Hawks join SWFL women

Augusta-Margaret River’s proposal to nominate a women’s team for the 2021 SWFL season is an important step for the club, according to president Andrew Hunter. The Hawks, who will hold their inaugural pre-season training session tonight, will be coached by former Busselton women’s coach Matt Grosse. Hunter, who also served as the Hawks’ club delegate last season, believes the decision will be supported throughout the Capes community. “We have been looking at the opportunities to have a women’s side over the last few years,” he said. “But sometimes you have got to wait for the right people to show up and make it happen. That’s what we have been waiting for. “We had Matt Grosse come down and make us an offer to get something going — and that was really the trigger we needed.” Hunter has witnessed the positive benefits which women’s teams have brought to the SWFL and is hopeful these will also occur at Gloucester Park. “We are just going to have a red hot go,” he said. “Obviously we have a couple of months to get a side together before we have to nominate to the SWFL, which is not until mid-January, when the fixtures come out. “So we are going to start training immediately and see if we can pull a team together. If we can’t, it will go through to 2022, but we do not want to speculate because we want to get a team up now. “It would be good for the club and certainly good for football in Margaret River.” Grosse is optimistic about what the Hawks could achieve in their maiden season, however he wants to primarily ensure all players enjoy themselves week-in, week-out. “Although there will be fitness, the girls will need to do a lot of it in their own time,” he said. “We also need to work on our skills. The girls need to learn how to protect themselves when going for the ball, so we need to get as much work on these as we can.”