Country Football WA say moving women’s country championships to Hands Oval will be a boon for players

Country Football WA competitions manager Brent Sheridan says moving the women’s Country Championships to Bunbury’s Hands Oval will be a boon for women’s footballers in the State’s regions. In partnership with the City of Bunbury and after strong advocacy from the South West Football League, Country Football WA announced on Friday the championships will be held at the newly redeveloped venue between October 1-3. Hands Oval had a $19.5 million redevelopment completed last year and a further $5.7 million upgrades are currently ongoing, which has seen the South West’s home of football secure hosting rights to an AFL game in the 2025, 2026 and 2027 seasons. Sheridan said staging the championships at an AFL-level facility was reflective of the organisation’s mission to make the event the best it can be. “(Moving the championships to regional WA) is something as a governing body we’ve been keen to explore for a number of years,” he said. “To be able to partner with the City of Bunbury and the great work the South West Football League have done to bring us down there, we’re really excited. “We’ve taken it to the Peel region, but to take it outside the metropolitan region and to one of football’s heartlands in country WA is exciting.” The reaction to the announcement has not been wholly positive, with some stakeholders from associations in northern WA expressing displeasure at having another 200km added to their travel distance. Sheridan said Country Football WA was fully aware the move would come with some challenges. “We’ll be working really closely with all of our competing leagues and our umpires in how we can best facilitate the championships and enjoy an enjoyable experience,” he said. “This is the first time we’ve explored something like this, so we know there’s going to be a lot of learnings along the way, but we’re really excited on what the outcome could look like.” Last year’s championships saw 16 games played across Lane Group Stadium’s two ovals, but Hands Oval was the only venue mentioned in the announcement of the carnival’s move to Bunbury. Sheridan said Country Football WA’s intent was to have all games staged at the ground. “We want to play at the best facility we can,” he said. “We haven’t got that far down the track with fixturing and the like, to be perfectly honest, that’s something that we’ll navigate in the next couple of months. “In a perfect world, we’d love to see the best women’s players in country WA play at arguably the best facility in regional Western Australia.” Ahead of the men’s championships in July, Sheridan said there had been no discussions around moving them from their traditional home in Perth. “We have 17 men’s teams competing this team and a further eight colts teams that compete at the same time, so there are a number of different implications from a logistical perspective and a fixturing point of view that we’d have to take into account,” he said. “It’s something we’ll continue to have an open mind with. We’re really keen for the overall Country Championships to, at the end of the day, provide the best platform for our men and women to take to the field and display their talents.”