United by colours

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By JARROD POTTER

RED, white and blue.
These are the colours any Victorian Women’s Football League (VWFL) players from Gippsland will don after the announcement of a newly formed Gippsland League women’s team for the 2015 season.
For any female players 18-years-or-over, the team will finally give women from the entirety of AFL Gippsland’s catchment area – from the edges of Pakenham all the way through to the Latrobe Valley – the chance to play football for their home region.
Instead of picking a single club – and run the risk of alienating players with old rivalries across the region – AFL Gippsland and the Gippsland League will combine their resources to create one representative team playing under the Gippsland League banner.
“It’s going to have a lot more leverage than I originally thought,” AFL Gippsland Female Development Manager Chelsea Caple said.
“It was big news on Saturday night – all about creating awareness and people were coming up to me saying they’d like to play, so the response has been great so far.”
“They’ll be playing as a Gippsland League representative women’s side.
“The reason behind that is the Gippsland league has an historical area and we didn’t want to have just one team at one club, which would be difficult to get people across to.
“It will be a representative side that doesn’t stop anyone coming in.”
The home ground and nickname for the Gippslanders hasn’t been decided yet – but early indication suggests the team will train in the Latrobe Valley, but could play its matches across the Gippsland League area at a variety of home grounds within the Gippsland League.
The side will play in the VWFL’s Division 5 East, limiting any travel for the Gippslanders to around the eastern suburbs and Mornington Peninsula at most.
Expressions of interest for inaugural players and a coach will be opened in upcoming days and more information on the club is available on their Facebook Page ‘Gippsland League Women’s Team’ or from Chelsea Caple at chelsea.caple@aflvic.com.au.
A flyer will be produced in the next few weeks with ‘Come and Try’ Nights scheduled for March with the season beginning on 18 April.