10 Years of Female Footy in the Sapphire Coast
L-R: Katlyn Scott (Bermagui Breakers), Tarni Evans (Tathra Sea Eagles/GWS GIANTS), Cymmon Parker (Tathra Sea Eagles/Bega-Tathra Kangaroos)
The 2025 AFL Sapphire Coast season commemorates 10 years since the introduction of Women’s football in the region in 2016.
To celebrate this, a Women’s Team of the Decade will be selected by a panel this season, highlighting players that have shone the brightest and have achieved a lot over these 10 years.
The inaugural season consisted of six teams: Bermagui Breakers, Broulee/Moruya Giants, Eden Whalers, Narooma Lions, Pambula Panthers and Tathra/Bega.
Tathra/Bega finished the season undefeated (9-0), however, were defeated by the second placed, Eden Whalers in the grand final by a single goal, 5.2.32 to 4.2.26.
The second season of Women’s footy on the Sapphire Coast saw the introduction of an additional two teams, creating an eight-team competition.
The Merimbula Diggers entered the competition, while Tathra/Bega split into the Tathra Sea Eagles and the Bega Bombers respectively.
Eden went back-to-back as Women’s premiers, besting Tathra in the 2017 Grand Final by 11 points, 5.8.38 to 4.3.27.
They ended up completing the three-peat the following season, again overcoming a strong Tathra outfit by 16 points.
In 2019, a Sapphire Coast Women’s representative team was formed, and they travelled to Nowra Showgrounds in July to take on a Women’s side from the AFL Central West, while Bermagui won their first Senior Women’s grand final, defeating Tathra by two points.
The 2020 season saw Tarni Evans from the Tathra Sea Eagles drafted to the GWS Giants in the 2020 AFLW Draft with the 9th pick. Evans has since played 29 games for the Giants and is now a member of their leadership group ahead of the 2025 AFLW season.
Meanwhile, her local club the Tathra Sea Eagles won their first Senior Women’s premiership defeating Bermagui by 46 points.
The inaugural Youth Girls competition launched in 2021, consisting of four teams: Bega Bombers, Bermagui Breakers, Merimbula Diggers and Tathra Sea Eagles.
Bermagui led all teams when the season was cut short due to the COVID, holding an 11-0 record and thus, sitting atop the Youth Girls ladder.
During the middle of the 2021 season, the AFL Sapphire Coast Women’s rep side travelled to Nowra and beat the Central West by 23 points, making it two from two after their 6-point victory over the Central West in 2019.
The rep sides in 2019 and 2021 consisted of superstar players who have been involved from the competition’s inaugural season, such as Cymmon Parker (Tathra), Kate and Mel Mitchell (Eden) and Katlyn Scott (Bermagui) amongst other big names.
Tathra continued their winning ways in 2022 and 2023 as they went back-to-back, following the 2021 season being cut short; soundly beating Eden and Bermagui respectively in the Senior Women’s grand final.
Two massive contributors to Women’s footy in the region, Cymmon Parker (Tathra) and Kate Mitchell (Eden) became the first women to reach 100 senior club games, bringing up the milestone match on the same day in the 2023 season.
Last season was a three-horse race with Bega-Tathra, Bermagui and Eden all vying for a chance to lift the cup at the end of the season.
Ultimately, Eden and Bega-Tathra fought it out in the grand final where Eden narrowly got over the line in a thriller and celebrated their fourth Senior Women’s championship.
Similarly to last season, this year’s Women’s competition is still up for grabs as Bermagui, Bega-Tathra and Eden are all near the top of the ladder, shaping up what promises to be a great 2025 finals series.
