By Mikayla van Loon
Taking on the ‘girls can’ mantra, Montrose Football Netball Club is putting on a display of what women and girls can do in sport with its Girls Day Out event.
Bringing together a showcase of football and netball skills, guest speakers and a range of activities on Saturday 8 July, the club hopes to inspire female participation and community engagement.
Women’s Head Coach Shilette Baker said unfortunately crowd support is typically aligned with men’s games with the opening of the canteen and bar an incentive but this event aims to change that perception.
“We firstly wanted to justify our existence and show we can have events that generate something back into the club,” she said.
“Unfortunately, like a lot of women’s sports, it’s the players themselves and the support team that need to get it done, whereas men’s teams have the external support to do the same. Another mismatch between the genders at football clubs.”
Seeing an opportunity to engage the wider female community from business owners to community groups, Shilette said the idea for Girls Day Out sprouted.
Combining football and netball, the hope is that it will inspire sport participation at all levels and ages.
“By combining all the sports in one venue at the same time we are hoping this can show all the women and girls who attend that there aren’t any limitations to what they want to play,” she said.
“We are hoping that by showing this variety it will inspire the younger generations to not limit themselves. With the variety and the “Girls Can” attitude the theme of the day, we hope it is a positive and eye opening day for all.”
Being visible in the community and showing particularly young girls what they can achieve locally in sport was also a big motivator for the event.
“Whilst we can aim for the higher, more elite level of sport there are only a small percentage that reach that level,” Shilette said.
“We want to be able to show there are so many pathways at a local level that girls can participate in whilst hearing and still aiming for the best they can.”
Growing the event from a concept that was trialled last year, Shilette said the club would like to see Girls Day Out gain momentum and resources to support women in sport in Montrose.
“This year the organisation of this event has been quite difficult, we have reached plenty of hurdles to get over; however this has made us reach out to more of the community.
“We are getting nothing but positive feedback from those who we are reaching out to. This year is just the beginning; it is just going to get better and easier from here.”
The day will start from 12pm with market stalls and an open canteen, followed by a netball showcase and AFL Vic activities at 12.30pm and games commencing at 1.30pm.
The junior girls team will form a guard of honour at 2pm to see the women’s team run out onto the oval before starting the match against Waverley Blues at 2.30pm.
Everyone is then invited to join in the clubrooms to hear from some guest speakers for 4.45pm.
“Our entire event is for both celebrating women’s achievements and showcasing the ‘Girls Can’ attitude, the typical Women supporting women movement is a huge motivation for us.
“This event will help the community members that we have reached out to, view others who they may not have come across and build connections on this day. This event is for them, we are just a small part of it bringing them together for the day.”
