On Friday 3 February 2017, Carlton and Collingwood took to the stage on the suburban Princes Park oval. The two clubs being traditional rivals, there was electricity in the air for the first grudge match of the new season.
The stadium was packed to capacity with upwards of 24 thousand eager spectators, thousands more locked outside after the gates were closed midway through the first quarter. Everyone in the crowd wanted to be a part of history that night, for it was not just any game of football being played. It was the first ever AFLW match. Professional women's football was finally here.
Much has changed within the football landscape since that first game. On the eve of AFLW season two, we find that female involvement in Australian Rules football has grown substantially, achieving record participation numbers. In 2017 more than 460,000 women participated in football, up a staggering 76 per cent from the previous year. The introduction of the AFLW was undoubtedly a catalyst. This is certainly true of my own experience.
Seeing women playing footy at the elite level is something I had only ever dreamed about as a child. I have always been footy mad. A keen Richmond supporter, I played footy in high school in round-robins against girls from other schools in the district. I even joined a women's league when I was 16. Back then, women's teams were few and far between, sometimes requiring us to drive for hours to play against other teams in our league. After sustaining an injury in a semi-final, I decided to hang up my footy boots and focus my attention on completing VCE. I still loved footy and enjoyed watching it, but I gave up on being so devoted.
Now, on the wrong side of 30, the AFLW has reignited my passion for the sport. Although I will never play at the professional level — I'm too old and my fitness is not what it once was — I was inspired to start playing footy again. I joined West Brunswick Amateur Football Club, and interest was so great that the club soon needed to facilitate an 'unofficial' second team of women. We will be fielding two women's teams in the Victorian Amateur Football Association in 2018 as the number of female recruits continues to swell.
My experience in returning to football as a result of AFLW seems to be quite common. Women of all