On the back of two premierships for their men’s teams the Suns are launching their inaugural women’s football program for the 2024 Western Region Football League season.
Set to lead the team is 2022 division 2 premiership winning coach with the Point Cook Centrals Leanne Meyer. Joining her as assistant coach is Ebony Watkins.
Watkins was one of Meyer’s assistants last year and was the premiership captain in 2022.
Meyer said it has been a strong start to her time at the Suns.
“What I felt was the best thing about it, is that the whole club was buying into this program,” she said. “It wasn’t just a few members or juniors or seniors, the whole club are excited to to explore women’s footy. So that’s what made us jump on board.
“I’ve been around footy and specifically women’s voting for a very long time. I’m the first to admit that I’ve made mistakes along the way. But I’d like to think now I’ve got years of knowledge and conversations and a network behind me that we can help build a stronger and better program for everyone from the ground up.
“I’ll continue to make mistakes, absolutely. But we live when we learn and it’s all about empowering young girls and women to be their best.”
Meyer already has a strong list of players at her disposal, with the playing list growing rapidly, she said there is a lot of excitement building ahead of round one.
“It is very exciting,” she said. “We’ve got players from quite a few clubs amongst the WRFL, and other leagues, so it’s been quite refreshing.
“We’ve got players that I’ve known for quite a while and or coached against and then we’ve got some brand new ones and everybody is absolutely gelling nicely.
“Every time we arrive at training, we’re getting a new player show up to every session. And the best thing about this group of girls is that they are welcoming everybody with open arms, which is fantastic.
“We’re ready to hit the ground running as well and focus on our first inaugural year just being a really positive one for everyone.
“That includes the players, the coaching staff as well as the club.”
With the number of teams and the divisional structure for the WRFL women’s competitions still in the air, Meyer said there are no external goals being set at the moment rather it is about building a sustainable base for the future of women’s football at the Suns.
“Right now it is all about camaraderie and everybody bringing their best,” she said.
“If everybody brings their best consistently, then as the year progresses, I am sure we will set team goals but right now, we just don’t know how the WRFL women’s competition is going to work.
“I was away during the summer break, so I haven’t kind of been in touch with too many people in terms of how everyone is travelling for numbers and teams.
“It’s a clean slate. It’s a new year and we will tackle wholeheartedly together whatever comes at us and if everybody is bringing their best, that’s all I could ask.”
