A FOOTSCRAY-based female gridiron team is providing girls from the West with the chance to become sporting champions.
Shayla Hasandic is a linebacker in the team – but in her everyday working life is employed as an air stewardess at Tullamarine Airport.
“I think it’s a great sport and it is certainly different from my job, but I enjoy playing with a team of great girls and we give it our best every game,” Ms Hasandic said.
The Victoria’s Western Foxes Women’s Gridiron Team trains twice a week at the Henry Turner Oval, as part of the Western Crusaders Gridiron Football Club. Gridiron Victoria president, Sam Weller, said the Western Foxes were recently established as the first women’s team in the league’s 15-year history.
The Foxes president, Julia Birks, said her team’s players provided a positive alternative to the “lingerie-style” women’s gridiron played in America and televised around the world.
“The great thing about gridiron is that it really is the most universal team sport that absolutely anyone can play,” she said.
“Someone who weighs 100kg can be as crucial to the team on the offensive line as a 60kg speed-demon, playing free safety on the defence,” says Birks.
“Previously, this kind of inclusivity has been absent from most team sports for women.
“It’s the ultimate way to get fit, feel empowered, make friends, and have a great time.”
See http://westerncrusaders.com.au/ for more information.
