Get ready to see local football at its best when Prahran Girls Junior Football Club takes on Mater Dei College Girls Football Academy, from Edgewater in Perth, at a free 'friendly' match on 6 July at Toorak Park.
The friendly is a chance to showcase young girls' football skills and their love of the game at one of our most popular, family-friendly and recently refurbished sports grounds. It's all part of creating and nurturing a connected, healthier, resilient and inclusive community and the game is just one of the many ways to help elevate girls in sport.
The City of Stonnington is committed to supporting active communities, promoting local sport and sports clubs, and importantly, encouraging more girls to participate in sport. This friendly competition aligns with Stonnington's Active Stonnington Strategy 2021-2025 vision for a community that is more physically active, leads a healthy lifestyle and is socially connected.
PJFC President Jo Harris said the club prides itself in supporting girls in sport.
"This 'friendly game' is an opportunity to bring girls from across the country together and celebrate a shared love of football in a local setting.
"It's also a great way to showcase the new facilities at Toorak Park. Friendly games encourage connection, inclusion and enjoyment," said Jo.
On receiving the news that Mater Dei College was bringing a girls' team to Melbourne for a football trip, the club jumped at the chance for a friendly game.
"We have not connected before, so we were grateful for the introduction by (Melbourne Girls Grammar) to facilitate this," Jo said.
It is an important juncture in the local club's history to be involved in the competition at this local level, with PJGC recently celebrating an important milestone, which makes for an even more exciting sporting event.
"We turned 50 this year and are thrilled to have supported thousands of local kids over the years to build friendships and foster a love of football in the Stonnington community.
"Prahran Football Club (seniors) established the junior club (50 years ago) to offer football to local boys. What started as a handful of boys' teams has grown incredibly. The club is very proud of its history and the girls' teams continue to strengthen.
"With more than 700 local kids playing football at the club, 30 percent of these are girls. This is the highest participation of junior girls in our club's history, and we are so proud to have girls' teams from under eight to under 18!
"As a club, we are working to strengthen our girls' football program by ensuring an inclusive, enjoyable and safe environment for girls to be engaged in football," said Jo.
Due to their strong connection to local schools, over the years the club has been introduced to other schools looking to play in friendly games for their kids on Melbourne football tours. Often these are during school holidays and provide a great opportunity for them to play an extra game for fun.
As well as benefits to health and fitness, playing team sports like football has many other benefits such as mental health benefits for children.
"Competition football has only been accessible to girls in recent years, but we're proud to have watched the pathways of some of our previous members. We even have a former PJFC member, Abby McKay, as the 2025 Carlton AFLW captain.
"Our club offers accessibility to football to kids across our community, which has led to a diversity of teams, from a broad range of schools. Connecting and building lasting friendships, leadership opportunities, resilience, confidence and teamwork - all being wonderful outcomes for girls playing football," said Jo.
PJFC offers training for girls new to the sport, in 'come and try' days, in a supportive environment, and also training opportunities with a team to build the necessary skills needed to be match ready and create long-lasting friendships.
Currently, there's availability in a number of girls' teams and the club is always open to new people interested in joining and welcomes anyone new to the sport.
