Kicking off Women’s League

By MIKE SEXTON

Thirty-five years ago an innocent phone call to a radio station began one of the biggest shifts in South Australian football.

Gina Dutschke had finished University and without a job had spare time on her hands and so wanted to do something to keep fit. She thought about playing football but didn’t know how and so rang Ken ‘KG’ Cunningham’s radio show and asked if he knew who she should contact.

“He told me there weren’t any and I should play soccer or go jogging. That was like a red rag to a bull. I was raring to go at something and so I put my energy into starting up football.”

Other women were listening to the show including Jenny Williams, who at the time was an adviser to the Minister for Sport and Recreation. Her organisational skills helped set up foundations such as a constitution, booking facilities and ovals and steering Gina toward media.

Soon 200 women had made contact and, to kick things off, a series of events were scheduled over four weekends, including a Level 0 coaches’ course, a skills development clinic and a lightning carnival, culminating in an SA All-Stars versus Vic State match at Glenelg Oval.

The following year (1991) six teams were registered: Hectorville Hawks, Thunderbirds, Brighton Bombers, Southern CD Cougars, Para Hills Panthers and Edwardstown Eagles. The South Australian Women’s Football League was alive.

The first premiership was won by Thunderbirds and captained by Ros Kitschke, whose brother Damian played at Sturt and St Kilda. The pioneer competition survived mostly on enthusiasm because there was no money and little support.

Jules Smith, who was one of the class of 1991, recalled: “It was pretty tough back then because we were sort of the forgotten people. We had to struggle for the scraps we could get, such as the old uniforms. We could only get on the oval after the men and the juniors had finished. We were way down the pecking order.”

Matches were played at Adelaide High School and the Postal Institute Oval on West Terrace on Sunday afternoons – the only time the grounds were available. Quarters went for 15 minutes and were watched by a handful of friends, family and curious onlookers.

Each team had to pay $400 to register and the players arranged fundraising events to cover their costs. The struggle built a camaraderie off the field because each team supported the others when they needed help. A community of like-minded women grew. One of the few sponsors the league had was Cumberland Arms Hotel, so after matches the pub was packed as a way of repaying the favour. In a pre-internet era, it also was vital time for communication.

At the end of the season the first best-and-fairest count was held and it was a rowdy show at times beyond the control of the night’s MC, former Glenelg player and coach Stan Wickham. “Poor old Stan,” recalled Brighton captain Lou Crowe, “he thought he might get a bit more respect than he did but the girls were a bit wild. He didn’t put his hand up again.”

The SAWFL battled along until 2017 when the Adelaide Crows entered the AFLW. Among those watching the first match at Thebarton Oval was an emotional Lou Crowe.

“It was how far it has come but it was also a little bit of resentment because I thought what it would have been like if this was available for us in 1991 or even before then. All we wanted to do was play footy.”

The origin story of the SAWFL has now been preserved by the SANFL History Centre. Gina Dutschke has donated the original documents and is among several women interviewed about their memories.

The SANFL Women’s competition was launched in 2017 but it wasn’t the first time women had run out wearing familiar league colours. Several SANFL clubs had previously fielded sides in the pioneering SA Women’s Football League.

It began in 1998 at West Adelaide after a conversation over morning tea at a city legal firm.

Jules Smith had played and coached at Edwardstown in the SAWFL but, like others, felt the league was starting to lose momentum after almost a decade. Teams had dropped out because of lack of players or money or both and only four were left competing.

“We were struggling and so a few of us thought we needed to get involved with the SANFL. I worked with West Adelaide president Dion McCaffrie and he was super supportive. I think the club thought we will give them a go, what is the worst that can happen? And so we started a team.”

The team was known as ‘Westies Girls’. Not wanting to poach precious players from other clubs, a squad was built from women who had a connection to the club such as Sarah Brown, whose grandfather Colin played 222 games for West Adelaide.

They were given a set of old jumpers by general manager Doug Thomas and trained at Richmond Oval after 8pm when the men had finished. Jules recalled the warmth the team felt from club members and supporters.

“We had to prove ourselves to Westies, as to why we should be there. The members were phenomenal. They embraced us and thought we were a bit of a giggle at times but they were our biggest supporters – they just supported us all the way. It was good fun.

“In our first year, we played the first night match ever at Richmond. The lights were not great but were good enough for us. After the game we held a karaoke night in the clubrooms. The members loved it and it was a great night. We had another night game the following season however Doug did not set the light timer properly and so they went out just before half-time and we had to forfeit the game.”

The Westies Girls finished minor premiers their first year, dropping only one match, while standout Ros Kitschke won the first of her two Dutschke Medals as the League’s best and fairest.

The only honour eluding them was the premiership, which was won by Smith’s former club Edwardstown. West Adelaide folded after 2003 but not before opening up the idea of women’s football to other SANFL clubs, helping start teams at Sturt, Port Adelaide and North Adelaide. The Roosters, Doubles Blues and Eagles all won SAWFL premierships.

West Adelaide again fielded a women’s team in the SAWFL in 2012 and claimed a premiership. When the SANFL sought interest in forming a women’s competition, the Bloods were eager to continue building on their history. The year SANFLW started was the final season of the old SAWFL after 26 years.

The legacy of the formative league was to create a place for women to play Australian Rules in Adelaide – a place that now boasts teams from juniors all the way to elite competitions such as the SANFL and AFL. The story of the original Westies Girls has been recorded and archived as part of the work of the SANFL History Centre that is a priceless store of the history of the game in SA.