International Women’s Day 2024

The VAFA is proudly home to the largest Women’s Aussie Rules Football Competition in the country. On International Women’s Day 2024, the VAFA would like to highlight and celebrate the important contribution of women to the association, through the numerous administrators, coaches, players, volunteers and umpires that help drive VAFA clubs and the association.

In 2023, the total number of women playing in the VAFA competition exceeded 2500, with 2024 numbers on track to again exceed that number. Across the nine VAFA women’s competitions in 2023, there were nine separate Premiers with St Kevin’s, Kew, Monash, St Bedes/Mentone Tigers, Marcellin, Williamstown CYMS, AJAX, UHS-VU and West Brunswick all taking home flags.

In 2023, the VAFA women’s representative side pulled on the Big V and reignited their involvement in Representative Football, after a 4 year hiatus, with a big victory over the Perth Football League (PFL) at Elsternwick Park. The VAFA women’s representative side will head to Perth in July to take on PFL again in the return battle between the two competitions and states.

There is a strong and growing representation of women leading VAFA clubs in key roles in 2024, with 11 VAFA clubs being led by a women in the role of Club President, with a further 13 Women in Vice President positions.

In 2023, the VAFA had 49 registered women in senior and assistant coaching roles across the competition, which is the highest number of registered women ever coaching in the VAFA. In 2024, Olivia Crowe was named as the Gerald Fitzgerald Senior Coach of the Year at the Annual AFL Victoria Awards, which celebrated her achievements as a coach at Glen Eira in 2023.

The representation of women umpiring in the association is also growing, with 25 women registered as umpires in 2023, with the elevation of Katie Gillespie (Goal umpire) and Asha Hinton (Boundary) into the VFL state League program in 2024.

The 2024 VAFA season for our women’s teams commences on Saturday, April 13.