Tara Murray
Westbourne Grammarians women’s program will be the club’s focus in the Victorian Amateur Football Association in the near future.
The Grammarians didn’t field a side in 2023 due to a shortage of numbers, but kept things ticking behind the scenes.
The club recently announced that it would be fielding at least one women’s side this season, having appointed premiership winning duo Ian Allan and Chris Grant as coaches.
The pair join the club from Spotswood, where they guided the club to a Western Region Football League division 1 premiership this year.
Grammarians president David Hudson said the club would look to get men’s sides back up and running but that was unlikely to happen in 2024.
“We’ll probably hold off on a men’s team for the time being,” he said. “We’re not looking to put in a team in 2024, we’re looking to start from scratch.”
Hudson said the first aim in getting their men’s program up and going would be having an under-19s.
“It didn’t quite work out this season and we’ll go down that path again,” he said. “Whether its in 2024 or 2025, we’re not in a huge hurry.
“We need to set up a men’s program that will be sustainable into the future and we haven’t been able to achieve in the last 20 years.
Hudson said they were really focused on setting up a strong female program with plenty of opportunities for female footballers in Melbourne’s west.
He said women’s football was the club’s focus and would stay that way even when they got the men’s program back up and running.
He said there was plenty of excitement about the program which they wanted to be sustainable in the long term.
“How that looks yet, I don’t know,” he said. “We want to set up an elite program and be in one of the best in the VAFA.
“It’s a high quality standard and there’s a high level of depth so you can attract a higher level of players.”
Hudson said to be able to have a team back on the park next season, was something they were really proud of, with many clubs not coming back out of recess.
“The club has been going 30 years and it would have been a real shame to finish like that,” he said.
“Everything the guys and girls have put in over the 30 year period. People are excited to see players running around in the jumper.
“It’s a vibrant place and everyone is excited. The school it very excited to have us back up and running and VAFA is super excited as well.
“We could have been an irrelevant club and not we have some relevancy playing at a pretty decent standard of footy in the Ammos.”
