Sydney is pleased to announce that Kate Mahony, Executive General Manager – AFLW has been selected in the newly established AFL Women in Football Talent Program.
As part of the program, Mahony will be one of five emerging female leaders from the AFL industry who will complete a six month program, designed to strengthen pathways for women into men’s footy departments and future-proof the game for generations.
The AFL announced the following five women from clubs and the AFL have been selected for the pilot program:
- Kate Mahony, Executive General Manager – AFLW, Sydney Swans
- Jess Burger, AFLW Head of Women’s Football & AFLW List Manager/Performance Analyst, Collingwood
- Michelle Cowan, Head of Women’s Football, West Coast Eagles
- Juliet Haslam, Head of AFLW, Port Adelaide
- Sophia Samartzis, Competition Operations Manager - AFL
The program has been designed to increase the representation of women within AFL men’s football departments, establish a strong pipeline of women and continue to build on the participant’s technical skills, knowledge, and capabilities in the areas of football operations.
The six-month pilot commenced on 24 November 2022, with the AFL Men’s Draft being the first immersion experience for participants. The program is delivered in a blended learning format with participants able to gain practical experience through industry immersion, online learning, and mentoring from key subject matter experts from both the AFL and its clubs.
The program’s modules are comprised of Recruiting and List Management, TPP and Soft Cap Management, Governance and Integrity, Training and Match Day Operations, and Media.
The Women in Football Talent Program will join other initiatives and key appointments which aim to accelerate the careers of our talent women across the AFL industry in governance, administration, coaching and umpiring, as part of the AFL’s commitment to progressing the game for women and girls achieving the AFL's Women’s Football Vision 2030. These include:
The Women’s Coaching Acceleration Program expedites the development of the industry's best women coaches and increases the number of women in coaching roles across men's and women's programs at the community level, across state leagues, in the AFL and AFLW.
Chelsea Randall (Adelaide Crows), Emma Ziekle (Brisbane Lions), Chloe McMillan (Collingwood), Natalie Wood (Essendon), Daisy Pearce (Geelong Cats), Alicia Eva (GWS GIANTS), Bec Goddard (Hawthorn), Emma Kearney (North Melbourne) and Erin Philips (Port Adelaide) are the program’s current participants.
The BHP Women’s Coaching Academy sees outstanding coaching talent selected to take part in a 12-month program.
The 2022 participants are Lauren Arnell –) AFLW Head Coach (Port Adelaide), Elise Coventry – AFLW Development Coach (Geelong Cats), Courtney Cramey – AFLW Assistant Coach (Adelaide Crows), Jacara Egan – Assistant Coach Boys/Girls (Calder Cannons), Pia Faletti – Rogers Cup Head Coach/League Assistant Coach (Subiaco Women’s) Daisy Pearce – AFLW Captain (Melbourne), Katherine Smith –Premier Women’s Team Head Coach (Macquarie University) and Emma Zielke – AFLW Assistant Coach (Brisbane Lions).
The She Can Coach Program was established to increase the number of women in coaching, improve the capacity of these coaches, increase the visibility of coaching role models for women, and develop a network of women in coaching across all levels of the game.
As a result of these pathway programs, there has been a 100 percent increase in women employed across the NAB League since 2021, including development coaching roles and senior roles. In 2022, 18 women were employed as coaches in the NAB League.
GenW Executive Leadership Program is a bespoke executive leadership program for the most talented, senior women leaders working in both the AFL and Clubs. Now entering its third year, one of the key success factors of the program is the visibility of our talented women and the ongoing advocacy and sponsorship from our industry executives. The program plays a critically important role in both identifying and supporting the accelerated development and progression of our most talented women in the AFL industry.
Past participants include trailblazers Trisha Squires, Elisa Koch, Debbie Lee, Natalie Fagg, Kerrie Brewer, Kasey Passmore and the newly appointed Chief Executive of North Melbourne, Jennifer Watt, and AFL General Manager Competition Management, Laura Kane.
In 2022, the AFL also appointed Lisa Lawry, GenW Alumni, as General Manager of Umpiring, to drive the progression of umpiring nationally and drive greater diversity across all levels. In the lead-up to the NAB AFLW Season Seven, the AFL Umpires Team held its inaugural AFLW Talent Identification Day, which was attended by 75 female umpires.
Female representation in Season Seven increased by 63 per cent in the Home and Away umpiring panel, and from nine per cent in Season Six to 23 per cent in the Season Seven finals Panel.
To create further employment opportunities and career progression outside of football, the AFL recently launched the second edition of Workplay powered by John Holland, the industry-first careers platform that connects AFLW players with flexible employment, career, and educational resources.
Valued AFL and AFLW partners John Holland, Rebel, Foxtel Group, NAB, Cotton On, and Telstra, which has seen successful placements for players such as Tessa Doumanis (Port Adelaide, John Holland) Nina Morrison (Geelong, AFL Data Analytics Team), Alice Mitchell, (Sydney Swans, Foxtel Group) and Renee Tierney (Essendon, AFL Corporate Affairs).
The second edition has extended access to the platform for the 18 AFLW clubs and their partners, providing players with even more support and development both on and off the field.
