Shellharbour City Suns to join AFL South Coast Womens competition in 2019
AFL South Coast is pleased to advise that the Shellharbour City Suns will be the eleventh Women’s team to enter the 2019 AFLSCW competitions following acceptance of their nomination earlier this week.
2018 was a truly fantastic year for female football on the South Coast with the introduction of three new female only competitions resulting in twenty three teams and in 2019 the league is looking to build on this to provide more opportunities for local females but also ensure sustainable growth and Shellharbour’s addition to the competition is an important one strategically.
Shellharbour City Suns currently field two men’s teams across the AFLSC competitions and have strong foundations administratively and financially along with the appropriate resources in place such as volunteers, facilities, equipment and players to ensure sustainable success of the new Women’s team.
In addition to this, the Suns have formed a dedicated group of support staff for the Women’s team covering coaching, administration, game day support and team leadership to help establish and grow this team led by coach John DeSousa. The recent commitment of Talarah Bull who will be the Suns inaugural Women’s captain in 2019 is a great result for the club and a testament to the effort they have gone to make this team a success.
The Shellharbour City Suns are excited about the opportunity to provide an inclusive, supportive and successful environment for their local Women to compete in, but also a clear pathway for the Shellharbour junior clubs current Youth Girls to follow.
As previously announced, 2019 will see two AFL South Coast Women’s divisions which will assist in the development of not only clubs, but also female players from the region. Final competition structures and division makeups will be confirmed in the New Year.
