South Canberra Football Club established in Griffith

Down at the Griffith Neighbourhood Oval on Saturday, the turnout suggested mixed-gender clubs treating the girls' league as an afterthought was not uncommon.

Since creating the South Canberra Football Club with three teams from the founders' former competition, two separate teams have quit their clubs and joined, too.

Ms Yuile said the resounding story from Canberra women was the creation of an all-female club was overdue.

While the Australian National University had a women's league run separately from the men, the focus on female empowerment sets South Canberra FC apart.

"We heard one story from a club whose girls' team was undefeated all season, went through to premiership to win the grand final and then on the finals weekend the only result recorded on the club's social media page was the men's," she said.

Ms Steel said often women wanted something different from the competition than men.

"We have a lot of girls who come back from having kids and football is their 'me time' and I don't think that's recognised in the other clubs," she said.

Mental health and social connection would be at the core of the club's ethos and female-specific exercises part of the training.

Ms Steel said women were more likely than men to snap their anterior cruciate ligament, better known as the ACL - a common soccer injury.

"It's something like twice or three times more likely to happen if you are breastfeeding or if you have your period," Ms Steel said.

To mitigate the risk of injury, South Canberra FC was working through a strength and conditioning program designed specifically for women.

The more than 30 women who had already joined the club had also taken part in boxing classes at the oval as part of their efforts to prepare for the initial kick-off.

"Pre-season everyone tends to just jump on the field and run around and then everybody breaks," Ms Steel said.

"We're trying to do as much as possible to educate the girls about what they need to do for their own bodies."

While yet to be afforded the luxury of a female change room during their matches at Griffith, Ms Yuile said the energy at training had shown a marked shift from when they were playing with the boys.

"The first few sessions we really tried to instil what culture we want in the club," she said.

READ ALSO:

"Before we started training we gathered all the girls and talked about what's going to make this club work and everyone's really taken that on.

"It's been such a change from last season, such a good vibe."

ACT Labor pledged to upgrade female changeroom facilities at Phillip Enclosed Oval, Kingston and Greenway Ovals, along with the District Playing Fields at Hawker and Holt as part of its election promise.

Work on facilities at Amaroo, Wanniassa and Deakin commenced last year.

Sport Australia opened applications for the 2021 Women Leaders in Sport Development Grants and Leadership Workshops this week, individual grants of up to $10,000 are available for women working in the industry. Grants of up to $20,000 were available to organisations to run workshops, seminars or conferences.