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Darcy Moloney, Georgie Rankin, Rebecca Webster and Georgia Clarke were kind enough to bestow some of their knowledge onto the group of aspiring young athletes.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was awesome, I wish there were more of these clinics when I was younger,\u201d Moloney said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know I look up my teammates, the people I play with now, and I bet it would have been exciting for the young girls and to hear that playing at the professional level is a possibility.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just love to give back, see the girls having fun and getting involved.\u201d<\/p>\n
A major highlight for everyone who attended was hearing Georgie Rankin speak on her AFLW experiences and how she made it to the top level.<\/p>\n
Rankin\u2019s main message on the day was to utilise the pathways that have been created by the AFL, given these frameworks were not available to female players 10 years ago and to enjoy footy from an early age.<\/p>\n
\u201cOverall, the girls had a great time,\u201d AFL regional participation manager of the Barwon region Harry Sleigh said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese clinics are a key part of our participation strategy in the Barwon region to increase female numbers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have really strong connections with the Geelong Cats and the local communities and schools, so we saw a great opportunity to organise these events to increase participation and we are starting to see the results of that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sleigh said there will be several localised launches occurring over the next few months for plenty of female juniors to get involved with.<\/p>\n
These launches will culminate in a big \u201ccoming-together\u201d at one of next season\u2019s AFLW Cats\u2019 games.<\/p>\n
To learn more about AFL Victoria\u2019s Footy 4 Fun initiative and its junior female programs, head to www.aflvic.com.au\/footy-4-fun.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
THE next generation of female footballers in the region got the opportunity of a lifetime when they had the chance to learn from Geelong\u2019s AFLW professionals. AFL Victoria\u2019s \u2018Footy 4 Fun\u2019 program made its way to Geelong where 93 future female footballers got to participate in AFL Barwon\u2019s \u2018Yeah the Girls!\u2019 clinic held at Deakin […]<\/p>\n