JUGGLING two elite sports and two jobs is part of a standard week for Western Bulldogs midfielder and Melbourne Stars fast bowler Emma Kearney. 

Kearney’s VFLW side Melbourne University was eliminated in the first week of that competition’s finals series, but her pre-season commitments with the Stars are well underway.

The 27-year-old has a hectic schedule, teaching a year 12 physical education class at Mount Alexander College in Flemington in Melbourne’s inner north-west, while also working part-time at the AFL in coaching development.

She also managed to fit in the NAB AFL Women’s State of Origin match at Etihad Stadium on September 2, helping Victoria to an easy win over the Allies team.

Before Melbourne Uni lost to the St Kilda Sharks, Kearney’s nights were taken up by training - footy at Arden Street Oval in North Melbourne and cricket at the MCG.

"It's probably more mentally draining than physically," Kearney said.

"Once I'm there, it's not too bad. But it’s actually getting to training and then putting on a uniform that can be tiring.

"There are probably lots of single parents out there who are working two jobs, plus have kids to look after, so their life is probably a lot busier than mine. I don't have it all that bad. I'm loving what I'm doing, so I'm pretty lucky."

Kearney was one of the stars of the first NAB AFL Women’s season, coming off a busy summer playing one-day cricket for Victoria, Twenty20 for the Stars and pre-season training with the Bulldogs to form a devastating combination with Ellie Blackburn in the midfield.

Despite the short AFLW season (just seven weeks plus a grand final), Kearney said the new national competition had already started impacting women's football.

"Having an elite environment for the girls to train in has certainly helped VFL standard. Even Box Hill and Geelong, which don't have a lot of AFLW players in their sides, have really good infrastructure, very good head coaches and the support staff around them. They probably also had a lot of money going into it – that certainly helped them.

"I've certainly noticed there's a significant standard increase. I know at my club [Melbourne Uni], we had over 200 girls registered to play at this season, up from 100.

"I reckon it's more game-play that has improved. There's still a long way to go with skill, but when you think about it, a lot of the girls haven't played since they were four.

"In 10 years time, we'll see the skill level just explode. You already see the youth girls – their skills are phenomenal."

Emma Kearney (with Lauren Arnell) in Victoria's big win over the Allies. Picture: AFL Photos

Kearney's work with the AFL ties nicely into her experience as a teacher.

"I'm creating online resources and content for coaches of youth girls," she said.

"Basically, it's helping either new coaches who have taken on girls’ teams, or male coaches who have only had male coaches or have only coached boys. It’s about identifying differences and creating the right environment for girls."

Kearney, who also coaches an under-12 girls side in Flemington, said there are a few things coaches who have only worked with boys before have to consider.

"Certainly, the motivations to play footy are quite different. Males tend to be more [focused on winning], whereas girls are just there to have fun with their friends and be more social.

"In terms of an actual training session, girls are very social compared to the boys, so they're generally very chatty."

Despite the Bulldogs' AFLW players having scattered to teams around Melbourne, they have remained connected to the club during the ‘off-season’.

"Our coach, Paul Groves, usually will send us vision from our VFL games that we can have a look at. If we want to go to him to get further feedback we can," Kearney said.

"We're still in touch with our medical staff, so we've got access to physios if we're needing them or if we want extra strength and conditioning help, we've got that as well."

The AFLW pre-season is expected to start in November.