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The AFL Barwon Commission wishes to advise the following changes to the structures of the Senior Female Football competitions for the upcoming 2025 season.

AFL Barwon have been in detailed consultation with female clubs over the previous 24 months with a desired outcome to provide greater inclusivity, exposure and connection within the club.

Throughout the consultative collaboration with clubs, AFL Barwon have had the desired outcome to make changes for the long-term sustainability of clubs.

The changes for 2025 include:

• Competition Structure and Divisions
• Upward and Downward Movement
• Day of Play

2025 Competition Structure and Divisions 

There will be two Senior Female Football divisions for the 2025 season, which will see an even number of teams across both divisions. 

The two-division structure provides greater consistency in all our senior football competitions and creates greater alignment to the current structures of the Geelong and Bellarine Football Netball Leagues.

The proposed divisions and teams based off the 2024 ladders are as follows:

Upward and Downward Movement

The implementation of Upward and Downward Movement will come into effect at the end of the 2025 Season standings.  Then first season of movement will be in the 2026 competition. The implementation of movement creates further competitiveness within clubs and works towards an even competition across both divisions to allow further growth within Female Football in the region.

Day Of Play

After seeking feedback across all clubs within the competition, consensus and support to implement Saturday as the primary Day of Play will be implemented for the 2025 season.  AFL Barwon acknowledges that there are still further details needing to be finalised to assist clubs with managing games on the primary day of play. We are committed to collaborating with the clubs to ensure we can implement this successfully. 

We are strongly looking at facilitating multiple “Gala Female Football Day’s” to maximise the exposure and showcase the best of our competitions across the community.

Furthermore, the changes to the day of play align to The Fair Access Policy Roadmap that aims to develop a foundation for gender equitable access to, and use of, community sports infrastructure for women and girls, to support participation in community sport.

The AFL Barwon Football Operations team are currently working through the 2025 Epworth Senior Female Football fixtures for a proposed public release prior to December 20^th.

AFL Barwon Group Manager of Operations, Lisa Patterson, shared her excitement about the upcoming competition structures:

“The changes being introduced for the 2025 season are incredibly exciting and highlight our region's commitment to supporting and evolving with the growth of the game for female players.

“Aligning with our male competitions by moving the day of play to Saturday, it allows for a greater showcase of female football in our region that will ultimately strengthen club unity.

“It’s a significant step forward in promoting inclusiveness, enhancing club culture, and aligning with the continued evolution of female football.”

AFL Barwon is dedicated to continually consult and collaborate with clubs regarding these changes and will hold a club workshop in January to allow clubs the opportunity to discuss.

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Geelong Ammos midfielder Bella Hill has made history by taking out the 2026 Senior Female Division 1 Epworth Cup Best & Fairest.

Hill - a previous Division 1 winner in 2021 while playing for Grovedale, became the first player in Female Division 1 history to win the award twice by claiming this year's honour.

Hill, a former Geelong VFLW player, stepped away from football during the 2023 and 2024 seasons before making a return last year with Ammos.

Hill’s 2026 season saw her named in the best nine times while also finding the goals consistently with 17 goals in her 11 games.

She took out the award after finishing the season on 24 votes.

This saw her finish 11 votes clear of the runners up who finished tied on 13 votes in a competitive leaderboard.  

Geelong Ammos teammate Cheryl De Groot was one of those three players to finish tied on 13 votes.

Alongside De Groot on 13 votes was Grovedale’s Emily Worpel who was joined by St Mary’s Rebecca Clottey.

Coming in at fifth was St Joseph’s Bella Gilham on 12 votes.

The top 10 had an even spread of Division 1 clubs with five of the eight teams represented.

The top 10 leaderboard and a full list of award winners can be found below.

Leading Goalkicker: Bella Gilham (St Joseph's) 50 goals

Times News Group Rising Star: Juliet Muscroft (Torquay)

Female Football Coach of the Year: Chris Hickey (St Joseph's)

P&R Food Services Coaches Player of the Year: Emily Ramsay (Geelong Amateur)

Club by Club Leaderboards

The 2026 Senior Female Division 2 Epworth Cup Best & Fairest has seen a dramatic three-way tie in an entertaining conclusion to the season.

It comes as the Barwon region’s standout performers were recognised at the Female Football Presentation Event held on Monday night at Buckley’s Entertainment Centre. 

St Albans/Thomson’s Ailish Tyrrell, Lara’s Kara Stacey and Anglesea’s Lahnee Firth all found themselves finishing the regular season on 18 votes each.

Tyrrell rounded out an incredibly consistent season where she was named in the best 10 times in her 12 matches.

Lara goal kicker Stacey capped off a season where she booted home 39 majors during the regular season while also being named in the best eight times across 13 matches.

Anglesea’s Firth herself also put together a season to remember being named in the best nine times in 11 matches while being prolific around goals with 21 across the season.

Rounding out the top 5 was Torquay’s Lila Richard on 16 votes in fourth while Modewarre’s Charlotte Hardy and Lara’s Victoria Paape-Silva finished in equal fifth position with 15 votes.

The top 10 leaderboard and full list of award winners can be found below.

Best & Fairest: Ailish Tyrrell (St Albans/Thomson)

Leading Goalkicker: Victoria Paape-Silva (Lara) 47 goals

P&R Food Services Coaches Player of the Year: Victoria Paape-Silva (Lara)

Club-by-club votes:

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