AFL reveals 10-year vision to develop women's game

The AFL has released an ambitious plan for the women's game aiming to make 50% of coaches in the AFLW system female and to have the most engaged audience across any women's sporting competition in Australia.

The 10-year 'Women's Football Vision' also outlines to make AFLW players the highest paid female athletes in the country and to achieve equal gender participation and representation in the sport at community level.

Announced on Wednesday, the Vision encompasses all levels of the female game from elite to juniors and grassroots and inclusive of administration, umpiring and coaching.

Explaining that that AFL has also launched a female coaching acceleration program, to help fast-track their development and pathway into the senior coaching ranks, AFL General Manager of Women's Football, Nicole Livingstone explained “women have been playing football for more than 100 years ... there are countless moments where women have overcome significant barriers to be able to play the game they love and it is a credit to those who paved the way for current and future stars on and off the field.

"Our Women's Football Vision is a reflection of the AFL's absolute commitment to continuing to build on the work of those pioneers and to progress Australian Football at every level of the game."

The plan cites that women's participation rates have risen dramatically since the inception of the AFLW in in 2017, with more than 200,000 women and girls playing the sport from a community level.

However, with 2019 figures showing only 10.5% of umpires and 6.8% of coaches are women, Livingstone added “we are working towards a future where women's sport continues to be more visible and more valued, where there is equal opportunity for women to play, coach, umpire, administer and govern the game, where talent pathways are visible and well-resourced, where we have 18 teams in high-performance environments and where our AFLW players are the highest paid domestic sportswomen in the country.

"Five seasons in and our AFLW competition has made great headway, however we have much work to do. Our mission remains to accelerate the growth of the AFLW economy to create greater opportunities on and off the field for our best women players and administrators."

However, the Vision also calls out that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander girls and women are underrepresented at all levels of the sport, and face additional challenges "including dealing with the intersection of racism and sexism and the corresponding social, economic, political impacts," with access to facilities due to the remote or regional location of communities another factor.

It also notes that of venues that host women's football, but only 35% have ‘female friendly’ changerooms.

While identifying three pillars to help direct the development of women's football - participation (inclusive of coaching, umpiring and administration), pathways and performance, and partnerships, the Vision does not reveal whether the AFLW season will be moved to the winter to align with the AFL, or if a full-length season played by full-time athletes is a target.

Images: The West Coast Eagles AFLW players with fans (top) and Reclink's AFL program for women (below).