The Sydney Swans will commence their search for the most talented female footballers across NSW and ACT, as part of its journey to forming an inaugural AFLW team for season 2022/23.

The club and AFL NSW/ACT will work closely with league and competition managers, to select athletes to select future stars of the red and white to take part in the pre-season Women’s Summer Series, commencing February 2022.

The series will be made up of 120 athletes across four teams, with talent from the QBE Sydney Swans Academy and Giants Academy to also compete.

Following the Women’s Summer Series, the Sydney Swans will form an open training squad to take part in a series of matches in the lead up to the 2022 NAB AFLW Draft.

Recently appointed Sydney Swans Executive General Manager- AFLW Kate Mahony said the Women’s Summer Series will play an important role in the Sydney Swans’ recruiting and list build ahead of its debut season in the AFLW.

“It takes a tremendous amount of effort to build a quality list from scratch and the Women’s Summer Series will bring NSW and ACT footballers together to compete to be the best," Mahony said.

"This series is a step closer to creating history at the club, as we look to forming a competitive AFLW team.

“It will be incredibly exciting to watch the series discover future AFLW athletes from across local competitions, as they chase their dream of pulling on the red and white guernsey. We’re looking forward to scouting as many future Swans athletes as possible.”

The Women's Summer Series begins on 5 February 2022 and continues weekly until 12 March 2022 (the weekend of 26 February is a scheduled break). Community football scheduling will not be affected by the series.

Players invited to the Women’s Summer Series will be contacted shortly with further details and their suggested training plan.

Further information will be available closer to the start of the series here.