Girls’ footy kicks on

What began as a small idea to get more girls playing school footy in Caroline Springs has grown into one of the biggest women’s junior football tournaments in Victoria.

This Friday the fourth Caroline Springs District Girls Football Competition will be held, with Christ the Priest Catholic Primary School hoping for its fourth straight title.

Christ the Priest coach Aron Lombardi said the tournament had experienced huge growth over the four years.

“In 2013 there was no competition, and the next two years it was just us and Parkwood Green Primary School,” he said.

“Now there are eight sides and over 160 girls taking part, which is fantastic to see.”

The competition is held at the Caroline Springs town centre ovals on May 5, and Christ the Priest has taken out the district title in each of the three years it has participated.

They made the state finals last year, and won the state championship in the AFL 9s competition.

Mr Lombardi said the success of the new national competition was having a profound impact at local level.

“They’re really passionate about it, we don’t struggle to get the girls excited about playing,” he said. “They train really hard and we’ve seen good results on the park, which is nice.

“At the end of the day it’s mainly about making sure all the girls have fun.”