Dawn of new era

Bouncedown for the Karratha Women’s Football Association is fast approaching, with the league announcing a new start date for the upcoming season.

Initially scheduled to start in April, the season will begin on July 18 after it was postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic.

It will have the four Karratha-based North Pilbara Football League clubs — Karratha Kats, Karratha Falcons, Dampier Sharks, and Wickham Wolves — having a women’s team with the competition starting this year, running with the men’s league.

WA Football Commission regional development manager Pilbara Vicki Agnew said the season would include eight rounds plus finals.

Agnew said the delayed start to the season had given the more experienced players who were dealing with injuries time to get game-ready.

“There are lots of people talking about footy, male or female, those people who were sitting on the edge on whether to play or not are likely to play,” she said

Agnew said another benefit of the delayed start was it gave the female players more time to settle at their clubs.

“The girls are now well and truly part of the clubs ... now they are just footballers, part of the club, and all accepted.”

Karratha Falcons coach Ian Morris said the girls had been looking forward to the season.

“It’s their dream to start playing football, and the dream is here now,” he said.

Morris said the delayed start gave them more time to train, and the players felt like the league would not begin.

“We had to modify the training, pretty much start as if it was pre-season, getting the fitness back up and motivation up,” he said.

“Other associations had pulled out, so the girls couldn’t see why they were going to training if it wasn’t going to happen.

“They believed if they turned up, something would happen, and now it has.”