The Peel Football and Netball League has confirmed the first three clubs successful in their application to field a team in the inaugural women’s competition in 2018.
South Mandurah, Baldivis and Dwellingup will all take part in the PFNL’s first ever female league after their bids to build a team were accepted by the league.
PFNL chairman Barry Butterworth said it was an exciting time for the league, with the wheels now in motion for the 2018 season.
“We’re thrilled that these clubs have pushed so hard to be part of our first ever women’s season,” he said.
“Each of them has been extremely supportive of the movement, and they’re all very eager to help us get women playing footy at the country level.”
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The league is still open to welcoming more clubs to its female competition, and hopes another will come forth to even the fixture.
“Either way, it’s going to be an exciting competition and will be a huge benefit to our league,” Butterworth said.
“The first season will give us a good indication of what we need to do, and it’s our vision that it will simply build from that as more and more women in our region realise they can play footy now.”
South Mandurah president Darren Dews said women’s footy was a natural progression of the game and would be a significant boost for the PFNL.
“I think with the hype around the AFL Women’s and the way footy is moving forward now, it’s just common sense to have a local league,” he said.
“For us as a club, it’s pretty special to be one of the first teams – we’ve pushed hard to be a big part of women’s footy locally so we’re stoked.
“We had our first session a few nights ago and had 10 girls there, so now we’ll just need to build on that.”
Games for the competition will be played in between the men’s reserves and league games, spanning across four 15-minute quarters.
Teams will be allowed a maximum of 24 players, with an “even-up” rule in place for those who fall short on numbers.