By David Kavanagh | posted on October 31, 2019
GREAT Southern women hoping to follow in the footsteps of soccer superstars like Sam Kerr have reason to be excited.
A female-only football program launched in Katanning last week has already drawn in more than 20 young women keen on learning the sport and potentially forming a local club.
Football West Great Southern Development Officer Sarthak Mishra, who is coordinating the initiative, said the aim was to build a “sustainable structure” and ongoing league in the town.
“Football West is committed in servicing its regional areas and part of that is to deliver tailored programs in the regions,” he said.
“Ever since we ran a MiniRoos Kick Off program and Street Football in Katanning, we had inquiries about creating an ongoing program.
“This month, the Katanning Leisure Centre reached out to me and mentioned there is a group of girls who want to play.”
According to Football West figures, soccer is one of the fastest growing sports in the nation.
There are currently around 40,000 female players in Western Australia marking a near 40 per cent increase from the 2016 to 2018 period.
“That’s an astonishing growth and justifies a strong need to run more and more female-only programs,” Mr Mishra said.
“Having a female-only program in Katanning will provide participants an opportunity to learn and showcase their skills, reduce travelling and enable them to enjoy the sport in a comfortable social setting.
“We also have interest from Albany players to potentially come up and play friendly games in the near future.”
The program’s participants will meet at the Regional Recreation ground adjacent to the Leisure Centre every Monday at 4:30pm.
Anyone interested in joining is encouraged to show up on the day.
