Developing Female ChampionsThursday, November 5, 2015 - 1:52 PM - by Alison Moore

With Female Football growing by 44% in 2015 to now include over 284,000 players Australia wide, and the new AFL women's National competition scheduled to begin in 2017, it is  truly an exciting time to be involved in female football.  

WA's elite younger players were recently given the opportunity to work with the West Australian Institute of Sport at the Developing Champions course. They were all excited to meet and hear from Kate Bobridge and Jaime Roberts, an elite level Perth kayaker about her sporting journey aimed at the Olympics.

Jaime had the girls enthralled with her practical advice, and impressive work ethic, outlining the requirements and hardships experienced to be an elite athlete and her willingness to share fun stories about her journey.

The WAIS Foundation course also focussed on stress management, lifestyle management, motivation, planning, goal setting, mental states and their effects on performance. Jamie spoke on the importance of nutrition and finding that correct lifestyle balance. 

It was highly relevant and important information for young aspiring, elite athletes, crucial to building them into professional future athletes. The girls complete the second phase in April 2016 as they journey to become National AFL professional footballers.

Over 200 female players from Country week, School competitions, Dockers Cup games, Kickstart teams, WAWFL Clubs and State teams have been identified and invited to join the WAFC Talent Academy.

Sessions commenced on Saturday, November 7 at All Saints College – the home of high performance female football. Players are participating in a rigorous training program including; fitness testing, strength and conditioning, tactics, strategies, and skills development from experienced Level 2 and 3 coaches.

On the back of WA having produced 17 exceptional quality AFL female players in 2015, together with 4 elite level coaches, we are looking to continue developing our young players to hopefully create 2 WA AFL female representative teams in the future. This year’s senior Talent Academy will be led by Martine Pearman a Level 3 Coach who has worked with Melbourne FC. The junior Talent Academy will be led by Andrew Mulcahy