Local Clubs

AFL is a prime sport for many Australians all over the country, whether you are 5 years old playing your first Auskick game or 35 and playing your 10th senior Grand final, local football clubs provide a sense of inclusion that no other club could. 

Everyone starts their football journey somewhere, often that place is within a local club setting in either a country or metro region. Whilst both country and metro local clubs can offer the same sense of inclusion, it has been found that often metro setting offer higher chances of getting into the state competitions, however this is not always the case. 

The passion and quality that is produced from Local clubs all over the nation is driven by the same contributing factor of participation and interest within the clubs region. The participation and interest from players, coaches, supports and game officials is what keeps these clubs up and running, this means that the higher the participation and interest is, the better the club becomes, meaning everyone has the chance to go higher.  Participation is a vital aspect in improving in the game, as often others are required to help build up the quality of knowledge and understanding that players, coaches and officials have of the game. 

Unfortunately when the AFL is first advertised towards the public, the immediate reaction implies that it is a male sport and that female participation is looked down upon, however in todays society whilst there is still criticism towards the female AFL community, this is a major and rapidly growing aspect of the game. Often, there are endless numbers of both young and senior participation from the male side of the game, meaning more teams are fielded and the game is more publicised due to the need of more supporters. There are also often more clubs and leagues available to the male AFL community, this is particularly seen in country areas where clubs, teams and leagues are made based on the population of the region, not the level of interest amongst both male and female communities. 

In Victoria alone, there are over 400,000 players, with an estimation that 1 in 3 are women, however male participation is still significantly higher. South Australia has recorded over 50,000 players, with an estimated 7000 of those being female. Each state offers over 300 teams that include both a male and female side, however is is estimated that there are a further 300 teams per state that only offer single gender teams. This can be a major contributing factor towards the participation of female athletes within the AFLW, due to the decreased amount of team opportunities to be a part of. 

For male players, often there are an abundance of leagues to choose from when enrolling to a club, this is particularly common in urban regions. However, country footballers often only have one league to choose from, this can also hinder the participation and inclusion of female players due to a smaller interest in a smaller population.

In 2022, the AFL conducted a survey to collect data on the inclusion and overall feed back on women and girls community football, before publishing the eye opening results to the public in 2023. clubs were selected at random by the AFL to gain more accurate results that they could take into consideration for improving the future of our game. 

Results from this survey showed that gender inequality is severely impacting the game with 1 in 5 female players believing that equal treatment of females at their club is missing, with 90% of those players agreeing that it needs to be improved. Further investigations showed that interest and participation issues are starting as early as between just 5 and 9 years old, with 57% of all female players stating that they don't plan on playing for more than a year or making a career out of the game due to the unclear pathways.  There are an abundance of aspects that the AFLW have ben able to take away from this survey and are currently aiming to rule out these disadvantages to help increase the interest and participation for the future generations of the great game. 

A major contributing factor towards the rising levels of disinterest among females relates towards the lack of support and discouraging public demeanour towards the female side of the game. From unnecessary comments made by the public to the attitude of players biggest supporters, this has proven to have a major impact on the way that females view the game.  Many believe that this is an urgent improvement that the AFLW need to make to help support the upcoming generation of players.

From this research, the AFL and AFLW were able to come up with a game plan to help make Aussie rules a more enjoyable sport for both young and older female players in conjunction with the Women's football vision. The AFL have come to the realisation that it is up to our foundation points to save the future of women's football, through empowering young women's and providing equal, fair and elite pathways to all genders and ages of players across all states and territories. The research was able to provide improvement areas for clubs to specifically focus on to tackle the main parts for improvement. Improvements first start with the youngest age groups, by building experienced and powerful role models towards our upcoming players to help "footy stand out among other sports" to prioritise and promote our iconic Aussie game.