In a stellar start to their debut season, the Wilston Grange Gorillas Masters Women’s team has won three out of three games, proving that age is no barrier to playing the game they love.
The team is one of the few clubs in Queensland offering a complete female pathway from under 8s through to youth and state league, and now, a Masters team for over 35s.
Team captain Tarin (Taz) Moke, a former QAFLW state player, said she formed the team after realising she wasn’t quite ready to hang up the boots.
“I joined a Masters team at another club that was already established and absolutely loved it,” Taz said. “We played every fortnight, which gives your body a rest between games, and training was only once a week. And if you missed training due to family commitments or other reasons, you still got to play as it’s ‘footy for fun’.
“Throughout the season, I knew we had enough former players at our club that I could contact to join the following season if I could get everything organised, and we would be able to rope in other mums or partners of players from around the club.”
Building a Community of Women Through Masters Footy
With 28 registered players, the team includes women from all walks of life – teachers, doctors, retail workers, mums – and Marchant Ward Councillor Danita Parry.
“My husband plays for the Masters and my boys play Auskick and Under 8s, so I guess you could say I had FOMO,” Cr Parry said.
“When we talk about the importance of local sporting clubs in our community, we often think about young kids playing on a Saturday morning. But thanks to the Wilston Grange Gorillas, a bunch of women in their 30s, 40s and 50s are getting the opportunity to learn new skills, improve our fitness, make new friends and have lots of fun!”
Under the guidance of coach Glen ‘Robbo’ Robinson, the team trains once a week on Wednesday evenings, with fortnightly games on the weekends. After the regular season (April to August), several players will represent Queensland at the national carnival in Darwin.
Taz said women had always been a massive part of the AFL community, and female participation in footy had increased significantly over the years.
“The fact that South East QLD offers Masters footy for women is amazing because it allows a large cohort of players who still love the game to get back into it and play with other women their own age (and speed) and similar life stages,” she said.
“Some of our players spend every weekend driving their kids to different venues to play footy, and now they get to do the same for themselves.”
Her message to other women thinking of pulling on the boots?
“I guarantee you won’t regret it!” she said.
For more information, email wgafc.masters.women@gmail.com.
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