Tara Murray
Keilor Park is up for the challenge in the Essendon District Football League women’s division 1 competition.
The Devils have reformed their women’s team after not having one since 2019 and have jumped straight into the second tier.
Devils coach Luke Baker said they were really excited for the season ahead.
“We’ve been building a team from scratch and it has taken a while,” he said. “It looks promising and it’s been really good.
“It’s always tough to start with no players but we got on the recruitment wagon and have gotten a few players.
“We love the group that we have.”
Baker said they had a mixture of players, who have played before, players from other sports and new players completely.
He said the average age of the group is 20 or 21 and is hoping they can be together for a long time.
Barker, who said he was looking forward to watching them play, said they felt that they were good enough to be in division 1.
All the other new teams have started in division 2.
“We had a look at things and the girls that we were trying to bring down,” he said.
“We recruited for specific roles and were really happy with the girls we managed to get.
“The group wants to test itself straight away.
“It’s my first time in the EDFL and I did a bit of research and think that we have a pretty strong team.”
Baker said there had been plenty of support across the club for the program and everything was tracking in the right direction.
The Devils started their season with a loss to Airport West, 10.10 (70)-2.2 (14).
Nyanthier Malual, Alexandra Kilty and Laycee Eustace were named their best.
The Devils are back in action on Saturday in round two against Greenvale.