About Kick Like A Girl

Kick Like a Girl began as a part of a research project Lisa Gye is undertaking examining the roles that women play in the support, maintenance and advancement of AFL football in Australia. The high levels of participation by women in AFL football are well documented. As well as being passionate supporters of the game at every level, women now occupy roles which have, until recently, been dominated by men – as media commentators, umpires, coaches, club administrators and AFL commissioners. More importantly, it is widely acknowledged that women are critically important to the maintenance and evolution of the game through their involvement with programs such as Auskick, their work as volunteers at the local club level and the roles that they play as mothers, partners, sisters and daughters for the many young men, and increasingly women, who play the game.

Despite this, there is no online public forum where women can see, on a regular basis, stories about and profiles of women who are connected with AFL football at all levels of the sport. There are many social networking and chat forums that provide AFL fans with a space to discuss their love of the game – there are many women who post to these forums. But there are none that are targeted directly to women and that deal with the kinds of issues that women face at all levels of the game.

This space has now been offered up as a space for other women interested in writing about football to show their wares. If you would like to contribtute to Kick Like a Girl, contact Lisa Gye lgye@swin.edu.au