Up in arms as AFL rules them out
Arjun Ramachandran
June 11, 2008
Languishing at the bottom of the ladder, the Figtree Kangaroos under-15s need their hard-tackling half-back now more than ever.
But Madison Giffen and a teammate, Jessie Mulholland, have been barred from playing with the junior Australian rules team because they are girls.
Madison's mother, Dawn, received a letter last week from AFL NSW/ACT saying Madison had been deregistered from the Illawarra Junior competition.
An AFL policy introduced nationally this season prohibited girls aged over 14 competing against boys, largely for health and safety reasons, said Dale Holmes, the general manager of AFL NSW/ACT.
But there is currently no girls-only youth competition in the Illawarra region.
"I think the whole thing is stupid, it makes me so angry," said Madison, who has played for the Kangaroos since she was nine. "I'm stronger than most of the guys I'm playing against. I'm usually the one tackling everyone."
Dawn Giffen had no fears for her daughter. "I'm not concerned in any shape or form. If anyone gets hurt, it's usually because Madison's the one that's tackled them. She plays with her eyeliner and some moisturiser on … she's a right little girl, but she loves the physicality of football."
A defiant Madison and Jessie had continued to play for the team after turning 14. But now they had been deregistered they were no longer covered by the club's insurance policy, making it too risky for them to play on, said Bill Reid, the president of the Figtree Kangaroos.
Mr Holmes said the AFL's age policy was developed after extensive medical research and legal advice. "We have a duty of care, we need to protect the girls and all the other participants [from potential liability issues]."
But Ms Giffen said: "That makes me filthy because no one asked Madison how she feels, or questioned her abilities.
"The AFL actively go into schools and target girls from 10 to 13 years old, specifically to encourage them, and then they say they can't play.
"It's like they've got a kid on the field and they say 'Kick a goal! Kick a goal!', and then they move the goalposts."
As a compromise, the AFL would allow the girls to play for the under-13 Kangaroos side this year, Mr Holmes said. Both have declined this offer because the skill level would be too low.
At the start of the season, the girls' male teammates had been defiant when told the girls could not play in the team, and that the club could be fined or lose points if they did, Mr Reid said. "The boys were the driving force, they said: 'No, they are part of the team, they are one of us. We want the girls to play, they're our mates."'
Last Modified on 11/06/2008 12:51