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See Also: Australian rules football player jostles for best position in an overhead Mark ing contest while Tackle d Darebin Falcons player lies down.]] " to penalise Darebin and award Melbourne University a free kick.]] player executes a strong and legal bump on a Darebin Falcons player as both contest possession of a grounded ball (from the 2007 Victorian Women's Football League Grand Final). This is a well executed bump. Note that her elbow tucked is tucked in and her body's posture and low centre of gravity is to avoid illegal high contact (which would result in a free kick to her opponent). She uses her hip and shoulder and full body weight to hit her opponent off balance to clear the way for her to gain possession of the ball.]] , a non-contact variety of football played with tags, played in mixed competitions.]] ]] , the United States , Papua New Guinea and New Zealand . In some games in Japan a Sherrin ball is used. In the Victoria anual metro vs country match, a pink sherrin ball is used.]] . Modified games are also played on fields of smaller size with less players.]] Women's Australian Rules Football (also known as ''Women's Aussie Rules'', ''Women's footy'' or in areas where it is popular, simply ''football'') is a fast growing Sport played at senior level in Australia , United States , England , New Zealand , Canada and Japan . At junior level, it is also played in Papua New Guinea and South Africa . Although it is a Contact Sport , women's Australian rules is sometimes played with modified rules for Women from the Men 's game. It is less brutal on the body than Women's American Football , Women's Rugby League or women's Rugby Union and offers more physicality than Women's Soccer , as well as requiring both hand and foot co-ordination. It is a fast-paced Team Sport and is played by women of all shapes and sizes. HISTORY Australian rules football had been played by men for over 60 years before the first women's football match was played in 1921 at the Junction Oval . Public attitudes and Sexism generally prevented women from participating in organised football. However both world wars were are great liberator for women, as the men fought in the war, women were often called to perform a lot of the hard work typically done by men and this included spectator sports. It was appropriate that following World War I , an exhibition match be held to show that women could play what had previously been seen to be a man's sport. The first women's match attracted a large crowd and interest. The umpre wore a dress.AFL Record. Round 19 (Women's Round), 2007. Pg 8 Beyond this and occasional matches over the years, women's football was not organised. Women's football was first organised with the formation of the Victorian Women's Football League in 1981 with four teams competing at open level. It was in 2000 that the sport began to rapidly grow, with the number of registered teams increasing by a phenomenal 450%. Women in a League of their own from theage.com.au In 2005, the VWFL celebrated it’s 25th anniversary. There are now about 120 teams in the world. Australian rules football is becoming more and more popular with women and girls, particularly young women. In 2006, 22 years was the average age of players in the VWFL. The first ever full international was held between the USA "Freedom" and Team Canada in Vancouver on Saturday 4th August, 2007 in front of a crowd of almost 2,500. Women's international footy - Canada versus USA from worldfootynews.com US Freedom dominate in first women's international from worldfootynews.com The VWFL set an Australian crowd record in the 2007 Grand Final held on 19th August at the Preston City Oval in Melbourne . MODIFIED RULES Some competitions, but not all, are played with modified rules. Intro to Women's AFL from swafl.com The main rule differences in Women's Footy as opposed to Australian rules football involves modified Tackling rules. Typically aggressive slinging (swinging a player by the jumper or throwing the player to the ground) of oppositions players in a tackle is not allowed. Like the men's game, head high contact is strictly not allowed. Another main difference is the size of the ball. A smaller ball to the men's version is often used to minimise hand injuries when catching ( Marking ) the ball. IN OCEANIA In Australia There are women's Australian rules football teams in all States And Territories Of Australia except Tasmania . Unlike senior men's Aussie Rules in Australia and sports such as Netball and Basketball , there are as yet no semi-professional leagues for women. At present, all state competitions are amateur and there is no national competition, however state representative teams do compete in the AFL National Women's Championships . In Australia, a total of 18,609 girls and women played Australian rules football in 2005 and in 2006 48,054 women payed the sport in Australia , and it is one of the fastest growing sports among women in Australia. {Link without Title} The main women's competitions are the Victorian Women's Football League and the Sydney Women's AFL. Football is ''not'' played with modified tackling rules; the same rules as men's football apply. The only differences to the men's game are shorter quarters and a slightly smaller ball is used. In 1998, Auskick , a national program began. The program was designed to introduce the game to primary school aged children. By 2006, it had over 140,000 participants each year. Though the program was never specifically aimed at girls, the safe non-contact environment proved popular and in 2007 about 16% (12%) in of all Auskick participants were female. A U17 Youth Girls Competition was established by Football Victoria in 2004. This was following legal action taken against them in the Victorian Civil And Administrative Tribunal (following a complaint to the Equal Opportunity Commission ) by Penny Cula-Reid, Emily Stayner, and Helen Taylor. Vic girls take AFL fight to court from ABC News The three schoolgirls were banned from playing in junior leagues, with fears of expensive insurance liability in case of injury and "medical reasons" being cited by Football Victoria (i.e. the physical differences between the bodies of boys and girls). The court found in favour of the girls in February 2004. In response to the ruling, the U17 Youth Girls Competition began in May, with 122 girls participating. In total by 2006, there are about 120 women's Australian rules football clubs in Australia. In 2007, Natasha Puatjimi, a 13-year-old from the Tiwi Islands made history becoming the first girl to win a junior league best & fairest. She was been crowned best and fairest player in the Yarra Junior Football League's under 13 (blue) division for her dazzling displays for Ivanhoe. After her win, she was invited to train with legendary Kevin Sheedy and the Essendon Bombers . Nat has footbball boys beaten National Championships Women's Football Australia are responsible for the annual AFL National Women's Championships . In 2005, two teams from Victoria , a senior and an under-19s side and teams from the ACT , Northern Territory , New South Wales , South Australia , Western Australia , the Australian Defence Force and Queensland participated. Victoria has won the past 13 championships and surprisingly, in 2005 the Victorian U19 state side won the cup. In 2006, VIC Seniors 18. 7 (125) def Western Australia 2 .1 (13). =All-Australian Team 2006 An All-Australian Team is selected from each national championships, the most recent of which is:
;National team The national team is known as the "Kangaroos" and will compete againstthe USA ''Freedom'', the Canadian ''Eagles'' and the Papua New Guinea ''Kurakums'' in the 2008 Australian Football International Cup Australian Football International Cup in Melbourne. Victoria See Also: Victorian Women's Football League Organised women's Australian rules football has been played in Victoria since 1981 with the formation of the Victorian Women's Football League (VWFL), the oldest and largest Australian rules football league for women in the world. Women's football in Victoria has a comparatively high profile in the media. League president . Rockers roll disc jocks in a game called, charitably, football from theage.com.au The VWFL is an open age Women's Footy competition which began in 1981 with four teams. In the following decades it has grown substantially and now features 3 division structure and as well as many clubs fielding teams in the reserve grades for the first and second division. In 2004 the League affiliated with Football Victoria . In 2005 there were 24 teams (from 20 clubs) in total, with over 800 women taking part. Football Victoria has promoted the sport to high school girls in 2004 as part of the Youth Girls Competition , leading to leading to nearly 12,000 high school girls taking part in Australian Rules as a school sport. Victoria fields both senior and under 19 in the AFL Women's National championships and have been the dominant state, with the two teams combined having won every one of the 15 national titles. Daisy's in a league of her own from realfooty.com.au Western Australia See Also: West Australian Women's Football League Organised Women's Australian rules football has been played in Western Australia since 1988, with the first premiership being won by Mt Lawley. Although it has less clubs than Queensland, Western Australia is considered the strongest women's state outside of Victoria, having been runner-up in the AFL Women's State Championships to Victoria-Senior in 2007, though it is a far second, having been defeated by a minimum of 50 points in both 2006 and 2007. In 2006, there were 9 clubs, centred around metropolitan Perth . At junior level there are Auskick programs in Western Australia and girl but as yet no youth league. South Australia See Also: South Australian Women's Football League In 1990 a group of South Australia n women helped instigate exhibition match between a South Australian side and the Victorian Women's Football League. The success of the match saw the formation of the SAWFL for the next season. In 2006, there were 4 clubs, centred around metropolitan Adelaide . South Australia are currently working with the SANFL's Affiliated Junior District Leagues to establish a Youth Girls competition due to commence 2008. New South Wales See Also: Sydney Women's AFL The Sydney Women's AFL competition is the only organised women's football in New South Wales . It has been running since 2000 and has grown substantially in popularity. Centred around metropolitan Sydney it had 10 clubs in 2007. As yet, there is no junior league, although there are Auskick programs in place. Australian Capital Territory See Also: ACTWAFL Organised women's football has been played in the Australian Capital Territory since 1997. There are 7 clubs from around Canberra including university and defence force teams Queensland = South-east Queensland League See Also: Queensland Women's AFL
=Cairns League A Cairns league kicked off around 2004 and quickly grew to six teams. The league supplied nearly half the Queensland representatives at the 2006 state championships. Current clubs include:
North Cairns are the dominant team, winning grand finals in 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007. North Cairns Womens Team Wins Fourth Grand Final from northcairnstigers.com.au =Townsville League A Townsville league kicked off in 2005. Women pull on the jersey from ABC News =Mackay League A Mackay league kicked off in 2005. Northern Territory See Also: Northern Territory Women's Aussie Rules Football Association
Australian Defence Force The Armed Forces In Australia are also involved in women's footy. Women's teams have competed in the Australian Services Australian Football Association Carnival, which is also run annually. In 2004 the first women’s Army Kangaroos team competed at the interservice level and won the championship defeating teams from both the Royal Australian Air Force and Royal Australian Navy teams. Papua New Guinea In 2006, AFL-Papua New Guinea announced their first women’s team (Under 16s) to take part in the Australian national women's tournament. PNG girls set to travel from worlfootynews.com It is estimated that there are around 200 women's Australian rules footballers in PNG. ;National team The national team is known as the "Karakums" and they have toured Australia for development championships. New Zealand The Canterbury AFL in Christchurch played the first official Women's Football Match in New Zealand late in 2006. Women's Football is a new sport in the country. The number of players is around 100. Women's Footy starts in Canterbury NZ from worldfootynews.com ;Current Clubs
IN AMERICA There are over 15 women's teams across North America and are around 300 players in the United States and 80 players in Canada. United States of America See Also: Women's Australian Football Association Leigh Swansborough of California began the USA women's league, organising teams to play in the inaugural women’s match in the US under modified tackling rules. The Orange County Bombshells and an all-comers team played in Kansas City in October 2003. The Bombshells ran out winners by 44 points. Atlanta Lady Kookaburras win first ever USAFL National Championships from worldfootynews.com Modified tackling rules were dropped in 2006. ;Governing body The governing body is the Women's Australian Football Association. ;National Team The national team, formed to compete against Canada, is known as the ''USA Freedom''. ;Clubs Current women's teams are:
;National Championships The USAFL National Championships incorporated a Women's Division for the first time in 2005. The Atlanta Lady Kookaburras won the inaugural Women's Division. Canada The first ever women's football game in , one of which is in in Toronto , and the other in Alberta in the Calgary area. ;Clubs
North Delta Junior Australian Football League formed in 2003
;National team The national team is known as the "Eagles" and they have competed against the USA freedom. IN EUROPE England The first ever women's footy match in the UK was organised by Aussie Rules UK and was held in London on 21 April 2007 as part of the ANZAC Sports Challenge. ;Current Clubs
IN ASIA Japan In Japan, Australian rules football is played in many universities. Women's footy is played by the Tokyo Geckos, the Irish Galahs (Gaelic football) and Osaka Bilbies. As yet, there are no national championships in Japan for Australian-rules-playing women. ;Clubs
IN AFRICA South Africa AFL South Africa runs a junior program which includes girls in mixed competition. There are plans for a junior girl's league in the North West Province . INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION There will be a women's division at the . The first ever full international was held between the USA "Freedom" and Team Canada in Vancouver on Saturday 4th August, 2007. Women's international footy - Canada versus USA from worldfootynews.com US Freedom dominate in first women's international from worldfootynews.com The US national women's team have plans to send a women's team to Australia for the 2008 Australian Football International Cup International Cup from womensfooty.com, although it is unclear as to whether the AFL plans a women's division and what teams may compete. USA FREEDOM from womensfooty.com Papua New Guinea's national team, the "Kurakums" competes in the AFL Womens National Championships championships. THE KURAKUMS from afl-png.com There are 51,504 players worldwide of which 3450 players are from leagues outside Australia International Rankings RELATED GAMES ]] Games of International Rules are also played by many women's leagues against Gaelic Athletic Association clubs. Recreational Football , a fully non-contact version of Australian rules football is also becoming popular amongst women in Australia and the United States. Many women's leagues also fall into the emerging 9-a-side Footy or Metro Footy format. SEE ALSO
REFERENCES EXTERNAL LINKS Leagues and Federations
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