Victorian Women's Football League
Current season or competition: 2011 VWFL season |
|
 |
|
| Sport | Women's Australian rules football |
|---|---|
| Inaugural season | 1981 |
| No. of teams | 31 |
| Country(ies) | Australia |
| Most recent champion(s) | Darebin Falcons (2010) |
| Most titles | Scorpians (11) |
| Official website | [2] |
The Victorian Women's Football League (VWFL) is the oldest and largest Australian rules football league for women in the world, consisting of 22 clubs and 30 teams from Victoria, Australia across four divisions and a total of over 1,000 players.
The VWFL complies with the Laws of Australian football. The official ball, a Sherrin, used by the VWFL is a custom made size 4.5 ball.
[edit] History
Women's football was organised with the formation of the Victorian Women's Football League in 1981 with four teams competing at open level.
In 1995, Sal Rees caused controversy for applying for the 1995 AFL Draft.[1] The draft was later amended to disallow women from taking part.
The VWFL grew quickly, increasing dramatically the number of players and participating teams with a Division 3 added in 2001.
In 2002 VWFL player Debbie Lee made headlines for pushing to play against men in the made-for-television team the Hammerheads. She has commented, "My whole idea with the Hammerheads was to promote women's football. At no point in time did I really think I was going to play against the men, and frankly it wouldn't really have been smart for me to do that. My whole idea was to cause a bit of activity." [2]
An U17 Youth Girls Competition was established by Football Victoria in 2004 primarily to provide a pathway to the VWFL. This was following legal action taken against them in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (following a complaint to the Equal Opportunity Commission) by junior players Penny Cula-Reid, Emily Stayner, and Helen Taylor.
In 2005 the VWFL celebrated its 25th birthday and created a reserves competition for Division 1.
In 2006, the league posted a $6000 loss, however this was turned around in 2007 with a $19000 profit was posted at the end of 2007. 2007 saw five divisions (Premier seniors & reserves, North West, South East & Country) and 27 teams (from 20 clubs) and culminated in an Australian crowd record for women's Australian rules at the 2007 Grand Final held on 19 August at the Preston City Oval in Melbourne. Two finals matches were also held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground for the first time.
The work done by the VWFL Media Manager Leesa Catto was instrumental in increasing media coverage across the competition. A significant partnership was negotiated with the Leader News group and weekly coverage was captured across the Melbourne Metropolitan area. Events like the participation of two VWFL players Shannon McFerran and Daisy Pearce in the E. J. Whitten Legends Game also helped lift the profile of the league.[3]
[edit] Media coverage
In 2010 VWFL media coverage was captured across a range of mediums including;
- Herald Sun, The Age, Leader, Star news & Fairfax
- TV
- Sunrise, Channel 31
- Radio
- 774 ABC Melbourne, 3AW, SEN 1116
[edit] Clubs
Premier Division
| Club | Nickname | Location | Coach | Captain |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Berwick WFC | Wickers | Berwick, Victoria | Steve Smith | |
| Darebin WFC | Falcons | Fairfield, Victoria | Daisy Pearce | |
| Diamond Creek WFC | Creekers | Plenty, Victoria | Grant Barden | DI Haines |
| East Burwood WFC | Devils | East Burwood, Victoria | Brian D'arcy | Lou Wotton |
| Melbourne University | Mugars | Parkville, Victoria | Michael Sandry | |
| Scoresby WFC | Magpies | Scoresby, Victoria | ||
| VU-St Albans WFC | Spurs | St Albans, Victoria | Debbie Lee | Shannon McFerron |
| St Kilda WFC | Sharks | St Kilda, Victoria | Brad Mogford | Tammy Norquay |
| Sunbry WFC | Lions | Sunbry, Victoria | Mick Bell |
North West Division
- Bendigo Football Club
- Braybrook Football Club
- Bell Post Hill Football Club
- Lalor Park Stars Football Club Official Site
- La Trobe University Football Club
- Melton Centrals
- North Ballarat Football Club
South East Division
- Chirnside Park Football Club
- Cranbourne Football Club
- Gembrook-Cockatoo Football Club
- Hallam Football Club
- Keysborough [3]
- St Johns Old Collegians
- South Mornington
[edit] Facts and figures
[edit] Division One/Premier Division
| Year | Premier | Helen Lambert Medal - Best & Fairest | Rohenna Young Medal - Leading goal kicker | Lisa Hardeman Medal - Best on ground in GF |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | VU-St Albans | Daisy Pearce (Darebin) | Sarah d'Arcy 51 (East Burwood) | Karen Paxmen (VU-St Albans) |
| 2010 | Darebin | Daisy Pearce (Darebin) & Lou Wotton (East Burwood) | Jane Lange 52 (Darebin) | Aasta O'Connor (Darebin) |
| 2009 | Darebin | Daisy Pearce (Darebin) | Brittney Grech 58 (Diamond Creek) | Daisy Pearce (Darebin) |
| 2008 | Darebin | Cecilia McIntosh (Melbourne Uni) | ||
| 2007 | Darebin | Shannon McFerran (St Albans) | ||
| 2006 | Darebin | Shannon McFerran (St Albans) | Moana Hope (Darebin) | |
| 2005 | Melbourne University | |||
| 2004 | St Albans | Debbie Lee (St Albans) | ||
| 2003 | Melbourne University | Megan Hutchins (Deakin Uni) | ||
| 2002 | Melbourne University | |||
| 2001 | Parkside Magpies | |||
| 2000 | Parkside Magpies | |||
| 1999 | St Kilda | |||
| 1998 | St Kilda | |||
| 1997 | Albion Cats | |||
| 1996 | Darebin (Fairfield) | |||
| 1995 | Northcote Park Scorpions | |||
| 1994 | East Brunswick Scorpians | |||
| 1993 | East Brunswick Scorpians | |||
| 1992 | Ballarat Lions | |||
| 1991 | East Brunswick Scorpians | |||
| 1990 | Ballarat Eagles | |||
| 1989 | Parkville Scorpians | |||
| 1988 | Parkville Scorpians | |||
| 1987 | Parkville Scorpians | |||
| 1986 | Gladstone Park Burra | |||
| 1985 | Aberfeldie Scorpions | |||
| 1984 | Aberfeldie Scorpions | |||
| 1983 | Hallam Cobras | |||
| 1982 | Broadmeadows Scorpions | |||
| 1981 | Broadmeadows Scorpions |
[edit] Premier Reserves
| Year | Premier | Fraser Griffiths Medal | Leading Goal Kicker | Best on Ground In Grand Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Darebin | Natasha Hardy (Sunbry) | Melissa Beadles 24 (East Burwood) | Gemma Anderson (Darebin) |
| 2010 | Darebin | Belinda Bowey (St Kilda) | Rebecca Hickmont 31 (Darebin) | Laura Cartledge (East Burwood) |
| 2009 | Darebin | Rebecca Hickmont (Darebin) | ||
| 2008 | East Burwood | Kristy Baeffel (St Kilda) | ||
| 2007 | Darebin | |||
| 2006 | St Kilda | Jessica Williams (Melbourne Uni) | Ivanna Hern (St Kilda) | |
| 2005 | Melbourne University |
[edit] Premiers: North West Conference
2011 La Trobe Uni
2010 Sunbury Lions
2009 Sunbury Lions
2008 Heidelberg Tigers
2007 Hadfield Hawks
2006 Diamond Creek Demons
[edit] Premiers: South East Conference
2011 Hallam Hawks
2010 South Mornington Tigerettes
2009 Scoresby Magpies
2008 Scoresby Magpies
2007 Eastern Lions
2006 Berwick Wickers
[edit] Premiers: Country Conference
2007 Melton Centrals
2006 Geelong Cheetahz
[edit] Premiers: Division Two
2005 Lalor Bloods
2004 St Kilda Sharks
2003 Melbourne University Mugars
2002 East Geelong Eagles
2001 Hadfield Hawks
2000 North Heidelberg Bulldogs
1997 St Kilda Sharks
[edit] Premiers: Division Three
2005 Diamond Creek Demons
2004 Berwick Wickers
2003 Surrey Park Panthers
2002 Mordialloc Redbacks
2001 Ferntree Gully Kangaroos
[edit] VWFL Life Members
2009 Leesa Catto
2009 Bron McGorlick
2008 Kerryn Stephen
2006 Chyloe Kurdas
2005 Di Smith
2004 Belinda Bowey
2003 Sally Rees, Rohenna Young
2002 Debbie Lee, Kerry Saunders
2001 Nicole Graves
2000 Lisa Hardeman (Who the premier div best on ground medal is named after)
1999 Ann Rulton (who the Volunteer Award is named after)
1998 Julie Allen
1997 Dianne Vaux
1996 Bernadette Marantelli
1995 Coral White
1990 Jan Wilson, Janet Graham
1983 Helen Lambert (who the Premier div Best and Fairest is named after - she is also the founding President of the League)
[edit] Top 10 Most Games Played (as at end of 2004)
195 Sally Rees (Darebin Falcons)
184 Di Smith (Darebin Falcons)
179 Kerry Saunders (Darebin Falcons)
177 Andrea Dalgleish (Melbourne Uni Mugars)
168 Di Vaux (Parkside Magpies)
166 Debbie Lee (St Albans Spurs)
163 Peta Searle (Darebin Falcons)
161 Belinda Bowey (St Kilda Sharks)
153 Nicole Graves (Darebin Falcons)
144 Kerri Piner (St Albans Spurs)
[edit] 2004 All Australian Team Members
Coach: Greg Seton-Lonsdale (ACT)
[edit] Victoria
Lauren Bazeley
Moana Hope
Meg Hutchins
Debbie Lee (captain)
Shannon McFerran
Lesley Ann McGannon
Liz Skinner
[edit] ACT
Toni Alexandrow
Emily Diprose
Alana Lowes
Alison Smith
[edit] NSW
Stephanie Foster (voted Best & Fairest by the umpires)
Jemma Stills
Kerry Taylor
Megan Webster
[edit] NT
Shannon Byrne
Natasha Medbury
[edit] SA
Kris Britt
Lauren Ebsary
Sheron Ford
[edit] Australian Defence Force
Emma Hender
Kelly McFarlane
[edit] See also
- List of Australian rules football women's leagues
- List of Australian rules football leagues in Australia
- Women's Footy
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- VWFL Official website - fixtures, results, history, photographs
- VCAT ruling (PDF)
- Analysis of VCAT ruling
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||
