Saints making the rules

ANTHONY COX |Digital Marketing and Design Officer

History was made on Saturday 19 February with the first bounce of QGSSSA inaugural Senior Australian Rules competition. With College Senior Leaders and AFL royalty in attendance, the 16-strong team of QG schools was officially launched.

In the first game of the inaugural competition, St Peters triumphed 9.12.66 defeating Ipswich Girls Grammar 1.3.9. With this win under their belt, Anthony Cox spoke with Head of Girls Sport, Anne-Marie Champion, and St Peters Australian Rules Captains, Ava Turner and Delta Perkins.

What were the initial sign-up numbers like for Australian Rules and did you think you could get the numbers to be involved?

Anne-Marie Champion: We had very strong interest from the girls and this we see only increasing as the sport continues to develop within the school program.

What were some of the challenges you needed to overcome for introducing Australian Rules into the St Peters sporting fixtures?

AMC: Some of the challenges of introducing Australian Rules into the QGSSSA program was scheduling it into what was already a busy year of fixtures.

Years 10 to 12 were in Term 1 and Years 7 to 9 are in Term 4. I think we know our numbers are going to be massive for Juniors moving into Term 4.

It did prove challenging for our Senior girls who have played Touch or Basketball for many years to fit in Australian Rules. We did just make it work to get the balance through to give the girls the opportunity to give Australian Rules a go, particularly for our Year 12 girls as this opportunity was a taste for that I can see they're going to go on and play AFL outside of school over the next few years.

What was the most rewarding aspect of the introduction of Australian Rules for this year’s sport?

AMC: It was a huge honour to be involved for me personally and to see how the school has got behind the introduction to girls Australian Rules has been great to see. It has been a huge success, driven extremely well by Amy Anderton (Executive Officer, QGSSSA). Seeing the girls get an opportunity to play at Metricon Stadium (Home of the Gold Coast Suns), something many Australian Rules participants would love the opportunity to do.

Having grown up in the landscape of Australian Rules, what does this mean to you to see women’s Australian Rules firstly, make the National stage, and then, to be introduced into the school level?

AMC: The most rewarding aspect of the introduction of Women's Australian Rules (for someone who grew up in country South Australia involved with Australian Rules for my entire life) is that I loved watching the game then and I enjoy seeing how the sport has grown. I'm enjoying seeing how talented our St Peters girls are and how quickly they pick up the skills.

And yes, you could see where other sports skills, particularly girls that played ball sports that requires good hand/eye coordination, certainly picked up the skills required very quickly.

Anyone that's athletic really took to the game because it involves quite a lot of running which certainly tested everyone's fitness. But, just to see the girls try something new and to see how much they loved it was so rewarding.

Did current Brisbane Lions AFL Women’s team member, and Old Scholar, Greta Bodey (2012), have any involvement with the program here at St Peters?

AMC: In 2021 Greta and fellow Brisbane Lions player, Gabby Collingwood, were a part of our Coaching team who joined us for the skills sessions that were held at Rangakarra, joined with Brisbane Girls Grammar School. Unfortunately Greta, playing high level football for the Brisbane Lions, was unable to help us in our inaugural season due to the clash and fixtures. But yes, Greta certainly enjoyed watching and she was there on game day. Number one, Greta and Gabby came out to watch the Inaugural Day to see the launch of our St Peters Girls Australian Rules and was very quietly impressed with what she saw and the talent of some of our girls out there on the field.

Representing your fellow team members what does this mean to you all to be involved in the inaugural season of Girls Australian Rules?

Ava - The experience, representing my school and team members, was pretty amazing. Being one of the first Captains of the inaugural girls St Peters footy team was such a privilege. Often you don't find sports being new to a school so to have the opportunity to be a part of something as significant as this was really motivating and inspiring.

Delta - I think it was a feeling of privilege and excitement to be part of the beginning of something important for many young women in Queensland. Having the opportunity for girls to finally be able to play in an Australian Rules competition at school opens up a lot of doors for many girls and can encourage more girls to not only play Australian Rules for school but also for club.

Have the girls wanted to play Australian Rules at St Peters for some time or was it more of a case that the opportunity presented itself and it was exciting to be involved in it? Do many girls play Australian Rules outside of the school competition?

Ava – I know, personally, I've always wished St Peters had girls Australian Rules. I was so keen when I heard they were introducing it—I know a lot of the girls, including myself, leapt at the opportunity to play as all of us have come from either AFL, touch or rugby, so playing this sport came naturally to all of us.

Delta - Yes, I think a lot of girls had been waiting for a program for a long while, but the new program definitely encouraged more girls to join just to try it out.

How significant is this for women’s sport in general?

Ava – I would say this is very significant for women's sport. QGSSSA is an impacting sports association and, considering women's professional footy has only just recently become a thing, this is setting girls in school up for those types of opportunities and I think that's great.

Delta - I think this new program is more than just a school sport for many of our girls. It's a small contribution to the growing community of women's sport and can definitely help empower more girls and young women across Queensland to pursue sport and slowly balance out women's participation in sport.

How many of the girls would have played AFL prior to this season?

Ava - Pretty much all of the girls had never played before. I'm really proud of all the efforts we put in and how well we did. Surprisingly, we all worked really well together and because of that, a few of us are playing in a competitive DIV1 club team together with the same coach.

What would be your advice to fellow students who are looking to play next year?

Ava - My advice to any girls who are looking to play next year is, DO IT! Even though for us, it was a really short season, it was still such a great experience. By playing you're still part of making history and setting St Peters' reputation and standard for Australian Rules. It is such a good opportunity to play a sport with girls you haven't played with before and get into a new sport that you can play for the rest of your life. Australian Rules has a really good community spirit and is the most inviting and supportive sport. I really enjoyed it, I know all the other girls did. If I could play again for St Peters I would.

Delta - I would definitely say to just try to have a bit of fun. The best teams with the best attitudes are the ones who get along, bond and have fun together. We are so lucky to have some really good coaches and there is room for a lot of progress and improvement in a small period of time. So, just make the most of it because there is actually a lot you can gain from the program; fun, friendship, skills, experience and much more.