KAITLYN Ashmore is set to be part of Australian television and sports history, playing football.
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Ballarat’s Asmore will line up in the first AFL women’s game to be broadcast free-to-air, and live, this Sunday from Etihad Stadium.
The 23-year-old defender’s action photo has been used in AFL and Western Bulldogs’ promotional images leading into this week’s game against Melbourne, which will share equal billing with each club’s male AFL teams.
To be a face of this AFL women’s game is a huge honour for Ashmore, championing women’s sport and drawing attention to the game she loves. Ashmore said it was “pretty cool” to have her action photo chosen for a spot usually reserved for the captains Aasta O’Connor and Steph Chiocci.
This will be Ashmore’s fourth AFL game, and second as a Bulldog, but this game is different.
“It’s even more exciting preparing for this game, I think because it is on television,” Ashmore said. “There is so much hype just for one game. More people are becoming interested in women’s football and supporting us.”
The Bulldogs have a partnership with the City of Ballarat to promote and develop the game in this region. Prominent businesswoman and Bulldogs’ vice-president Susan Alberti is a strong supporter of women’s sport, particularly football. Moving to the Bulldogs this year, Ashmore said she loved being part of the Doggies’ pack mostly because of the great supportive culture for the women’s game at the Kennel.
Ashmore led a Bulldogs superclinic in Ballarat last month alongside the likes of key players Mitch Wallis and Stewart Crameri. She was a special guest at a Ballarat Football League women’s football lunch, meeting Alberti for the first time, also last month and was guest speaker for the BFL youth girls’ best and fairest.
Already, Ashmore is seeing a shift in the general public perception of AFL women’s football – for good.
“It’s great how involved Ballarat has been. I have people coming up and wishing me luck, I was surprised how big the youth girls’ presentation is now,” Ashmore said.
“I think the future is really bright.”
The AFL plans to launch an elite women’s league with club-aligned teams in 2017.
