VAFA clubs recognised as AFL Women & Girls Chartered Clubs

The VAFA congratulates the 15 football clubs and the VAFA Umpires Association who have been recognised by the AFL as signatories to the Women & Girls Community Football Charter over the past 12 months.

This recognition reflects the clubs’ ongoing commitment to work towards making community football environments welcoming, safe, and inclusive for women and girls. The Women & Girls Charter sets out the expectation that chartered clubs, leagues and associations will champion women and girls guided by four key principles: opportunity, visibility, access, and investment. Each of the chartered clubs have created a ‘Quick Wins’ plan for their club to keep moving the dial to ensure that women and girls can participate fully as players, coaches, umpires, and administrators. 

Congratulations to Old Haileybury who were the first VAFA club – and only the second club in the state – to become an AFL chartered club almost 12 months ago.  Since then, a further 15 VAFA clubs have become a signatory. The VAFA is actively working through the process to have the Association chartered and will be implementing an action plan to further promote women and girls’ participation, whilst ensuring that the competition remains a safe, inclusive, and welcoming environment for players from all walks of life. 

An additional 26 VAFA clubs are in the process of developing their own action plans to enhance the participation of women and girls, both on and off the field, while simultaneously fostering an environment where safety and inclusion are top priorities. 

The recent recognition of VAFA clubs marks a significant milestone in our collective journey towards making football more inclusive for all. These clubs have worked diligently to ensure they meet the standards set out in the Women & Girls Charter. As part of this recognition, the clubs will receive a certificate to publicly display, proudly showcasing their dedication to creating a welcoming environment for women and girls in football. 

Being recognised as a Women & Girls Chartered Club comes with several key benefits: 

• Correspondence on women and girls’ initiatives, grants, and opportunities.

• Favourable consideration for AFL-based funding initiatives.

• The ability to be searched via Charter status on Play.AFL, supporting recruitment of new women’s players.

• Access to a suite of digital assets for use on your website, social media, and advertising materials.

We encourage all VAFA clubs to take the next steps towards becoming a signatory to the Women & Girls Charter, so we can all work together to ensure our community football environments are welcoming, safe, and inclusive for Women & Girls! 

To express interest in the charter, and to receive your paperwork to begin the process, fill in the online form at https://play.afl/clubhelp/women-girls/community-football-charter 

Volunteers from Victorian clubs can also access support online to complete their Women and Girls Community Football Charter documentation at an AFL Victoria charter support workshop. The next workshop will take place on Monday 31^st of March, and clubs can register to attend via the above link.  

If you or your club is interested discussing this further, or requires additional support to complete the process, please reach out to Pranav Menon ([email protected]).