Women's Australian Football Association

by Stephanie McKitrick

Having gone to Australia to visit friends of mine, and never having heard of Aussie Rules before, I was a little hesitant in joining a women's team. Now after having trained and played for the past 7 months I am very glad that my friend Lisa had talked me into joining with her.

Las Vegas, Nevada is the host city of the 2006 USAFL National Championships. This is a monumental moment for women's footy as we hold our 2^nd women's championship division.

The Atlanta Lady Kookaburras showed that their win in last year's National Championships was just the start of something big win when they steamrolled the Florida Fusion on Saturday with a record 122 point win. This was the first meeting of the two teams since the Lady Kookas won a close game last October to take the first National Championship title. There was no sign of a close game on Saturday however in the heat of a sunny Sarasota FL afternoon where the Lady Kookas jumped out in blistering form kicking 8 unanswered goals in the first quarter.

When Jesse Hrudka Wartman decided to study for a semester in Melbourne, she never imagined that she'd fall in love with a new sport. However, the Melbourne University MUGARS got their claws into her and recruited her for the women's footy team.  Jesse will be keeping us posted on her experiences playing footy before she returns home at the end of June.  She's already looking forward to  practicing with the Minnesota Morrigans before school starts in the fall.

2006 starts off with a new focus on the women's footy program in Milwaukee. The first step in keeping with the new focus has been naming Sandy Bradley as the women's team manager. She is responsible for recruiting women along with other organizational duties.

The Atlanta Lady Kookaburras are not resting on their laurels of winning the 2005 women's championship.  They are preparing to defend their title in  Las Vegas on 7 & 8 by traveling to Sarasota, FL and Milwaukee, WI for road matches.

July 1 - vs Florida @ Sarasota (East vs West curtain raiser)
Aug 12 - vs Milwaukee Explosion @ Milwaukee (MAAFL curtain raiser)

In a rematch of last year's national championships, The Atlanta Lady Kookaburras will be traveling to Sarasota, Florida to compete against the Florida Redbacks women's team.  This match will take place at the annual  USAFL East vs West All-Star Match on July 1 at the Sarasota Polo Grounds.  The women's match will take place between the reserves and seniors match.

To foster the development of women's footy, we encourage any women interested in playing to contact us to play in the match. 

Photos from Florida Fusion at the 2005 USAFL National Championships.

The first USAFL women's championships will contested on Oct 1-2 at the USAFL 2005 Championships. Four teams have stepped forward to vie for the inaugural women's championship:

• Atlanta Lady Kookaburras
• Arizona/Philadelphia Lady Hawks
• Milwaukee Lady Bombers
• Florida/Baltimore-Washington/Seattle/Minnesota Fusion

There are still plenty of spots for additional women to round out rosters! Contact Kathryn Hogg if you are interested in playing.

Ryan Bartz (left) with AUG Melbourne University Captain, Lucy Puls

Ryan Bartz, an exchange student from New York, was selected in the Green & Gold Australian Women's football team at the Australian University Games late last month. Although selection is honorary as there is no international competition to play in, it is a major achievement for Bartz who had only played two games of Australian Rules football prior to the Australian University Games.

Bartz, a theatre student, arrived in Melbourne in July to complete a semester on exchange at the University of Melbourne. A college ice hockey player in New York and in her home state of California, Bartz thought to try her hand at the Australian game to complete her Aussie experience. She called the Melbourne University Women's Football Club, who was nearing the end of the home and away season. With only 2 regular games left in the season, Bartz took hold of the opportunity to have a kick and took to the field in the famous black and blue colours of Melbourne University. She immediately made an impact on debut for the Melbourne University Girls' Aussie Rules Squad (MUGARS) Division 3 side, leaving Coach, Deb 'Henry' Lawson, pleading with her to stay on permanently.