Elite Coach Academy coaches get chance with Freo AFLW

Six members of WA Football’s Elite Coach Academy for women were given the opportunity to spend the day with Fremantle AFLW coach Lisa Webb during their recent home practice match against Adelaide.

As part of Women in Coaching Month, Claremont’s Jayme Harken and Claire Ortlepp, Subiaco’s Bea Devlyn, South Fremantle’s Lauren O’Connor, Peel Thunder’s Rebecca Meirau and Swan Districts’ Saoirse Hanavan, who are all involved in ATCO WAFLW or HART Sport Rogers Cup programs, got a behind-the-scenes look at the inner workings the Dockers’ AFLW coaching department on game day.

It comes after West Coast AFLW coach Daisy Pearce ran several sessions for the elite coaching academy earlier in the year.

WA Football’s Women and Girls Coaching Coordinator Bea Devlyn said the coaching group gained fantastic insight on the day.

“As part of our Elite Coach Academy for women, which six coaches are selected out of our WAFLW and Rogers Cup programs to take part in the six-part program with both Daisy Pearce and Lisa Webb.

“A big thank you to Lisa and Fremantle for hosting the coaches during their recent pre-season clash against Adelaide.

“The coaches gained fantastic insight and were given great access to the behind-the-scenes workings of the coaching group.”

Webb said it was fantastic to have the group of WAFLW and Rogers Cup coaches involved and praised them on their willingness to learn.

“They’ve been fantastic, I’ve had them for quite a few sessions and for them to come into our inner sanctum and learn from different coaches, myself but also some of the assistants, it’s a terrific insight for them but they’re great learners as well, asking heaps of questions at the end as to how they saw the game and what areas we’ve got to improve on,” Webb said.

Webb was excited about the growing female coaching talent in football.

“We’ve got some fantastic female talent in the coaching space and I’m looking forward to helping them further through the duration of the year,” she said.

“It’s great for Aìne Tighe for example, she’s going to be working with the Irish team and she’s a fantastic coach in her own right with our NGA’s so we’re really lucky to have talented women within our program and I think the next step for them is going to be terrific coaching.”

Stay tuned to WA Football’s website and social media channels for more features on inspiring women’s coaches in the month of July as part of Women in Coaching Month.

Find out more about how you can get into coaching here