Blazing the Trail is an opportunity for young girls from IGSSA schools to participate in short AFL games, organised and managed by the West Coast Eagles Female Academy. It is a fun, interactive and exciting way of getting girls to enjoy the sport while meeting new people and learning about future pathways they can pursue in AFLW.

My favourite part of the evening was hearing from the guest speakers, we heard from three inspirational women in our society. They provided motivating lessons for us as young girls and gave us important tips for the exciting lives we have ahead of us.

I learnt many valuable lessons from this experience, including good sportsmanship – when we win and when we don’t, and the importance of taking time out of my day to dream about my future. Overall, the afternoon was an enriching experience I will never forget, and I am very thankful for the opportunity! Emily Cleaver, Year 10

‘Blazing The Trail’ recognised the International Day of the Girl. Our Santa Maria team played Penhros twice and won both games, losing our final match to Perth College. The theme was ‘the power of adolescent girls’, this was reinforced after our scratch matches when we listened to some inspirational guest speakers. These included Tracey Norton, Tiah Haynes and Jessica Gethin; all three of these wonderful ladies had some amazing advice for us as adolescent girls.

Tiah had some really relatable messages for us being an AFLW player. She had torn her ACL three times, setting her back in her footy career. Tiah didn’t have a backup plan after her injuries and only ever had one goal in mind – to play AFLW. Her story was inspirational and taught us that if you are resilient and keep your goals in mind, you can achieve pretty much anything.

It was great to play some scratch matches against other schools and getting to hold the Premiership Cup wasn’t too bad either. Giorgia Paltridge, Year 10