Proving there is a place for women in AFL

Emma Goff is the first woman to brave a job in the AFL Western Bulldogs coaches’ box but she says she’s treated just like one of the boys.

The 24-year-old Exercise Science and Human Movement student at Victoria University uses cutting edge computer software to keep track of how much time each player spends on or off the field.

The data is then used to balance playing time between players, give players a rest if they are recovering from an injury and or to maximise the game potential of specific players.

“It’s all very important information for the coaches, both for training and in games,” Ms Goff says. During a game Ms Goff works from a tiny room filled with coaches, senior staff and at times some colourful language.

Ms Goff says it took her male colleagues a while to realise she’s not easily offended. Initially she even received sincere apologies from coach Rodney “Rocket” Eade for the blue language.

“The coach swore – which is quite natural on game day – but the first few times he turned around and said, ‘Oh Emma, I’m so sorry ‘,” she says. “I think they’re a lot more used to me now. There are no apologies anymore.”

“It’s high pressure. There’s a lot happening, lots of people yelling,” she says. “You definitely have to be able to work well under pressure and not crack when there’s a lot of screaming around you.”

Ms Goff applied for a cadetship with the Western Bulldogs in 2008 as part of the work placement component of her course. Since then she has spent every Saturday during the footy season monitoring play.

Despite being the first female to enter the box, she’s established herself as part of the team and says she’s treated “more like one of the boys” than an employee.

“Once you’re in there, you just need to show that you’re not the pretty little girl who needs everything done for her,” she says.

Unlike many students who would prefer to be out on the town on a Saturday night, Ms Goff spends most weekends at the football ground. And although her monitoring commitments prevent her from following the game because she mostly focuses on the bench, she wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.

“I always dreamed of being involved with an elite sports team but thought it was a lot further off in my career.  Most people would kill for that experience,” she says.

To gather the information during the tension of each game, Ms Goff needs to know each player intimately – in a sporting sense. Like all Western Bulldogs fans, she has no problem picking out star player Brad Johnson in a crowd, but part of the challenge is keeping track of each player during the game when there can be as many as 150 interchanges.

“At first it was tricky to get to know their faces. But I got to know their running styles and how to identify them from a distance,” she says.

The monitoring data is used alongside GPS analysis data, which Ms Goff also helped to establish when she began working with the Western Bulldogs in 2008.

GPS technology is used to monitor each player’s activity – including the number of accelerations, speed and distance.

The team’s Physical Conditioning staff and coaches can then use the data to optimise each player, game strategies and even simulate games.

Ms Goff’s role with the Western Bulldogs is still voluntary while she completes her honours degree at Victoria University. She is considering studying for a PhD next year and hopes to continue her research and work within the sport of AFL.

“AFL is one of the top sports in the country for [applying] sports science,” she says.

Ms Goff says gender has not been a barrier to working in sport and she wants to urge women interested in delving into a male dominated work environment to “go for it” and “not to be intimidated or scared”.

Being a woman also has its advantages, she has discovered.

“Other guys [in my position] might feel like they need to say something or swear to fit in with the group. I can sit there and do my job and not feel like I need to compete,” she says.