Geppert said.
The Wagga and District junior girls competition will be held on Wednesday nights, starting from August 16.
The senior competition has been earmarked for February next year. It is hoped established women’s teams, Riverina Lions and Cootamundra, would be joined by new ones from existing Riverina and Farrer League clubs.
“We’ve been really mindful not to clash with our existing structures because, as everyone knows, netball is a huge part of our footy clubs,” Geppert said.
“We’re hoping to have girls that play netball, basketball and other sports being able to play AFL without having to make a choice.”
Both competitions will be held over shortened seasons.