2013 AFL National Women’s ChampionshipsTuesday, June 18, 2013 - 1:43 AM

The 2013 AFL National Women's Championships are underway in Cairns, Queensland.

The championships, which kicked off on Monday, June 17 involve eight teams in two divisions. Division One includes Victoria, Western Australia, Queensland and New South Wales.

Division Two includes South Australia, ACT, Tasmania, and for the first time Arafura which includes players from the Northern Territory, Far North Queensland and Papua New Guinea.

WA Coach Neil Mildenhall said he was confident WA would perform well with a team that includes 12 of the players selected in this year’s first AFL Women's Draft, the current Debbie Lee medallist and several All Australians.

"We have worked really hard on our fitness and despite some major injuries to several of our seasoned players we have a great mix of youth and experience,” he said. 

Picture: WA vice captain Kara Donnellan, captain Chelsea Randall and vice captain Shelley Matcham.

2013 WA STATE OPEN WOMEN’S TEAM

AFL General Manager National and International Development Andrew Dillon said the 13th National Women’s Championships will showcase the country’s best female football talent.

“More than 136,000 females play Australian football which represents the AFL’s highest growth segment.

The National Women’s Championships are biennial. Victoria won the 2011 carnival defeating Western Australia in Adelaide.

The 2013 Division One final will be played at 4.20pm Saturday June 22 at Cazaly’s Stadium.

The Debbie Lee Medal will be presented to the best player of the carnival.

The inaugural Melissa Backhouse Medal will be presented to the most outstanding rising star player of the carnival.

Fixture and result details are available here: http://www.aflcommunityclub.com.au/index.php?id=752

Matches played at Cazaly Stadium will be live streamed at this address: http://new.livestream.com/accounts/4214247/events/2172362

Follow the championships on twitter: #aflkicksforchicks and for quarter by quarter scores @kicksforchicks