The West Coast Eagles’ Women’s and Girl’s Academy have been given an insight into the life of an elite athlete on a visit to Mineral Resources Park with current Eagles’ AFLW players.

The squad was selected out of the Kirby Bentley Cup game and is comprised of Indigenous and multicultural athletes with aspirations of making it to the AFLW.

Upon their visit the squad was met by Eagles Jessica Sedunary, Ella Roberts, Charlie Thomas, Bella Lewis, Aisling McCarthy and Shanae Davison who showed them around the facilities before commencing a training session.

One key outcome of the visit was to open a window into the life of a professional AFLW player in the hope of inspiring the young athletes to keep pursuing their dream to play as a West Coast Eagle.

“It’s important because it allows the girls an opportunity to really immerse themselves within the club and experience what it would be like to play AFLW,” Sedunary told westcoasteagles.com.au.

“It helps drive that motivation. It’s inspiring for them and it’s also fun for us. It’s good for the current players to give back to the community as well.

“It’s a fun night and should be a really good experience for them and hopefully inspire some to take the next step in their footy or give them something to go home with that will help them get to the next level.”

The West Coast Eagles’ Women’s & Girl’s Academy hopes to use visits like these to Mineral Resources Park to continue to engage young Indigenous and multicultural players to retain the playing group for a longer period of time prior to making the next step to AFLW.

Led by AFLW Recruiting Manager and Academies Coordinator Chad Morrison the academy is designed to build relationships with aspiring players by providing ample opportunities through female development programs.

“This is a huge event for the academy. The female pathway is growing rapidly and with the support of BHP we can give these young Indigenous girls the opportunity to be like an AFLW star for a night,” Morrison said.

“Within the program the participants are getting exposure around our AFLW players who are great role models, which is a really good opportunity for them to learn from those players and get a feel for the facility and resources they can have to become the best player and best person they can be.”

Thanks to BHP, the Eagles will continue to run programs for the girls academy over the next 12 months to continue the rapid development of WA’s Indigenous AFLW players and the female pathway itself.