GFL looks to expand grassroots program to include junior girls competition

Goldfields Football League officials are gauging interest across Year 3 to Year 10 age groups, with hopes of launching a girls junior competition in 2025.

Under the proposal, girls’ teams would play their weekly matches as part of the existing junior system on Sunday mornings in terms 2-3.

The popularity of women’s and girls’ football has grown exponentially since the GFLW was launched in 2021 with teams from Kalgoorlie, Boulder and Mines Rovers.

Railways entered the GFLW in 2022, followed by Kambalda last year.

Expressions-of-interest among junior girls in the region follows a highly-successful GFL Youth Girls Program this season.

Sessions took place on Monday afternoons across nine weeks and attracted between 22 and 32 players, culminating in June with an exhibition match.

Last week, Railways’ Marley Kelman, at just 15 years old, was named the GFLW’s fairest-and-best player.