FORMER West Coast Eagles stars Ryan Turnbull, of Floreat, and Chad Morrison, of Hillarys, are developing AFLW stars of the future.
The duo, who have been involved with the West Coast Eagles High Performance Female Academy since its inception last year, founded the West Australian Female Football Academy (WAFFA) to help young girls develop their football skills.
And they’ve already had success with one participant being chosen for the WAFLW and under-15 state team and another in the AFLW Eagles program.
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READ NOW“The aim is to get them involved in footy and get them on the right path and learn the skills so they love the game,” Turnbull, whose 12-year-old daughter Grace is in the academy, said.
“Grace is in her second year of club footy with the Claremont Junior Football Club in the combined 7-8s team.”
Girls are leaving sports like netball to join the academy and play football.
Morrison said some of the girls had brothers they kicked the footy with and just loved the game.
“Now it’s just about teaching them the technical skills like holding the ball properly, kicking the ball properly and handballing.
“Their skills improve very quickly.”
Turnbull said the girls were very coachable and willing to learn.
“In a short space of time they understand the basics and you can see that development and progression.”
WAFFA is running a three-day Future Stars Super Clinic on July 17, 18 and 19 at Leederville Oval and the new Eagles training ground in Lathlain where participants will get a tour of the facility.
Visit www.waffa.com.au.