JUNIORS DREAM OF OUR TEAM
Girls have eyes on big league too
THE best Tassie footy juniors are excited at the prospect of a future AFL and AFLW club based in the state. Claremont under-14s captain Georgia Clark, front centre, said: “Having an AFLW team in Tasmania would give young girls like myself a goal to aspire towards. It would … give us something to be proud of.”
FOR years the honour of representing the state at the highest level has been a dream of many Tasmanian footballers.
But for so long the dream of pulling on ‘the map’ was a goal only male footballers could imagine.
While many young male footballers still hope to one day have a Tasmanian AFL team to be drafted to, there’s a growing number of young girls also wishing for a Tassie team at the top.
Georgia Clark, 13, and Maci Lancaster, 14, who each captain their underage side at Claremont and Kingborough football clubs, have visions of one day getting a Tasmanian AFLW team to play for.
“Having an AFLW team in Tasmania would give young girls like myself a goal to aspire towards. It would also bring the football community together across the state and give us something to be proud of,” Georgia said.
“It would be incredible to have the opportunity to put on the Tassie jersey and run out in front of a Tassie home crowd in the big league. I would feel pride in knowing that I am an inspiration to younger girls in Tasmania.”
Maci agreed. “I would love to see a Tasmanian team in the AFLW, so that girls like myself are able to have a goal, and strive to play at the highest level, within our own state.
“To play for the Tasmanian team in the AFLW would be an awesome privilege.”
Tasmania’s case for AFL and AFLW entry has seen growth in recent years, as has female football participation in the state — growing from 1735 in 2017 to 2520 in 2018.
Tasmanian-born AFL great Nick Riewoldt — a member of the taskforce assigned to deliver a business case to the AFL for a Tassie team — this week said confidence of Tasmania joining the national league had never been higher.