Newly formed Kyneton Women's Football Club have nowhere to play after league rejection

The newly formed Kyneton Women's Football Club (KWFC) faces the predicament of having nowhere to play in the 2025 season after being rejected by three local leagues. The club president has described this as "systemic neglect." This team, consisting of 35 female football players, previously claimed to have been treated unfairly and with disrespect, leading them to break away from the Kyneton Football and Netball Club (KFNC) after the 2024 season to form the Kyneton Women's Eagles.

KFNC has denied these allegations, maintaining that it has always been as inclusive as possible. However, KWFC players described their experiences at KFNC to ABC Sport as a "horrible, volatile environment." These experiences ultimately led to their decision to form their own club and seek a more supportive environment.

After being rejected by three local leagues, including the Riddell District Football Netball League (RDFNL), KWFC is currently searching for a home ground. The RDFNL was the team's last hope, but the league's schedule, released on Sunday, did not include KWFC. KFNC was also absent from the schedule, meaning that Kyneton has no senior women's team in the local league.

The Ballarat Football Netball League and AFL Central Victoria both stated that the club missed the December deadline to join their leagues. The RDFNL rejected the team's application as a standalone team, citing KWFC's failure to meet the RDFNL constitution standards and the new club deadline stipulated by AFL Victoria.

The RDFNL stated that they offered five different solutions to the Kyneton women's football club, including partnering as a second team with the Mount Alexander Falcons. "The RDFNL has demonstrated a willingness to work with women's football clubs, Mount Alexander Falcons being an example, who have been an affiliated club with the RDFNL for two years," the RDFNL said in a statement. The statement also noted that the RDFNL, the Mount Alexander Falcons, and its local government association all agreed to the team participating in the 2025 RDFNL senior women's competition, but KWFC chose not to accept the proposal and therefore opted out of the 2025 competition.

However, KWFC President Natalie Korinfsky stated that this option was "completely unviable" because it would place a huge financial burden on the Falcons, including the loss of sponsors due to not being able to use the "Kyneton" name. In addition, some players would be excluded due to travel time, and the team's autonomy would be stripped away if they could not use the town's name.

Korinfsky, Kyneton Women's coach Phil Hawkes, and other members of the team met with AFL Victoria executives last Tuesday, but were unable to find a solution for playing. Korinfsky stated, "We think it's a detriment to what all the leagues espouse. They espouse growing women's sport, making sure there are no barriers, but what we're finding is that it's actually not happening at the grassroots level... There are multiple barriers to our existence under these old frameworks, and we're getting increasingly frustrated that what is on paper isn't actually translating into action to ensure that women and gender diverse people can participate fairly in community sport... It's systemic neglect."

Korinfsky stated that they had requested that AFL Victoria form a panel of three independent individuals to review whether their application to join the RDFNL met the standards, but this suggestion was rejected. Korinfsky also stated that the players are saddened and disappointed that they are unable to play.

Korinfsky said, "We are exploring some options with some clubs that we know have really good culture and processes, and if they chose to go there, we would feel comfortable with our players going there. Ultimately, it's a choice that they can make as individuals. [But] we still hold some hope that maybe there'll be something that changes at the last minute." The club remains hopeful that a solution can be found to allow the team to compete.