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Welcome to The Roar’s women’s sport weekly wrap – a space where I’ll introduce you to personalities in women’s sport and share some of the biggest talking points from the past week.
There has been a lot of talk this year about how AFL is changing for the better, with the announcement of the AFL’s women’s competition launching in 2017.
» AFL Women’s on The Roar
» All the team info for the women’s AFL league
» 2017 women’s AFL fixtures & draw
As we march closer to February 2017 there have been a couple of watershed moments where I pause, pinch myself and say ‘this is really happening?’.
One of the first was on June 15 when Gillon McLachlan named the eight teams who had been granted licences for the inaugural competition (Adelaide, Brisbane, Carlton, Collingwood, Fremantle, GWS, Melbourne and the Bulldogs).
Another milestone moment was on October 12, when the first women’s draft took place and Nicola Barr made history, becoming the first number one draft pick.
This week, there was another milestone as pre-season began for the eight clubs. As a sports fan, I always look forward to pre-season. The disappointment of the previous year has washed away.
I’ve started to miss sport again and I’m desperate for news about my team to fill the emptiness of a long off-season. There’s also plenty of hope (perhaps misguided) about what is possible in the coming season.
As I watched photos of women like Moana Hope, Daisy Pearce, Nicola Barr, Nicole Hildebrand, and Stephanie Chiocci flood my Facebook and Twitter feeds I really noticed the swell of excitement building and felt like something big was happening.
This pre-season is special because it signals that women’s football has arrived. So many Australians will be watching with interest as these talented women make history in 2017.
With the announcement of the women’s competition earlier this year, the participation figures the AFL released this week should come as no surprise. The stats dictate that there has been a 56 per cent increase in female community club teams – and that total female participation increased by 19 per cent to 380,041.
That’s at least 380,041 pairs of eyes who will be watching come February and I sincerely hope that some of these little girls are dreaming about becoming the next Daisy Pearce. That dream is now a real possibility for them.
When it comes to the women’s game, the Southern Stars continue to go from strength to strength.
With the Southern Stars’ nine-wicket win over South Africa on Wednesday, it took their tally to nine straight wins in a row in one-day internationals. Dominance most international teams can only dream of.
There have been so many standout performances in the first three games of the five-match series. Let’s talk about Wednesday, where Meg Lanning (80) and Nicole Bolton (77) posted a partnership of 161.
Or we could talk about Sunday where Meg Lanning equalled Charlotte Edwards record for the most one-day international centuries in women’s cricket. Or bowling by Jessica Jonassen and Kristen Beams which saw the Proteas on the back foot at 3/56.
I haven’t even mentioned Ellyse Perry who is about to celebrate ten years of playing international cricket, despite being only 26.
It’s not enough that the Southern Stars have dominated the first three games, it’s clear that this team has it’s eye on completing a clean sweep of the five-game series. And with names like Meg Lanning, Alex Blackwell and Kristen Beams in the side, I am expecting nothing less.
Molly Taylor yet? Molly is the first woman to win the Australian Rally Championship for Drivers by a margin of two points.
It’s a three-day event, and Molly and her co-driver Bill Hayes won the Kumho Tyre ARC round in a Subaru Impreza. I don’t know much about cars, but that sounds impressive to me.
Molly has only recently returned home to Australia after spending some time in Europe – with victories at the European and British ladies championships and various honours over the years at the World Rally Championship.
Like many of our female athletes (think Jessica Fox), talent in this sport runs in Molly’s family. Her mum Coral is also a four-time Australian champion co-driver.
I have a funny feeling this isn’t the last time you’ll be hearing Molly Taylor’s name – I think I may have a new found interest in cars.
There were a number of women in sport recognised this week for their outstanding contributions across the board.
Maddison Elliot was named Sydney City Toyota Female Athlete of the year at the NSW Institute of Sport awards this week.
Some of my favourite athletes were also in the running for this award including Jessica Fox and Sharni Layton.
It has been a standout year for Maddison who represented Australia in her second Paralympic games and came home with three gold medals, two silver medals and set two world records. She has also been named the NSW Institute of Sport Regional Athlete of the Year and Mizuno Junior Athlete of the Year.
Matilda Sacha Wainwright and former International Referee Tammy Ogston were inducted into the Football Federation Australia Hall of Fame this week for their sustained and meritorious contribution to Australian football.
This week I also wanted to congratulate Chemist Warehouse who have signed on as a major sponsor of the Collingwood Magpies Netball team.
They join a long list of companies like NAB, Buildcorp, Samsung Australia and Harvey Norman who have already signalled that women’s sport is worth supporting. I’m just waiting for the rest of corporate Australia to click on.
The countdown to the WBBL is now officially on. Only two more weekends to go before the opening game.
Until next week.
Bring it on.