FOOTY changes forever this Friday night with the start of the AFLW competition. Reporter and “sneaky forward pocket” Regina Titelius trained with the Fremantle Dockers as they prepared for a tilt at the the coveted first title.

THE last time I played football for more than a few minutes was about 35 years ago, when I was a kid growing up with my three older brothers.

So when I was given the task of doing a training session with Fremantle Football Club’s new AFL Women’s team, the nerves kicked in.

I’ve always been sporty but mostly from running, and only dabbled occasionally in sports involving a ball, such as softball and tennis.

Fitness aside, I was also old enough to be the mother to most of the 26 ladies on this team.

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Understandable then that when I trotted out on to the Fremantle Oval last week for the Dockers AFLW team training session, I felt like a complete fraud wearing their guernsey. But within minutes, it was obvious the team and coaches were not only tolerating me — they were cheering me on, encouraging me to do the best I could.

I was immediately given the player nickname “Regi” and there were hand-slaps all round as we started off with a gruelling warm-up which I thought was going to end me after just 10 minutes. I had to explain I wasn’t having an asthma attack.

Continuing on to drill work, the coaches, led by Michelle Cowan, and players, led by their captain Kara Donnellan, seemed determined to draw out my “inner footy player”.

With a focus on speed, we started off with a handball-catch combo drill, with the quick action requiring all my focus. I quickly realised these drills were not only testing my stamina but any ability I had to co-ordinate my limbs and think quickly on my feet.

Camera Icon Sunday Times reporter Regina Titelius trains with the Dockers. Credit: PerthNow, Trevor Collens

When we moved on to kicking and marking drills, I figured they’d boot me off the field when my sub-par kicking skills threatened to derail any sense of rhythm on the field.

But somehow, the team worked around my shortcomings and I was saved the embarrassment of being sent off to do laps.

Finishing the drills with a goal raised a smile from Cowan who said, “I can see you as a sneaky forward pocket”.

By the end of the session, I was physically spent, which I expected. What I didn’t expect was the exhilaration of feeling a part of something special.

Here was a team that had been together for just a couple of short months and was already showing cohesion and camaraderie, not to mention passion for the game.

Combining their fitness and skill levels, these ladies revel in the physicality of footy and they are psyched to be making history when AFLW’s first season launches next weekend.

Camera Icon Sunday Times reporter Regina Titelius trains with the Dockers. Credit: PerthNow, Trevor Collens

The Dockers’ first game will be against Western Bulldogs on Saturday in Melbourne in an historic moment Cowan says “is a long time coming”.

“While it’s history in the making and while there might be some emotion on the day, women have been playing football for 100 years and these girls here deserve to be putting on an AFL jumper,” the head coach said.

Cowan and the assistant coaches have been putting the ladies through their paces during a gruelling pre-season, focussing on fitness, touch and skill, and strategic game play. The challenge is making limited training time count.

For now the training commitment is nine hours over three nights through the week, with each session ranging from 1.5 hours to three hours, with shorter sessions focusing on speedy drills, and longer sessions on endurance.

Players can cover anywhere up to 7km on the field during training sessions. Most players are also juggling work and family, but an eight-round season will limit the juggling act.

Most of the team have grown up with a football in hand, either playing with family members, or progressing to competitive games.

Camera Icon Sunday Times reporter Regina Titelius trains with the Dockers. Credit: PerthNow, Trevor Collens

For Donnellan, 24, who has played football for the past 14 years, it’s a “dream come true”.

“You still pinch yourself, in this position and living your dream,” she said.

“I was pretty much the only girl in my school who was playing footy, a lone soldier in that sense, but I wouldn’t change it for the world.”

Among a few of the team’s footy “newbies” is Gemma Houghton, 23, who has put aside her basketball career to see where the season takes her.

“The transition has been tough on the body but I absolutely love it,” she said.

“I love the feeling, the adrenaline and excitement, it’s a whole other passion.”

Having shared a few hours with the team, the common thread is their passion for the sport and a strong determination to make their mark.

I can’t wait to see how the inaugural season plays out for the team who have struck up a great sisterhood and are sure to garner a strong following and be fantastic role models for West Australian schoolgirls.