Milwaukee's Heather O'Keeffe in Queensland

Milwaukee's Heather O'Keeffe is in Queensland on an exchange program this semester and recently had an opportunity to see and learn more about how the girls competition is growing in the region.  Heather will be looking for a club to play with while managing her studies.  The following article, courtesy of AFL Queensland, highlights Heather's visit to a Youth Girls AFL Gala event.

Nambour State High School held a Youth Girls AFL Gala day on Wednesday February 22 in anticipation for the 2012 Youth Girls Cup. While the weather was not ideal the girls enjoyed the opportunity to be a part of the skills session coordinated by AFL Queensland staff and of course the chance to play our great game.

With the 2012 Youth Girls Cup fast approaching, schools across the Coast are selecting their teams to take part on March 6 at Fishermans Road. Currently 22 teams are signed up for the junior and senior competitions with all schools keen to get involved.

AFL Queensland Development Officer, Dayne Frew said the number of entries has been outstanding. “We were aiming to get 20 teams for both competitions, passing that number has been awesome and it is great to see so many girls who want to get involved in AFL,” Mr Frew said. “Here at Nambour State High School today we have seen a lot of girls with a lot of potential...being able to provide these girls with a pathway through school based competitions and the introduction of the Under 15 Youth Girls Competition this year has really highlighted the demand for Girls AFL in the region.”

With the inclusion of the Under 15 Youth Girls Competition to the AFL Sunshine Coast Juniors fixture this year schools across the region will be imperative to the success of the first year. Plenty of girls are keen to get involved and even those who are too old for the Under 15 competition are looking to become involved at a coaching, assistant or training level.

Heather O’Keefe took part in the Gala day is currently on student exchange from Milwaukee, Wisconsin for six months and is super keen to get involved with the Youth Girls competition. “I’d love to come down and help the girls out at training I have been playing AFL for five years back home for the Milwaukee Bombers,” Miss O’Keefe said. “My dad actually started the league over there so I got involved through that I guess but it is heaps of fun and it is definitely getting bigger in the states. We don’t get to see much (AFL on TV), they show the grand final but it is on such weird hours and you have to pay extra.”

Heather said she enjoyed the gala day and looks forward to the Youth Girls Cup as well as the chance to watch more footy on the weekends.

For more information on the AFL Sunshine Coast Youth Girls competition, head to their Facebook page.