New Limestone Coast U16 Girls League kicks off in style

By ZAC MILBANK

Women’s football continues to blossom in the south east following the establishment of an U16 Limestone Coast Girls League.

Four teams got the ball rolling on Sunday morning, with North Gambier, South Gambier, Kongorong and Kybybolite playing a double-header to open the 2022 season.

North Gambier and Kybybolite were involved in a ”Come and Try” series starting in 2020, forming the foundation for the competition which now also includes South Gambier and Kongorong.

”The Limestone Coast Women’s Football League committee have been working tirelessly for the past three years to build and develop an Under 16s competition,” Limestone Coast Women’s Football League President Sarah Ottoson-Crossling said.

”There have been efforts from others in the community in the past who witnessed the need for a local women’s competition, such as Sarah Allen’s father Keith, which certainly got the ball rolling and that started the conversation.”

In the first match of the morning, Kongorong managed to hold South Gambier at bay by 17 points while Kybybolite hit the scoreboard with seven goals in the second match, defeating North Gambier by 35 points.

”Watching the games yesterday was a wonderful realisation that while it has been a lot of hard work to get the U16 competition off the ground, it was a moment of witnessing great potential and endless possibilities,” Ottoson-Crossling said.

”It is the start of something exciting for our young female athletes in the region. I don’t have a daughter playing in the competition, but I certainly felt like a proud parent!”