With ground breaking times ahead for female footballers, none are more excited than Fremantle Football Club Women’s senior coach Michelle Cowan.

Hear how Cowan rose up the football ranks as a female coach in a man’s game at the ANZ and CCI Economic Breakfast on 28 March, where she’ll join ANZ Chief Economist Richard Yetsenga, who will provide his analysis and insights on the local, national and international trends for 2017.

The inaugural AFL Women’s competition kicks off on Friday night between Carlton and Collingwood while Fremantle will take on Western Bulldogs the following day.

“It’s really exciting and our Round Two game will be at home at Fremantle Oval.”

Cowan says the team are training three times a week for a total of nine hours.

“They’ve been working really hard over the last 10 weeks and really happy with their effort and where we are at the moment.”

In another exciting first, the team will move to its elite training centre in Cockburn with the Fremantle Dockers men’s team on February 18.

“The men’s and women’s team will all relocate and we’re looking forward to making it one facility and two teams. It’s mind blowing and state-of-the-art, certainly one of the best in Australia and close to being one of the best in the world.”

Cowan says the start of the women’s league heralds a new pathway for girls.

“They can now pick up a footy in Auskick and never put it down until they run out onto the MCG wearing an AFL jumper so it is a complete pathway now, which is fantastic,” she says.

“I love the message it is going to send to every little girl and every little boy when all these games are live streamed and are live on TV in their living rooms every single weekend.

“They are going to have some incredible role models and aspirations and people that they can look up to. They can see that on their TV as opposed to when you and I were growing up where it was watching men on TV and playing AFL and now we get both which is fantastic.”