West Coast Eagles players Aisling McCarthy, Charlie Thomas and Jessica Sedunary have passed on some important tips at Mineral Resources Park. 

The coaching clinic was part of a nationwide action plan to increase the number of women and girls getting involved in football as well as emphasising particular areas of improvement in up-and-coming female footballers in order to prevent injury.

The AFLW players ran three different activities focusing on specific areas in which athletes need more development and demonstrated the significance of each one in regards to female football.

WAFC Women and Girls Community Football Manager Nicole Bolton said programs like this are important to assist coaches in understanding the specifics of teaching female athletes compared to males, so they can get the best out of their players.

“There’s a lot of different complexities to consider and I think what the West Coast girls presented to us tonight is an understanding about the makeup of the body, some particular injury preventative strategies and ideas for coaches to take away when they are coaching young females,” Bolton said.

“What’s happening tonight is we’re seeing about 30 to 35 females put their hand up to increase their development and knowledge of coaching, and to be able to have a relationship with West Coast and some of their players that are going on their coaching pathway has just been instrumental in helping get more females involved, educating them and providing them with opportunities to upskill themselves.”

The coaches focused on three specific aspects of the AFLW game that have been highlighted as needing further development, those being groundballs, tackling and pushing back off the mark.

Coaches were shown a drill to improve groundball execution, which is the predominant mode of possession in the AFLW with 70% of all possessions starting with groundballs or handball receives.

Issues with tackling technique has led to ongoing concussion and suspension issues within the AFLW, and the coaches were instructed on how to protect the tackler and the player being tackled.

Lastly, it was pointed out that many players do not give themselves enough room before kicking the football and coaches were presented with drills to make it habitual for players to push back off the mark and give themselves less margin for error.

High School and Community Coordinator Janelle Marangon outlined the importance of girls being open about their body and coaches recognising the differences between male and female athletes.

“It’s looking at the female biomechanics, their movements and how we can incorporate that into warm-ups so we can best prepare their bodies and try prevent injuries,” said Marangon.

“We wanted to provide coaches with education around athletic movement and injury prevention based on females, so rather than looking at a male point of view we wanted to look at the female body and female biomechanics.”

“The three activities were based on the needs of growing female development within the game but also looking at those higher needs, so AFLW players as well and getting their input on what the game needs.”

The clinic is another activation highlighting the relationship between the West Coast Eagles and the WAFC and future clinics such as this are already in the works.