COMMUNITY leagues and clubs can access two new resources to support their female football programs.

The 'AFL Female Football Prep to Play Program', developed by the AFL in conjunction with La Trobe University and experts in coaching and sports medicine, is aimed at leagues and clubs across the country.

The two-part program is made up of a digital booklet, the AFL National Female Community Football Guidelines, and Prep-to-Play video resources. The information has been compiled to educate grassroots football coaches and players on how to enhance performance and reduce the risk of injury in female football.                                           

The Guidelines provide direction to community football leagues and clubs on establishing best-practice frameworks for female football, including the management and development of new female teams, female-friendly facilities, club sustainability, competition balance and umpiring.

The Prep-to-Play video resources have been created to further support coaches of female footballers at all levels with tutorials on how to design a dynamic warm-up, and educate players to improve their skills in tackling, groundball gets and aerial contests.

The release of the resources is timely, considering the rapid growth of female football.

Female participation in Australian Football continues to thrive, with a 14 per cent increase in 2018 seeing females account for almost a third of participation across the country.

The AFL's head of women's football Nicole Livingstone said the AFL Female Football Prep to Play Program would play an important role in the development of the sport for future generations.

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"The growth in female participation across the country has reinforced the need for the AFL to provide community football leagues and clubs with the tools to ensure all females have an opportunity to play our game in a safe sporting environment," Livingstone said.

"The program is a terrific resource for grassroots football communities to adopt into their clubs to ensure the next generation of female footballers and their coaches are well equipped to thrive in our game at all levels."

To download a copy of the Female Football Community Guidelines, go here:

Click here to watch the Prep-to-Play videos.