Playing AFLW and WBBL remains doable for athletes despite rising standards

Playing both cricket and football at the elite level is a thing of the past for the men, but a WBBL star says it’s still possible for female athletes.

Melbourne Renegades star batter, and former AFLW player, Courtney Webb doesn’t believe the time has come for her fellow dual-sport athletes to choose one or the other.

But the increasingly professional nature, and standard, of the two competitions, plus their conflicting schedules, is making it more difficult to be elite at both.

Webb chose cricket two seasons ago after playing AFLW for Carlton and is now the Gades’ leading run-scorer this WBBL season, having given in-depth attention to her preferred sport with the goal of making the Australian team.

She has no regrets, and while the 22-year-old is putting all her eggs in the cricket basket now, she thinks in the right circumstances being a dual-sport player is “doable”.

“I’m at uni full time as well, so for me, it’s not possible anymore, but for those who aren’t doing work on the side or at uni, I think there’s definitely still scope for that,” Webb said ahead of an all-Melbourne showdown between the Renegades and Stars in Ballarat on Saturday, weather pending.

“If the running and strength requirements sort of aligned between the two sports, that makes it so much easier.

Courtney Webb in her Carlton jumped in 2018. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Media

“There’s still a lot of girls in the AFL at least that are playing another sport like netball, you’ve got Tayla Harris doing her boxing. There’s definitely still opportunities for that.

“I think in terms of cricket, it’s probably more skill focus rather than that athleticism, so it is a little bit trickier and our training hours are increasing … and for me, my two sports are probably just a little bit too hot at the moment.”

Webb remains a football lover – in fact, she “absolutely loves it” – and depending on where her cricket journey takes her over the next few years, being just 22, would never rule out an AFLW return.

But right now she’s head down on cricket, having spent a massive pre-season “implementing a few more shots into my game”.

Yep, we reckon @CourtneyWebb_5 was fairly happy with this one 😌#WBBL08#GETONREDpic.twitter.com/O4T2W8T5PK

— Renegades WBBL (@RenegadesWBBL) October 18, 2022

They have netted her a team-high 115 runs through four games, which also puts her seventh in the WBBL despite her team only winning one game.

“Happy with the consistency I’ve started with, but we’d really like to add some matchwinning performances in there as well,” Webb said.

The Ballarat clash marks the first WBBL game in Victoria since December 2019 after two years of Covid-impacted seasons.

Between them, the two Melbourne teams only have one win, and Webb knows time is running out for the red team to get its season going.

“We love the cross-town rivalry, so we’re hoping that that can spark a little bit of fire,” she said.

“Momentum’s so big, we haven’t had that, but this weekend’s a great opportunity to turn that around.”

Originally published as Playing AFLW and WBBL remains doable for athletes despite rising standards