Female footy's new look

Female Football Gippsland will be looking a little different this year as the Gippsland League now takes over administration of the competition.
The move comes after a Female Football Forum last July which identified several key priorities for a sustainable future, including strengthened organisational support, consistent and centralised governance, and flexible and player-focused fixturing.
Following extensive discussions with the previous board, the move was made to help FFG create a structure that could deliver improved governance and support, as well as the organisational capacity required to grow female football in the area.
While Female Football Gippsland has maintained strong growth in its youth girls competitions - which included two under 18s divisions last season - the league's seniors have struggled by comparison.
The women's competition has fielded just four teams over the past three years, including Nar Nar Goon and Lindenow South - two clubs separated by more than 200km.
This year that number has been bumped up to seven thanks to the additions of Woodside, Meeniyan Dumbalk United (MDU) and Traralgon.
Additionally, Moe will enter a standalone side after functioning as Moe-Newborough for the past few seasons.
The FFG under 18 youth girls also have seen a change.
While remaining as two separate divisions, they will be divided geographically instead of by team strength.
It means there will be an east conference involving seven clubs and a west conference with eight.
The western division involves Warragul Industrials, Nar Nar Goon, MDU, Warranor, Phillip Island, Drouin, Inverloch and Hill End, while the east includes Bairnsdale, Woodside, Boisdale-Briagalong, Sale City, Newborough, Traralgon and Morwell.
The rationale for the change was largely to combat issues created by travel times, especially for girls who may have other study or social commitments.
Gippsland League pathways and programs co-odinator Elli Linney said the clubs had embraced the changes so far.
"It's been really positive, we haven't had much negative feedback so far," she said.
"A lot of the clubs are really excited... we're trying to give our players more opportunity to be heard and to be seen."
FFG's Gather Round initiative will remain and there are future plans to try and get more exposure for the competition, including playing before men's matches and double-headers.
As part of the changing administration, the South West Gippsland under 16 girls competition will now fall under the banner of the West Gippsland Junior Football Competition.
The number of teams has grown from six to 10 as clubs like Drouin, Longwarry, Leongatha and Wonthaggi join for the new season.