Female Footy Festival 2024

NRL Victoria hosted its very first Female Footy Festival on Sunday 26th of May and in short, it was a smashing success!

In a year that has seen multiple participation records broken, NRL Victoria reached a total of 1,300 registered female participants over the weekend - A record that will hopefully be broken yet again in 2025. With the ongoing growth and success of rugby league in our state, events like the Female Footy Festival bring together our past and present female athletes to showcase their talent, drive and passion.

Attendance on the day remained constant and the atmosphere was buzzing from start to finish, as an estimated 2,500 people showed their support.

36 teams, aged from Under 10’s through to Senior Women, participated on the day. The Festival also saw the return of the Women’s League Tag! The South Eastern Titans came out with a bang in round 1, defeating the Werribee Bears 38-8. The Northern Thunder also came away with a win on Sunday, beating the Doveton Steelers 16-6.

Our Game Development team ran a Come N Try clinic, open to participants wanting to try rugby league for the first time, as well as a Tackle Ready session which taught our females safe tackling techniques.

Sunday was the perfect day to play footy for our female athletes and a great day out for families, with food trucks, hair braiding, the Kangan Institute giveaway wheel, the Amazing Baby colouring competition, body massages from Kieser and more. The variety of activities on the day ensured there was something for everyone to enjoy, making it an exciting day for all ages.

The success of the Female Footy Festival is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our organisers, volunteers and participants. It was a great day celebrating all our females and the love our community has for rugby league. Thank you to everyone who came down to our newly opened State Centre, we look forward to seeing you next year.

The Female Footy Festival was proudly supported by Melbourne Storm and the Women of Storm initiative in partnership with Co-Presenting Partners Kangan Institute and BMD and supporting partners Cointree, Suzuki, The Amazing Baby Company, Gallaghers and Kieser.

Article written by Emily Mattocks intern at NRL VIC.