BFLW season kicks off

ACTION in the Ballarat Football League Women’s got underway on the weekend, with matches played across the region.

With the season running for 12 rounds, seniors played on a Sunday and the premiership set for Mars Stadium, BFLW Football Manager Scott Carey said the inaugural season of the comp was all about putting the women’s game on par with the men’s.

“It’s important for us, clubs and the BFL as a competition to be sustainable into the future,” he said.

“We need to provide all the opportunities for the girls and clubs to be able to do that, and setting the competition up across different age groups allows them to start from the bottom and work their way up.

“We’re really pleased on how the competition kicked off. It’s been a bit of a longer wait for the girls to get back involved after the boys started a few weeks ago. It was pleasing to see everyone back out and playing with their communities and involved with female football.”

At C. E. Brown Oval, Lake Wendouree took on Sebastopol in round one seniors’ action.

The mood around the ground was high, with cars filling all the available spots and horns sounding enthusiastically for every goal.

“It’s a bit nerve racking but it’s good to finally get out and have a season. We’re really excited,” said Lakers’ skipper Vanessa Jones.

“I’m quite honoured to lead the Lake Wendouree Football Club in the BFLW. I feel like everyone’s coming together and bringing women’s football up.

“Every woman and girl should give football a go because it’s such a great sport to play.”

Scheduling for the BFLW will come out monthly and Mr Carey said that was partly due to venue availability, and also took into account access to grounds.

“It’s so we can work in around scheduling with the City of Ballarat and with the clubs as well,” he said.

“We’re happy to be flexible with our fixturing to work across all clubs given we range from Sunbury and the Riddle area as well as up to Carisbrook.

“By breaking that down into four week blocks it just allows us to manage that a little easier.”