Craigieburn is bringing back its women’s side for the Essendon District Football League season.
The Eagles last fielded a senior women’s side in 2019, with its 18.5 female side returning this year.
Now, the Eagles are ready to soar back into the women’s competition and “excited” is a word being used time and time again by incoming coach Alicia Gorman.
Gorman is an experienced campaigner in women’s football spending a lot of time in the Northern Football League.
“I was at Bundoora for their first year of the women’s team,” she said.
“I didn’t play a lot, I had some injuries so I spent some time on the sidelines and that’s where I learnt a lot from Gary Moorcroft, who was coach at the time.
“I just really paid attention to how he wanted the team to run and the structures, and they were an awesome side.
“So I grew a bit of a love for watching teams grow from there.”
With a strong female junior program at the Eagles already, Gorman said she is hoping to build on it, with a hope it feeds into the senior outfit.
“The idea is that if we can get the team up and gunning at the senior level, then our juniors will follow through,” she said.
“We will be training with our younger team and trying to develop everyone to be on the same page.
“So the formula of how we want to play the game and our structures will be the same, so they don’t get spooked if they do get the opportunity to come and have a game with the seniors, they’ll know what the expectations are from us at a senior level.”
While Gorman is still on the hunt for more players to bolster her side, she is confident the numbers will strengthen throughout the pre-season.
“The competition is so spread out, it’s not like the NFL where you have teams on top of each other,” she said.
“There’s a really big opportunity for girls to come on board.
“I’m hoping that we get a good mix of girls that have played before and that have never touched the ball or been in a game.
“It’s really exciting to be able to have your established girls lead the newer ones into how to play the game and skills and things like that.
“The team is going to be really transparent and inclusive.
“We all started somewhere, I want the girls who are experienced to embrace the fact we’re going to have new girls, and try to embrace them.
“That’s what builds a really good side, when you all get together and have an understanding of where people are and what you have to do to get to where you want.”
Someone else who has provided a strong hand in getting the Eagles women’s side back onto the field in secretary Marg Perkins, Gorman said it wouldn’t have been possible without her crucial help.
If you are interested in playing for the Eagles you can contact Alicia (0434 345 423) or Marg (0402 078 188).
