Meg Hutchins Excited by what the Swisse VFL Women’s League has to Offer

This weekend the Box Hill Hawks will be celebrating women’s contribution to football and our community. In what will be a great day for the club, the Eastern Devils Swisse VFL Women’s team will be playing a curtain raiser against Diamond Creek from 10am.

boxhillhawks.com.au caught up with Meg Hutchins, the co-captain of the Eastern Devils earlier in the week.

‘In my junior year I never would have thought women’s football would have gotten to the point that it has today. I am so proud to be a representative of the Victorian Women’s Football League.’

Having missed the opportunity to play youth football, Hutchins is now excited by what the expansion of the Victorian Women’s Football League is offering women and girls of all ages.

‘A lot of people have put in hard work to make the Swisse VFL Women’s what it is today, I’m really happy that it has. I’m grateful for all those people who have put in the hard yards.’

With women’s football quickly expanding in the past decade, girls at a younger age now have the chance to continue playing the sport they love.

‘I had to stop playing when I was 10 and couldn’t get back into it for about 10 years, but the younger girls have better opportunities today.’

‘If they want to play football for the rest of their lives then they can now, that is probably the most important thing. They have the choice now rather than it being made for them.’

Being a passionate supporter of the continued growth of women’s football, Hutchins knows that football is not just about the sport for young girls.

‘Females in particular do a lot of things because of the social side, if their friends are doing it and if they love it then they will keep doing it. It’s really important to maintain continuity throughout the development years and sport can help with that. Now the girls don’t lose their teammates and their identity.’

Despite youth football not being available for Hutchins, she has still found a sense of belonging amongst her past and present teammates.

‘Sport creates lifelong friendships. I’ve been with the Eastern Devils for 14 years now and I’ve met some amazing people who are now lifelong friends and I will be forever grateful to the Devils for providing me that.’

Looking forward to the game on the weekend against Diamond Creek, Hutchins is excited for the opportunity to play on VFL ground.

‘Any chance we get to play on a VFL ground presents its challenges but we get that excitement of playing on the larger deck. It’s going to present a bit of a challenge being on the larger ground but all the girls are excited by the challenge.’

‘We won’t be changing our playing style on the larger ground. We’ve had it drilled into us for weeks not to change our style, particularly on the eve of finals. It normally takes four kicks to get it out of the back line to our forwards but this weekend it might take five.’

Sitting fourth on the Swisse VFL Women’s ladder, the Devils are in a good position heading into the finals, however this won’t lull them into a false sense of security as they take on Diamond Creek.

‘We’ve done well this year to get enough points on the board to play in the finals series and we are looking forward to the challenge. We’ve just got to get out there and play the best that we can.’

‘Diamond Creek are a really good side and they always bring their A-game. We’ve had a good rivalry for the past 8 or so years and they always tend to grow an extra leg for us so we’ll just have to chop that off.’

It is going to be an action packed day down at Box Hill City Oval this Saturday with the Devils set to kick off the day at 10:00am before the Box Hill Hawks battle Collingwood at 1:00pm.