SWANS AIM FOR ANOTHER BLITZ
THE Curra Swans are ready to help drive a female footy revolution in Townsville.
The Swans women’s team was only formed last season, but they’ve shown they can be a genuine premiership threat in 2019 after going unbeaten to win the recent preseason blitz.
Female footy has grown leaps and bounds in Townsville with every senior club now fielding a women’s side along with the addition of a Youth Girls (12 to 16 years) competition for the first time this season.
Swans coach Cath Loveday described winning the preseason blitz as a welcome surprise, but she felt her players had earned their success with strong numbers at every training session.
“I know that we did preseason well and we’ve put a lot of things into practice that I was happy with,” she said.
“Last year we were training twice a week and one session was really full of players and the second session was more of a recovery and we’d get maybe half a team turn up, whereas this year we’re really pushing those numbers across both training sessions and it’s paying off.
“I think the girls have just realised the results that they’re getting from actually playing and training those extra sessions. They’re just keen to get around the club and get around each other and enjoy that atmosphere.”
Along with the seniors and Youth Girls competitions, AFL Queensland has also introduced a Townsville Women’s High Performance Program this season.
Loveday said it was heartening to see the improvement across every Townsville team over the past 12 months and she believed their numbers would only continue to grow on the back of the AFLW’S success.
“Looking at what’s happening within the AFLW and seeing the response from the community on a national level is huge,” she said.
“I think definitely with the Youth Girls, a lot of them have come from other sports and they’ve seen what’s happening across the board and they’ve said let’s get onto this as well.
“We’re up to a five-team comp (for the senior women) and it looks like there could be a sixth team entering in the near future so it’s all happening.”
Loveday said the new Youth Girls competition would be a critical part of that player development in Townsville.
“Previously it’s just been having a bit of fun with it, but this year’s an actual sanctioned competition so they’re playing for points and trophies at the end of the season,” she said.