A bit of rain couldn’t keep 80 super-keen NAB AFL Auskickers away from the Gabba last week for the All-Girls Brisbane Lions Auskick Super Clinic.
The girls travelled from as far as Darling Downs and the Sunshine Coast for a chance to fine tune their football skills under the guidance of the Lions’ players; even managing to teach the boys a thing or two along the way.
One of the highlights of the afternoon was the Q & A session, with the girls managing to get more information out of Lions Captain Tom Rockliff than many seasoned journalists.
The whole room erupted when they found out he was the proud owner of a sausage dog, and one young Auskicker even managed to get him to do the splits.
The day finished up with photos and autographs, before the girls headed off to share stories of their big Lions day out day with family and friends.
Australian football is one of the fast growing sports for females and Queensland has the highest participation rate in the country. 51,677 girls and women played footy in 2014 and those numbers look set to rise by a third in 2015.
NAB AFL Auskick is where the football story begins for many players, and with 7,000 young girls participating in the program this year, the future for female football looks very bright indeed.
By Emily Wastle
