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Still kicking: a century of women in football

17 March 2021

The short film The Lucas Girls: A match to remember tells the stories of the historic first recorded women’s football game in Ballarat, 1918, and the very first AFLW game on the first Friday in February, 2017.

In this live panel discussion with the film's creators and other special guests, we celebrate the trail blazing women football players of the past and present.

About the guests

  • Belinda Ensor began her career as an historian and museum professional, before training in film. A co-founder of Tiny Empire Collective, Belinda has worked extensively with a variety of cultural institutions, government agencies, councils and community groups across Australia.
  • Joel Checkley is a director and editor who crafts film content with a focus on strong storytelling. Joel brings his passion for learning, music and storytelling to his role as co-founder at Tiny Empire Collective and draws out the unique, the personal and the profound.
  • Kirby Fenwick is a writer and audio producer, and a co-founder of Siren: A Women in Sport Collective. Her audio documentary The First Friday in February, which tells the story of the very first AFLW game, was awarded the 2018 Oral History Victoria Award.
  • Akec Makur Chuot is an Australian rules footballer who plays for the Richmond Football Club in the AFLW competition. She was born in South Sudan and spent nine years in a Kenyan refugee camp before arriving in Australia at the age of 12.

About the moderator

Rana Hussain is a diversity and inclusion leader. Her desire to see more diversity in both media and sport sees her freelance writing, as well as podcasting and broadcasting, for the ABC.

Rana is a Board Member of the Victorian Women’s Trust, a consultant on the DoMore Project and a member of the Cricket Australia Steering Committee developing the next stage of their Diversity and Inclusion Action plan.

More to explore

  • Read our Q&A with Belinda Ensor and Joel Checkley, the creators of The Lucas Girls: A match to remember.