By JULIA MONTESANO
AFTER experiencing men’s premiership success in 2017, Aberfeldie is ready to unleash a new era of senior football.
For the first time, the Gorillas will field a senior women’s side in the EDFL, with plenty of girls shining in the club’s various girls teams.
The senior women’s team has been training since October last year, and Aberfeldie Women’s Co-Ordinator, Alison Crabb could not be any happier with the side’s progress.
“They've (the players) worked really hard training twice a week and the improvement has just been off the charts,” Crab told essendondfl.com.au.
“They're really learning all the skills now and just starting to link up.
“They've come such a long way in a short time for sure.”
Crabb hopes that the players can continue to improve in EDFL Women’s, where they will get a taste of competitive football for the first time as a senior side.
“Our focus this year is improvement,” she said.
“We just want the start of the season to be a good one and we want our girls to improve.
“We'd like to win a couple of games of course, but the key thing is about improving.”
The side has players ranging from the age of 18 to their mid-30s, including a mother with four kids, who Crabb says has improved dramatically throughout the pre-season.
The club’s Under 18 Girls side experienced success last year, with the likes of Emily Vukovic, Kayley Reid, Zoe Hardiman and Isabel Young making their way onto the Calder Cannons’ list in the TAC Cup Girls Competition.
Carla Rendelmann is one of the highly-rated players at the Cannons, and hails from the Gorillas, showing that the club is making waves in TAC Cup Girls as well as in the EDFL.
The senior women’s side has been learning from the best, after training with the senior men’s side in the pre-season.
Crabb says that this was a positive experience for the women’s side.
“They’ve had a couple of joint training sessions,” Crabb said.
“Initially, the girls were a bit nervous and intimidated I suppose in some way.
“The boys were fabulous and were keen to help the girls and encourage them.
“The girls really enjoy training and want more of it.”
These enthusiastic group of girls are set to play a game under lights early in the season, which will be an opportunity for the club and its fans to support a historic moment in the EDFL.
If it all sounds interesting to you, then contact Aberfeldie Women’s Co-Ordinator, Alison Crabb on 0410 697 845 if you would like to play with Aberfeldie.
