But there will always be a desire for more women to play the sport.
Echuca women’s coach Mick McInnes believes the success of leagues in recent years will push more women to play the sport.
‘‘We’ve seen in the two leagues we’ve played in, both in the Northern Country League and our former competition in Bendigo, more teams are joining every year,’’ he said.
‘‘We’ve not only seen the number of senior players going up, but with the youth girl’s sides across the region we are seeing so many more girls taking up the sport at a young age.’’
While there has been a noticeable increase across the region, with Moama fielding a youth girl’s team this season, some in the town have spoken of a desire to see a second senior women’s side in the coming years.
According to McInnes a second senior side would open the doors to those who feel they have missed the boat.
‘‘I think there would be some women out there who feel it’s too late to join,’’ he said.
‘‘A one-team system isn’t perfect. Having a second team in the town would open doors to a lot more possible players.’’
Another side in the region would fit with a continuing pattern of growth across the state.
AFL Victoria revealed on Monday that the state’s number of women’s teams had crossed 1000 for the first time.
Head of AFL Victoria Ricky Bell said it was great to see female football reach this milestone in Victoria.
“Our objective is to be the most accessible sport for all Victorians, regardless of age and gender, and having over 1,000 female football teams across the state indicates that we are achieving that goal,’’ he said.
“We are excited to see the continued success and next generation of female footballers in Victoria.’’
■ THE undefeated Echuca women’s side were met with a shock on Saturday night, with opponent Tatura forfeiting due to a lack of available numbers.
McInnes told the Riv they had been informed Tatura did not have the minimum 14 required to contest the match.
‘‘We had a training session instead,’’ McInnes said.
‘‘We did a solid two hours on the track and focused on our contested footy and how we spread from the contest.
‘‘We got a lot out of it, so hopefully it will prepare us well for upcoming matches as an actual game would.’’
Echuca were highly fancied to beat Tatura, who had managed to kick just 47 points in their five matches this season, compared to ladder leader Echuca’s 393.
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