THE Bendigo Pioneers, in conjunction with the GWV Rebels, will be aiming to put back into the local female football community after their Talent League match on Sunday, with the clubs hosting a come-and-try day for all girls aged 15-and-under.
Pioneers head coach Whitney Kennedy and Rebel head coach Sally Riley, along with the leadership groups of both clubs will conduct the session at the Alan Garden Reserve from 12.45pm Sunday.
The session will include a skills component, before a modified game during the half-time break of the Pioneers and Rebels boys Talent League game on the Swan Hill Recreation Reserve.
The session is aimed at promoting Aussie Rules to girls within the Central Rivers region, with the sport one of the fastest growing among females in the country.
It will be a session aimed at enjoyment as opposed to finding the next Eden Zanker, with Kennedy encouraging any of any playing ability and experience to come along.
“It’ll be an opportunity to for them to undertake a skill session and come down and have a bit of fun,” Kennedy told The Guardian this week.
“It’s more about having an opportunity for us to further connect with our region, as well as taking the opportunity to try and grow the game.
“It’s a great chance to get out and have a kick of the footy with some other girls and get some informal level of coaching and just have some fun.
“We thought it would be great way of connecting with some local girls, especially those girls who are out there and thinking about playing footy, whether they be experienced players or girls having a kick for the first time.
As part of their session, the Pioneers girls program have also extended an invitation for those girls interested to attend the teams pre-game meeting, scheduled to be held at 8.45am in the changerooms at the Swan Hill Recreation Reserve prior to their match against the Rebels.
For Kennedy and the Pioneers program, Sunday presented itself as the perfect opportunity to showcase their program and the sport to a whole new audience.
“Particularly in our region we have to try and give everyone, particularly the girls in this space, the opportunity wherever you can and I feel like if we don’t give them that opportunity this weekend, it’s a missed opportunity,” Kennedy said.
“We talk about getting the best talent from our region involved in our program and we have to make sure that we’re giving them the opportunity at some stage to actually showcase that talent and put some names to faces.
“That said, it’s not about us going out and searching for talent or anything like that, it’s just about providing an opportunity.
“If there are any girls out there that have an aspiration to take their footy further, then it’s about showcasing that there’s a pathway in this region for you and this is what it looks like.
“A part of that is they can come in, they can see our pre-game stuff and then they can come and watch the girls play.
“And we might get some girls who play footy and girls that are playing footy a lot into the skill session and we might get some girls who have never played, but that’s the whole purpose of it.
“It’s about educating them and making them and their families aware that there is a pathway to take your game to that next level.”
