Each year the Fitzroy Women in Footy lunch gets bigger and bigger and this year a classy panel will take a look at the experience of and pathways for female footballers at several levels of the game.

The pre-game lunch on 25 August at Brunswick Street is a key feature of the ACU Game before Fitzroy takes on PEGS in the final home and away game of the season.

Hosted by award-winning sports journalist Megan Hustwaite, AFLWs Kaitlyn Ashmore (Lion turned Roo) makes a return to the panel, while winner of the Debbie Lee Medal for first year player in her 2016 season with Fitzroy-ACU, Ash Riddell, and Roy turned Pie leadership group member, Hillary Grubb, make a return to BSO to talk about their paths to the AFLW and VFLW respectively. The VAFAs Manager of Womens Football, Shona MacInnes, will also make her first appearance to talk about whats next in our own fast-growing womens competition.

The make up of the panel will allow us to explore the current state of play at the VAFA, VFLW and AFLW and potential pathways for talented female footballers coming up through the ranks.

Recent North Melbourne AFLW signings Ashmore and Riddell are currently playing with the Melbourne University Mugars in the VFLW and it will be interesting to hear how things are coming together for one of the expansion clubs set to join the AFLW this year.

Kaitlyn was on the panel last year representing the Brisbane Lions and her departure to come home to Victoria as part of the inaugural North Melbourne Tasmanian Kangaroos was somewhat of a surprise. We reckon shell still wear the Fitzroy beanie though!

Ash has made a meteoric rise, playing her first season of serious football with Fitzroy-ACU in 2016 and in the same year winning the VAFAs Debbie Lee Medal for best first year player. She has since gone on to play in the VFLW with the Mugars, has also been signed by North Melbourne and is getting ready for her first season of AFLW footy.

Another Fitzroy-ACU success story is Hillary Grubb, who is still a Fitzroy-listed player but is enjoying a hugely successful first season with the ladder-leading Collingwood side in the VFLW. Hillary made the transition from Fitzroys leadership group, straight into the Collingwood leadership group and it will be interesting to explore the differences she has experienced this year.

Shona MacInnes recently wrote of the experience of bringing womens football to the VAFA saying 3,000 young women have created the largest womens football competition in the country and describing the benefits and challenges that go with that.

Bringing all of this together will be top notch emcee and sports journo, Megan Hustwaite, who featured on our cricket panel earlier this year and has covered all kinds of sports for newspapers and radio, including the WNBL, cricket, AFL and more.

There will be very limited tickets for the day. Get in fast.

You can book here: https://fitzroyfc.worldsecuresystems.com/BookingRetrieve.aspx?ID=97602
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