Demons in National Women's League

[Gator 17,449]

The MFC and its support of women in football:

"The Melbourne Football Club continues to be an industry leader in supporting women in football. Through its AFL Women’s team and support of both senior and junior women’s football in Victoria, the club actively works to encourage the growth and development of the sport from the grassroots level through to elite senior football."

MELBOURNE AFL WOMEN’S TEAM

"The club actively pushed for a women’s national competition for a sustained period of time and saw its efforts come to fruition in the form of the inaugural AFL Women’s Draft and AFL Women’s Exhibition Match in 2013."

VICTORIAN WOMEN’S FOOTBALL LEAGUE SPONSORSHIP

"The Melbourne Football Club has been a major sponsor of the Victorian Women’s Football League (VWFL) since 2009.

The club is proud to be the first AFL club to financially support a women’s football league, delivering a variety of programs and initiatives to ensure women in football have the opportunity to develop their skills on and off the field."

SOUTH METRO JUNIOR FOOTBALL LEAGUE YOUTH GIRLS PARTNERSHIP

"The Melbourne Football Club is a proud partner of the South Metro Junior Football League (SMJFL) Under 10, Under 12, and Under 14 and Youth Girls competitions."

HALLAM SENIOR COLLEGE SPORTS ACADEMY – AFL

"The Melbourne Football Club supports the Hallam Senior College Sports Academy which offers female secondary school students a unique Australian Rules Football Development Program.

Melbourne supports the program through providing students with a variety of opportunities, including participation in the club’s work experience program, player visits, students leadership forums and student inductions sessions."

DELIGHT & SURPRISE

"The Melbourne Football Club is genuine in its support of women’s football. The club’s Delight and Surprise Program is an initiative that works to engage participants at the grassroots level of female football.

Each session of the program is run by one male and one female Melbourne Football Club player, who arrive unannounced at a local club training session to surprise Youth Girls footballers. The junior players then participate in a training session run by these elite footballers, along with receiving some special giveaways."

http://www.melbournefc.com.au/club/community/women

PLUS The MFC has:

- The MFC introduced a self esteem program for year 9 female students called Dare to Dream

- Launched the first under 12's football team and Tridents Academy

- Launched the first Auskick program for girls in primary schools

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It's fitting that the oldest football club in the league and the one that invented the rules of the game looks like getting the first licence for women's football. Melbourne has been supporting grass roots women's football for many years now and has many active programs in place.  

Whether it be pioneering the game 150 years ago, pioneering the Irish experiment, pioneering the Father/Son rule through to pioneering women's football, the MFC has led the way with major football initiatives and will rightly gain the forst licence of the AFL Women's League.

To think that some opposition clubs think they can waltz in and get preferential treatment when it's been the work of the MFC and Footscray that has led to the possibility of this league forming is arrogance in the extreme.  Although, I do like the mad scramble for licences now that the competition has become reality.  Clubs are falling over themselves to be part of it. 

[beelzebub 23,382]

So Eddie, lets compare our clubs

 

Melbourne...website promotes Women and the now integral part of our Women's team.. Oh thats right we have one....you DON"T

Melbourne: Been there from the start  the very essence of a FOUNDATION club...( AGAIN !!! )     Collingwood  ( insert 'crickets' "paint drying" " grass growing )

Ask anyone  ( semi intelligent and above , so probably other than a Collingwood supporter )  to name the face of Women's Footy  (  Thats  Daisy Pearce btw Eddie )...and she'd be from which club ?  ........ Melbourne.. The one along with the pups to have introduced it to the big time. 

 

And what mention of Womens footy on the Filth Site??  Sorry Trick Question Eddie !!

[Lucifers Hero 40,344]

Looks like the announcement on licences will be made on Wed.  http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/melbourne-questions-plans-for-eight-teams-in-afl-womens-league-20160610-gpgq0n.html 

And it seems we will get one:  The submissions of Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs stood out among the 13 the AFL received from clubs making their best case for a female team...' and '...The jury remains out on the other Victorian applicants: Richmond, Geelong, St Kilda, Collingwood, North Melbourne and Carlton, but the strong likelihood is that only two of those will join the Demons and Dogs'.

Will be interesting to see which Vic clubs miss out.  My only worry is that the AFL will use the licences for 'horse-trading' and conferring of fixture/venue favours to those clubs. The favours will be subtle eg more MCG games, better home game opponents, FTA games, fan friendly start times etc etc

It may be my MFCSS but I can't help but feel that even if we do get a licence we will lose out somewhere else...

Edit: Another example of PJ putting our club out there and positioning us for the future.  Well done mfc!

Edited June 10, 2016 by Lucifer's Hero

[Ricky P 757]

51 minutes ago, Lucifer's Hero said:

Looks like the announcement on licences will be made on Wed.  http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/melbourne-questions-plans-for-eight-teams-in-afl-womens-league-20160610-gpgq0n.html 

And it seems we will get one:  The submissions of Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs stood out among the 13 the AFL received from clubs making their best case for a female team...' and '...The jury remains out on the other Victorian applicants: Richmond, Geelong, St Kilda, Collingwood, North Melbourne and Carlton, but the strong likelihood is that only two of those will join the Demons and Dogs'.

Will be interesting to see which Vic clubs miss out.  My only worry is that the AFL will use the licences for 'horse-trading' and conferring of fixture/venue favours to those clubs. The favours will be subtle eg more MCG games, better home game opponents, FTA games, fan friendly start times etc etc

It may be my MFCSS but I can't help but feel that even if we do get a licence we will lose out somewhere else...

 

That's awesome news. Really proud of my club for driving this. Can't wait till we win the men's and women's flag in the same year!

[beelzebub 23,382]

Well done Dees, well done to all the lasses. Must be uber exciting for them.

Good that Jackson queries the League's stupidity.

[Deeoldfart 8,061]

On 20 February 2016 at 7:52 AM, fndee said:

Wherever the women's game goes from here I am proud that we, along with the Bullies. will go down as a foundation Club. I can see Daisy Pearce will become one of the first "revered" pioneer names in the game.

Just as we were a foundation club in the men's competition.

[Lucifers Hero 40,344]

Looks like we have a Women's Team!  Hooray!  http://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/carlton-collingwood-have-won-womens-team-licenses-ahead-of-st-kilda-north-melbourne-richmond-geelong/news-story/0ac7b446f8bc17436a6fbf1efdaa20a4

The 2017 women’s league:

Carlton

Collingwood

Western Bulldogs

Melbourne

GWS

Brisbane

Fremantle

Adelaide

Well done to everyone involved, over many years!

Edit: MFC announcement http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2016-06-15/melbourne-awarded-womens-team-licence

Edited June 15, 2016 by Lucifer's Hero

[TeamPlayedFine39 8,510]

Great news!  Hopefully the league gets given good exposure with venues, dates, times, etc.

Bring it on!

[beelzebub 23,382]

Good to see they went with 8 to begin with. A little sense permeating through.

Go Dees

[Goodvibes 3,596]

1 minute ago, beelzebub said:

Good to see they went with 8 to begin with. A little sense permeating through.

Go Dees

8 makes sense. 4 in Victoria and 2 in WA and QLD were a given. I'm not sure South Australia has fully committed to the development of female footy over the past decade but seem to have stepped up over the past 12 months. I'm not sure they have the depth of talent to be anywhere near the others. Likewise GWS will need to really work hard to find the talent to remain competitive. It will be interesting to see if the SA and NSW teams are filled with many Victorians as well as potentially WA and QLD girls.

Anyway, it's a pretty special day for those involved in female footy. The last 24 months have been amazing. The first couple of years will be a little rough but by taking the leap, elite women and girls from other sports will follow and the standard in 5 - 10 years time should be impressive. It will be interesting now to see how they divide up the talent regarding franchise players and how the draft will be structured. It's all got to happen very quickly. I hope they haven't left it too late.

[pineapple dee 2,892]

A fantastic day for football and womens' football in particular. This is no doubt one of the biggest positive steps for aussie rules in many years. It will be embraced by 10's of thousands of fans and it's about bloody time women are given a forum to showcase their talents and passion for the game. Make no mistake, this is a monumental day for the game.

Go DEEEEEES  !!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Skin Deeamond 339]

3 minutes ago, pineapple dee said:

A fantastic day for football and womens' football in particular. This is no doubt one of the biggest positive steps for aussie rules in many years. It will be embraced by 10's of thousands of fans and it's about bloody time women are given a forum to showcase their talents and passion for the game. Make no mistake, this is a monumental day for the game.

Go DEEEEEES  !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Monumentally irrelevant.

[Lucifers Hero 40,344]

43 minutes ago, Skin D said:

Monumentally irrelevant.

Booooo!  (Skin D please don't read the following)

While I'm booing - here is another boooo:  A women player will get between $10,000 and a top end player $25,000 per season!  Staggering given a male draftee gets at least $ $74,740 + in first year plus $3,660 per match.

Not saying women players should get the same but surely the proposed amount is ludicrous for the amount of time, energy etc and potential for injury.

Edit: updated draftee salary

Edited June 15, 2016 by Lucifer's Hero

[beelzebub 23,382]

1 minute ago, Lucifer's Hero said:

Booooo!  (Skin D please don't read the following)

While I'm booing - here is another boooo:  A women player will get between $10,000 and a top end player $25,000 per season!  Staggering given a male draftee gets at least $50,000+ in first year depending how many games are played.

Not saying women players should get the same but surely the proposed amount is ludicrous for the amount of time, energy etc and potential for injury.

Their season is but two months long to begin..  Theres a pro rata  all but. I dont think the lasses with be full time pros for some time yet.  

Its a beginning. I think it will kick off  in a big way.  Read an article  about  a young lady playing in Beauie. . Her male siblings  if they were any good could aspire to a career in our great game. Until today she couldnt.  Today she can dream, indeed even  look to one day playing  the game  at its highest level.  This is awesome. So may little tackers go through all the under age to be met with a brick wall . Boys...keep going...Girls...thanks for coming...you can buy a scarf and beanie over there....

I can see a groundswell of interest translating into the saving of a lot of suburban footy etc...because clever clubs will invoke a womens team.

Theres a lot of girls playing a lot of sports currently. Many of them lead to State and National representation just like the boys .  Now its fair

Some will no doubt just giggle and write this off as some form of Sporting PC folly.

Id love to know how many pairs of footy boots get bought by girls in the next few weeks !!

Again a big shout out to our great club for helping to pioneer this. 

Go Dees

[Wilson7 2,688]

8 minutes ago, Lucifer's Hero said:

Booooo!  (Skin D please don't read the following)

While I'm booing - here is another boooo:  A women player will get between $10,000 and a top end player $25,000 per season!  Staggering given a male draftee gets at least $50,000+ in first year depending how many games are played.

Not saying women players should get the same but surely the proposed amount is ludicrous for the amount of time, energy etc and potential for injury.

Where do you think the money is going to come from to pay bigger salaries ? The womens league is yet to prove if it can draw or make any money, if they can, salaries would be increased

[beelzebub 23,382]

7 minutes ago, DavidNeitz9 said:

Where do you think the money is going to come from to pay bigger salaries ? The womens league is yet to prove if it can draw or make any money, if they can, salaries would be increased

Also its a very  limited season to begin.  By way of comparison ask the Diamonds or  HockeyRoos what they get !!

Its a start.

[Lucifers Hero 40,344]

14 minutes ago, DavidNeitz9 said:

Where do you think the money is going to come from to pay bigger salaries ? The womens league is yet to prove if it can draw or make any money, if they can, salaries would be increased

The same place it comes from for auskick, GWS and GCS etc.   

AFL has said it is reserving some of the TV rights billions for game development.  If they want to attract women to the game starting at $10,000 and maxing at $25,000 won't be much of a carrot for the years of work a player needs to put in.  So there is a bit of a catch 22 in having to prove they can 'make money' before increasing salaries.  If that was the criteria some AFL clubs wouldn't exist.

Edit:  just saw your post bb - Diamonds and HockeyRoos don't have a multi billion dollar Franchisor aka AFL

Edited June 15, 2016 by Lucifer's Hero

[beelzebub 23,382]

4 minutes ago, Lucifer's Hero said:

The same place it comes from for auskick, GWS and GCS etc.   

AFL has said it is reserving some of the TV rights billions for game development.  If they want to attract women to the game starting at $10,000 won't be much of a carrot for the years of work a player needs to put in.  So there is a bit of a catch 22 in having to prove they can 'make money' before increasing salaries.  If that was the criteria some AFL clubs wouldn't exist.

Edit:  just saw your post bb - Diamonds and HockeyRoos don't have a multi billion dollar Franchisor aka AFL

No they dont LH...but they are playing at an International Level , often World Champs...and STILL dont get much in the way of $  Thats my comparison. 

Im sure the purse for the girls will grown with a suitable following. 

Theyll be effectively part-timers for a while.

[Bigred 494]

Well I'm happy

[beelzebub 23,382]

they can now...in a League of their own !! 

[Sir Why You Little 37,122]

Is this funded by the AFL or does the MFC foot the bill to have a team?

[PaulRB 6,411]

Do we get preference in recruiting the sons of 100+ game women? and visa-versa (daughters of 100+ game men)?

Please.

Edited June 15, 2016 by PaulRB

[Wiseblood 24,637]

I'll echo the sentiments of many when I say that I'm proud of the club for getting behind this initiative and for supporting it in such a positive manner.  It's great that we'll be remembered as one of the foundation clubs and that can only be a positive thing going forward for the club.

On the flip side I have no interest in watching women play footy, just as I'm sure there are women who have no interest in watching men play footy, but I'll be hoping the side does well and that we become a 'powerhouse' of women's footy over the coming years.

[Webber 10,538]

Terrific development, considering not just the fact that women's footy has been the fastest growing participant sport in Australia for the past 5 years, but that gender balance in club support and membership is one of the key points of difference in our game. Amazing in some ways that it's taken this long. It's also interesting that as the two 'foundation' clubs, MFC and the Bulldogs are the two Victorian clubs that have gone the longest time without a flag. Coincidence?! Well done DEES for your forward thinking and social responsibility. A great present day reward for having codified the sport back in 1858. There is no football without the Melbourne Football Club. 

[jane02 3,749]

I think its great and only sorry I am one or two decades too late. I would have loved to have played competition footy.

Nearly all of my family and friends who have young daughters take them to Aus Kick. They all love it and now can aspire to be the next Daisy Pearce.

Anything to get kids off their bums and outside.