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It’s blatantly obvious to say that female football has taken the nation by storm.
However, while many are mesmerised by the classy footwork that the girls display, some ridicule their adequacy in Australia’s greatest sport.
Of course, it is the small minority who shame the outcome of the league, spoiling the fresh excitement that derives from this new prospect of sporting history.
In 2017, eight teams will go head to head in a competitive two-month season, which is expected to be full of fierce rivalry and exhilarating entertainment.
The development of this league is such a vibrant outlook on the future of not only female football, but more importantly, female sport nationwide.
The traditionalists of the game are typically the culprits of doubt, as they misinterpret the level of skill that these elite athlete possess.
These athletes need to be treated like AFL players, not like women drowning in the depths of such a male-dominated sport.
Women are barely floating in this pool of discrimination – a pool that the small minority enforce upon these talented girls – as they don’t appreciate their sheer skill, their sky-rocketing development and their overall demeanor to succeed.
Despite the ludicrous and unreasonable criticism, it is clearly evident that this doesn’t faze these women.
In fact, their resilience and constant positive attitude enables them to serve as role models for thousands of young girls nationwide – a prospect that these selfish critics could never live up to.
The success of the league has been thrown into widespread questioning, as crowd attendance plays a huge factor in stabilising the league economically for future generations.
The pessimists of this exciting development are quick to criticise the ability of these girls to attract the flocks of footy fanatics through the stadium gates.
However, what they seem to forget is that these women have already broken records without even establishing their own league.
The first ever female match that was televised was played between Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs, and it attracted a higher TV audience than the AFL game that was shown later on in the day.
On another note, with a huge number of high profile clubs bidding for a team, it is obvious that their supporters will eagerly jump on board to support the development of women’s football, as they run onto the coveted grounds of Australia in their respective teams’ proud colours.
Moreover, playing in February will attract footy-hungry fans who are desperate to see some oval-shaped action and fill their AFL void.
However, the season simply isn’t long enough, as the girls only play two months to make way for the prestigious players of the AFL.
It’s almost as if women’s football is men’s football’s annoying younger sister, as the men don’t seem to endorse the fact they are no longer the stars of the show anymore.
The rule changes that girls have had to suddenly adapt to are quite outrageous, as the girls have grown up watching and playing the marvelous sport of AFL and have got used to the rules that have prevailed throughout the amazing lifespan of the league.
However, they didn’t realise that once they’d get the opportunity to play in a nationwide league, that they’d only get to play 17 minute quarters, or that they wouldn’t be able to experience a boundary throw-in stoppage, or that they’d only play a two month season.
These girls aren’t the AFL’s guinea pigs, they are elite athletes and don’t deserve to be forced to change the way that they play just to accommodate the AFL’s experiment.
Unfortunately, this treatment isn’t new to these highly talented females, as they’ve been dealing with subjective criticism throughout their sporting life.
Modified rules such as no boundary throw-ins, shorter quarters and shorter seasons belong in junior football, in a bid to focus on basic skills rather than technical execution.
The AFL must realise that females aren’t juniors. They’re athletes who represent their team to the eyes of the nation.
Sound familiar? That’s because this is the same job description as male AFL players, therefore, females deserve equal playing rights to make this sport an even greater spectacle for all fans to enjoy.
Despite the odds being against them, these athletes have continued to work immensely hard to play the sport they love at a national level.
Much of this progress came from being able to utilise the facilities at Carlton’s Ikon Park, where the females got to experience intense training, strength and conditioning and most importantly, team bonding.
These athletes have now been granted the opportunity to showcase their skills and significant evolvement to excited audiences all over Australia.
Moreover, their success has been recognised at a community level as well, with many junior clubs fielding female football teams- some have even more girls’ teams than boys’ teams!
The 2017 women’s football league will be a ground breaking feat that will tell the pessimistic critics of the Australian sporting community to, in the words of Michelle Payne, ‘get stuffed!’
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