PLAYER safety was a key focus of a female football coaching forum held in Melbourne last weekend. 

With a 76 per cent increase in female football teams around the country in 2017, clubs at all levels have been inundated with females of a variety of ages keen to play the game. 

Many haven't come from a contact-sport background or have played limited-contact games like netball and basketball. 

Skills such as tackling, bumping and taking contested marks are foreign and while juniors coming through the ranks are learning these from the very start of their development, older players at community level, some from under-resourced clubs, often have to pick up skills on the run. 

A female football safety project is being constructed by the AFL's game development department to help introduce correct techniques from the moment first-time players take to the training track.

A key component of the project is coach education, which is where the forum, in its third year, comes into play.

Some 140 coaches from a variety of levels attended, taking part in practical sessions including tackling, body contact and marking (run by Southern Saints VFLW coach Peta Searle); good coaching practice (led by former Fremantle AFLW coach Michelle Cowan, skill acquisition expert Damian Farrow and Melbourne AFLW assistant coach Jane Lange) and an ACL injury prevention session (run by Melbourne AFLW player and physiotherapist Brooke Patterson).

Coaches also learned more about the AFLW ACL research project run by Patterson and Kay Crossley from La Trobe University, and another on building team culture by Cowan. 

The AFL’s head of women's football Nicole Livingstone said the waiting list for the forum, which numbered more than 50 people, showed there was enthusiasm for knowledge in the fast-growing segment of football. 

"It obviously indicates there is a desire and appetite. That's not surprising for us, given the participation numbers and growth that we've seen in women's football," said Livingstone, who facilitated the forum. 

What's pleasing for me is that it's not just a recognition of growth, but that there's actually now a lot more support behind it in giving players a good experience coming into the football environment.

Safety, developing correct techniques and empowering coaches to teach these was front of mind. 

"It's for them to understand what best practice is and what best technique is. When we look at it, we know there are things we really need to focus on and change and improve," Livingstone said. 

"It will happen with time and with girls coming right through the system, from Auskick right through to the elite level. 

"But in the meantime, it's making sure we are having good technique when it comes to tackling and bumping, making sure players know how to give and take good tackles.

"It's also reinforcing there is a duty of care for every player to make sure they're doing things to the best of their ability, so they're not actually putting other players in harm's way."