Adelaide Footy League considering moving women’s competition to run at same time as SANFLW

Female footballers will not be able to play in both the Adelaide Footy League and SANFLW from next year if proposed changes go ahead, potentially removing more than 200 players from the amateur competition.

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Female footballers will not be able to play in both the Adelaide Footy League and SANFLW from next year if proposed changes go ahead.

Since the SANFLW launched in 2017, players have been able to line up for state league clubs from February to April before taking to the field in the amateurs.

But Adelaide Footy League chief executive John Kernahan said his competition was considering moving its women’s season to run parallel with the state league due to fixturing, oval space and logistical concerns.

More than 200 players could leave the Adelaide Footy League as a result.

South Adelaide’s Cheyenne Hammond and Norwood's Jessica Macolino battle for the ball in the SANFLW. Picture: AAP/Brenton Edwards

Kernahan said there would be some pain involved with the potential move but the booming growth of the women’s game needed to be managed.

“When we inherited the SAWFL competition at the end of 2014 it was an 11-team league and was easy enough to accommodate and facilitate the competition in the manner those clubs had been familiar with,” Kernahan said.

“As we speak it is now a 61-team competition with teams as far south as Christies Beach, as far north as Angle Vale and as far on the South East Freeway as Mount Barker.

“Most clubs have one senior team, some with two and one which has three.”

Kernahan said the league was working with the SANFLW to track player selection and had notified local clubs to start working out who they were likely to lose due to the changes.

Adelaide University president Michael Dadds said aligning the competition with the SANFLW was “inevitable”.

“Historically we’ve had at one point our entire A grade and a third of our B grade playing SANFLW,” said Dadds, whose club had teams in divisions one, one reserves and two.

“It’s been fantastic to see the way the sport has developed and the level of interest it’s generating, particularly among younger age groups.

“I think it’s a great thing but the challenge now is to manage that.

“Having three concurrent leagues – AFLW, SANFLW and amateur – is inevitable I think.”

Teah Charlton plays for both Christies Beach in the Adelaide Footy Leagu and South Adelaide in the SANFLW. Picture: AAP/Keryn Stevens

Christies Beach president Paul Daly said his club, which had two women’s sides, division one and reserves, was already “feeling the pinch” because players in state programs were often unavailable and would stand to lose up to 30 players if the seasons ran parallel.

“We’re a victim of our own success, developing those girls to play at a higher level, which is great,” Daly said.

“There needs to be good communication on this because we’re not sure how it is going to look.”

Daly said Christies Beach would not be able to play in a summer competition because it shared its oval with Southern District Cricket Club.

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