New era for women

Several new faces will try their hand at football in April when the women’s competition kicks off for the second season.

Despite entering the inaugural South West Football League Women’s competition with just 10 players at the first few training sessions last year, the Busselton Magpies are ready to hit the field with nearly double that number.

Amy Fletcher, Alyssa Richardson, 15, Darralyn Collard and Steph Fearnz were among several new players to join the team for training at Bovell 3 on Monday.

The girls said they had grown up watching footy and were looking forward to trying something new.

While they agreed joining the Magpies provided a good environment to meet new friends, 15-year-old Alyssa said it was also an opportunity to grow in football.

“(The challenge) will be getting skills up, but that takes time and experience to do,” she said.

“The boys have been playing since they were young, so now we need to try to catch up.”

Fearnz, who previously played in the back pocket for West Perth, encouraged women to go for a run at training even if they were unable to play weekend games. The Magpies train Mondays and Wednesdays from 5.30pm.