WAFL stint a great step

Harvey Bulls women’s team skipper Doma Fedele took another step forward with her career in season 2020, after getting a taste of football at the next level. Although Fedele finished with the club’s fairest and best award on Friday night, a stint with East Fremantle reserves in the WAFLW earlier in the season was equally as pleasing. “The opportunity came about through former Bulls teammate Larissa Versaci, who plays up there in the WAFLW competition,” she said. “Their reserves team were short a couple of players and it worked out that we (the Bulls) had a bye as we were supposed to play the Collie Eagles. “So Larissa sent me a message and told me that their president had asked whether a few of us would be keen to come up and have a run. “For the first game, myself and Yana Guretti went up and it was such a great opportunity. It was great to get to know all of the girls and see how they do things.” Fedele was joined in her second game for the Sharks a few weeks later by additional Bulls teammates, as Harmony Staszewski-Hose, Maddie Bedford, Rebecca Fry and Guretti also got a chance to play. And in a massive tick for the SWFL women’s competition, the athletic on-baller found the transition between both competitions relatively seamless. “To be honest, I did not think it was that much different in the competition,” Fedele said. “Maybe the skills were a little bit cleaner, but I think we have got some great, intelligent players down here.” When not dominating in the centre for the Bulls or helping out her club off the field, Fedele works as a health and physical education teacher. Given she was also an accomplished soccer player prior to swapping the round ball game for a Burley, her students are in prime position to learn from a bright sporting mind. “The way that I build my relationships and get them engaged in my classes is by talking sport with them,” Fedele said. “I think that it just really helps in my job and for me as a player as well. If I can get down to a junior game on a Saturday morning to watch as well, it also helps.” The Bulls fell to Busselton in the preliminary final this year, although Fedele believes it was still a positive season. After the Eagles were unable to field a team, a number of Collie-based players — including Rachel Shepherd, Jonelle Blackford and Tekanakana Jack-Tui — elected to join the Bulls and Fedele loved being able to support them during the year. The opportunity to have a prolonged crack at football in Perth is an enticing one, however Fedele is still weighing up her options moving forward. “I’m just going to try and enjoy the off-season,” she said. “And have a think about where I would like to be. “If the opportunity is there to play at a higher level, I would like to challenge myself and give it a go. But in saying that, I have put a lot of time and effort into the Bulls. And I think that if we have the team again that we had this year, plus a few extras, we could have a successful 2021 season.”