Pippa Blackwell is the only footballer from South Australia’s south east, male or female, to have won a spot in the 12-and-under state team for a national Australian rules football competition.

But soon she will not have a local team to play for.

Pippa, 12, plays for the Bordertown Roosters junior colts team but once she turns 14 she will have to drop out or join a team almost 70 kilometres away because of rules around how old girls can be while playing football in mixed teams.

Her dream is to play for her favourite team — Geelong — in the AFLW.

“It’s just something that I like to do and you just have fun doing it but at a higher level,” she said.

Pippa is heading to Geelong this weekend to represent South Australia at the School Sport Australia championships.

“Have a few days off school playing footy — what more could you want?” she said.

Her parents Gavin and Nic Blackwell have been driving her 360km up to Adelaide each Friday afternoon to train with the state team.

“It’s been great — she’s like a cat on a hot tin roof every Friday,” Mr Blackwell said.

“She just wants to get down there and train with the girls and she’s made some really good friends out of this already.”

Growing interest

Mr Blackwell is the president of the Bordertown Football Netball Club.

Girls at the club have to choose between playing football and netball so more of them can have an opportunity to play their favourite sport. 

Mr Blackwell said it was unlikely the Roosters would have a female-only team any time soon since Pippa was the only girl who chose football over netball in her age group. 

“I don’t think it will probably happen here because there’s just not enough girls who are interested in playing football, but you never know, things are growing,” he said.

“They never had a schoolgirls’ football competition and this year, the first year, her PE teacher said, ‘Look, if you can find me 14 girls, I’m more than happy to put a side in’.

“So they had their first training at the school and Pippa rolled up with 14 girls to play football.”

The nearest under-16s team is at Kybybolite, while there is also an adult team in the Limestone Coast Women’s Football League at Mundulla, closer to Bordertown.

Pippa’s parents are considering driving her to Kybybolite for training and games, or she could join her sister at boarding school in Adelaide.

“I think people will do everything they can for their kids to help them out and see them achieve their best,” Mrs Blackwell said.

Support available

Apart from in Mount Gambier, most clubs in the south east do not have all-female sides, and only a few have female change rooms.

Limestone Coast Local Government Association connected and active communities officer Tony Elletson said it was a “chicken and the egg” situation with clubs not wanting to set up a women’s team that may not attract players, but women not wanting to join a club that was not committed to female football.

But he said there was state and federal government money available for improvements and setting up teams, if people knew where to look.

“Ninety per cent of change rooms around the region aren’t geared up to supporting having both males and females in there,” he said.

Pippa was hopeful her club would make the leap into offering girls’ and women’s teams.

“Dad’s president so maybe I’ll get him onto doing that,” she said.