By Tanya Faulkner
The youngest of local footy lovers are welcoming a new football tournament.
This year the Eastern Football Netball League (EFNL) introduced a brand new tournament for local under 8-year-old girls to inspire our youngest football players to stay in the game.
EFNL junior football manager Paul Giannopolous said they needed something to bridge the gap between the younger females in the sport, through to Aus Kick and the under 10s league.
“We needed something to keep young girls in football, and give them new pathways to progress up the different levels.
“Before this tournament we only had the Under 8s and 9s mixed tournament, but we found that the girls just wanted to play with girls,” he said.
Mr Giannopolous said his daughter was in the particular age bracket at hand, so he could see the issue first hand.
The EFNL needed at least 4 teams to get started on the tournament, which will run in-house with the help of AFL Victoria, for the foreseeable future while it builds in popularity.
“We got some funding for new jerseys for the girls and to help with the running costs of the tournament in-house, so we can focus on building numbers in that age group,” said Mr Giannopolous.
He said the club’s goal is to turn into a fully fledged season in the future.
“Whether its’ a shorter season to get started or a bit longer, we want to give the girls new opportunities in football and keep them interested,” he said.
They are hoping to hold for 6-8 weeks in future, with bigger goals at achieving a full tournament.
Since being launched this year, the EFNL has had 4 teams with around 35 girls a side, coming along to Kings Park in Upper Ferntree Gully for a kick of the ball.
“We got all of the girls new jumpers with cute little nicknames on them, and they also got a wate bottle and a footy each to take home,” said Mr Giannopolous.
The club introduced modified rules for the girls, which included no tackling, playing on a smaller ground, no kicking off the ground and no scoring.
“Basically, we want it to be very simple for the girls, making sure everyone has a touch of the ball and gets some play on the field each week,” said Mr Giannopolous.
He said overall the club has received great feedback from the community who have got involved so far, and it’s rewarding to see excited parents coming down and watching their kids getting involved in footy.
“The feedback is that girls tend to do a bit of Aus Kick then drop out because they’re not ready to play mixed football with the boys.
“This tournament will keep the girls playing at a younger age, with just girls, and help build up the overall footy season with new pathways in our community,” said Mr Giannopolous.
He said it’s been a good start to what the football club wants to achieve with the tournament in future.
