From spectator to player, Tayah finds her grooveFriday, April 17, 2015 - 8:49 AM - by Georgia RAVEN

Tayah has always been a sporty kid wound up in the world of netball and gymnastics at a young age but also loved kicking the footy around during school lunchtimes.

Wanting a change at the age of 11, Tayah would head down to the Swan Districts junior football games on the Thursday and Friday nights where she would snag a few sessions with the ball. 

When registrations for the first year of the Youth Girls competition opened up in 2013 Tayah was one of the first to jump on-board.

She said girls between the ages of 13 and 18 want to get involved in the competition because it offers a great pathway into the sport’s higher leagues.

“The youth girls will help them develop their skills and gameplay a lot and build them up and get them thriving for reserves and league. So they have that goal and can go places.” Tayah said.

A moment etched in Tayah’s memory is the day she took home the Randall and Donnellan Club Person award in the opening season of the competition.

“I was stoked. It was an amazing feeling being the first person to win it,” she said. 

The award, created in honour of AFL female greats and her coaches at the time Chelsea Randall and Kara Donnellan, is presented to a player who shows their utmost commitment and time to the club.

Registration numbers have been flooding in from the get-go and 16-year-old Tayah is so ecstatic the number of playing rounds has climbed from 10 to 14 over the past two years.

“The 10 weeks sounds like a long time but once you play it and you have your byes and mishaps in between, it just flies. So it’s good that we get a lot more time.”

Tayah and all her female footy friends have their fingers crossed the competition will eventually run for a full-length season.

“Not every week we can play all our team members so having more rounds gives everyone more than one opportunity to play their game and it also builds the team spirit.”

Last year a massive 268 girls registered in the competition which has led to the creation of another team the ‘Ellenbrook Dockers’ who will pair with Coolbinia this year.

Aussie Rules has become one of the fastest growing female sports in the country with close to 200,000 participants recorded last year.

Tayah’s Swan Districts coach Leith Woods said the creation of the AFL Women’s Exhibition Games in 2013 has become a major driver in the climbing number of participants.

“Having those AFL games has already been like a spark for girls to aspire to something and we can get the profile up to have AFL. When people see a pathway they’re more likely to continue in it.”

All female players have their eyes on the countdown for a national women’s league competition AFL boss Gillion McLachlan is pushing to create.

“Hearing people say ‘girls can’t play football’ makes me really mad. Girls have a career in it. There’s state football. Now there’s the AFL and hopefully soon there will be fulltime AFL teams.”

The profile of women’s footy has nothing but catapulted in the state with participation rates up 178% last year, but Tayah knows there’s much more that can be done.

“We can work towards live-streaming or one day broadcasting the WAWFL games so everyone can see them. It doesn’t have to be all games but one a week. We need to get it out there.”

Playing wing and centre half forward Tayah’s currently eyeing off second-round trials for a spot in the state team for the Youth Girls National Championships in May.

But first up is the round one opener where the Swans host Peel Thunderbirds on Sunday and Tayah said she has never felt more ready.

“We had pre-season morning sessions which have involved kilometre time trials, weight and high-intensity training.”

Coach Leith said driving physical education at this age is so important because it’s typically the time when girls give it up altogether.

“The girls who have probably stopped playing a sport have taken up football and they love it so much. They want to get fit, they’re keeping healthy, they’re eating well. I definitely think it’s fantastic for their health and it’s not just being good at the sport.”

When asked what message Tayah would like to send out to all young girls who have an interest and want to give footy a go she said this.

“Football isn't just for boys. If someone ever tells you ‘you kick like a girl’ you take that as a compliment, because girls can kick.”

To find out more about playing football or to find your nearest team visit www.playAFLWA.com.au and join the conversation on Twitter with @femalefootywa using #WAFooty