West Perth women paving the wayTuesday, May 28, 2013 - 6:08 AM

Women are playing a key role at West Perth Football Club this season in key strategic positions at a club that prides itself as being one of the WAFL’s most progressive.

Women have always played an important role when it comes to assisting their partners prepare for a game of WAFL football as players or coaches.

Now the Falcons are paving the way for more women to be involved in a range of official roles including directors, trainers, team managers and runners.

This year the club has Rebecca (Bec) Daniels on the Board of Directors, Jess Hayes working as Head Trainer, Julie Carpenter as Colts Team Manager and Karly Hoar as a Reserves Runner.

Falcon’s President Brett Raponi said each of them had been involved with the club for a number of years and deserved special recognition.

"Karly and Julie are into their second year in their respective roles, Bec formerly worked for the Falcons in administration and Jess has served a number of years as a trainer," Mr Raponi said.

"They are all highly capable in their roles and it is fantastic to have them involved with the club.

"Women are one half of the world’s population. Football has always been seen as a man’s domain but at West Perth we see men and women as all-encompassing and with a role to play.

"Like all WAFL clubs, we have many more ladies assisting with match day, sandwiches and raffles but for our club to continue to grow we recognise the need to get more women involved and holding senior positions within the club," he said.

The West Perth Football Club also acknowledged some of the other ladies who assist with match day including Natalie Sharman, Kathleen Tompsitt and Janet O’Neill to name a few.