Start of a new era for female football

Sydney’s Marie Keating and Canberra’s Elise O’Dea hope their recent trip to Melbourne with the AIS-AFL Academy is the start of a new era for female football.

The two talented footballers spent a week with the AIS-AFL Academy training and testing with the country’s best young male talent – the majority of which will go on and be drafted.

While there is currently no elite competition for females, there are ongoing plans to ensure the talent pathway is well constructed so that a fully viable national Women’s League can become a reality.

Attending the AIS-AFL Academy is the first steps for this to come to fruition with women exposed to Australia’s elite high performance academy for the very first time. Many of the skills they learned will be taken back with them to club level.

Keating and O’Dea were chosen to attend the camp along with six other women throughout the country following their impressive performances at the Women’s National Championships earlier this year.

The week involved first-class coaching under the guidance of former Brisbane Lions’ premiership player Chris Johnson as well as player education, testing and recovery. All AIS-AFL Academy players also attended the Toyota AFL Grand Final between Collingwood and Geelong.

“Whilst women’s AFL is not at the stage that men’s is at, one day it will be, and the girls who were lucky enough to attend the academy marked the first steps of a new era of women’s football,” O’Dea said following the camp.

Keating echoed these thoughts.

“That’s eventually where’d love to be [playing in a national women’s league] … if it built up to that it would be fantastic,” she said. 

“There’s obviously other women’s sports in Australia like soccer and netball which have semi-professional or professional leagues so I think it’s definitely achievable for AFL.”

Selection to attend the AIS-AFL Academy camp capped off successful seasons for both players. O’Dea was selected in the All-Australian team at the Women’s National Championships where she was also named player of the tournament for division two.

Keating was also named in the All Australian team at the nationals and later in the year she represented her home country of Ireland at the International Cup where she was named player of the tournament and selected in the World team. 

“Overall the camp was a great insight into the world of AFL, the club environment and what the boys have to go through to make it,” Keating said.

“Hopefully I’ll meet up with my club coach and give her a heads up on all that we did [and learned]. We also did a strength and conditioning program so that will be one thing worth implementing at the club.

“I just wanted to take away as much as I could to become a better footballer and be the best I can.”

Unfortunately Keating is heading back to Ireland next month and doesn’t know if or when she will return.

Keating is currently working through her Visa but regardless of the outcome she’ll either return to Australia next year or in three years time with Ireland for the International Cup.

Images: Elise O’Dea playing for ACT                                                Marie Keating playing for Ireland