Women's Footy at USAFL Nationals

History was made today as the first women's game of Australian Rules Football (aka Aussie Rules or footy) was played in Kansas City, Missouri at the United States Australian Football League championships. The game was initated by the Orange County Bombshells who were formed in August after a few of their ladies participated in the metro league,and decided to form a ladies team/league. With limited training the Bombshells went to the nationals with the mission of women's footy being taken seriously and to encourage other ladies to participate. The Orange County Bombshells challenged an "Allcomers" team comprised of women from all over the country. The game was won by the Bombshells but more importantly both sides showcased what women's footy can be.

So come Sunday, the Bombshells alongside with Denis Ryan held a clinic for the ALL COMERS team. This proved a great way to build a sisterhood amongst the ladies and to teach some basic skills to newbie players. All the ladies took to the footy like ducks to water and within 30 minutes the ladies were deciding upon the ball size and game duration. Regular size synthetic ball and 20 minute halves were the unanimous vote.

By game time, the Bombshells realised they were about to play their first game of footy. The nerves and excitement were overwhelming for both sides. In a nice change the fellas stepped up by running water for both sides and offering encouragement to the ladies throughout the match. The largest crowd of the tournament to that time gathered along the boundary line.

But both sides proved they had an understanding of the game and footy skills.The play of the day saw the Bombshells kick out from goal after a behind to the All-Comers and three marks and accurate kicks later, be rewarded with a goal. Ball untouched by the opposition! Then I heard, "Man, this is a real game of footy!". The spectators had forgotten about seeing some leg and were barracking for the respective teams and applauding their skills. The final score of 61 - 17 to the Bombshells belied the closeness of the game, but here there were no losers. The big winner was women's footy!

Final Score
Bombshells 8.13. 61 Def. The All-Comers 2.5.17

Goalkickers
Bombshells: Kathryn 3, Jacqueline, Leigh 2, Jayme 1
All-Comers: Amy, Jemma 1

Well done ladies!
Mini-Mart Mondia
(Bombshells coach)