The GIANTS are helping to produce the next generation of coaches to guide the future of female football in NSW and the ACT.

Five current GIANTS will work within the GIANTS’ female Academy across the 2022 season, coaching the next generation of GIANTS.

Alicia Eva, Katie Loynes, Katherine Smith, Alyce Parker and Tanya Hetherington will all have coaching roles within the Academy program for the upcoming season.

Eva is a renowned coach who has worked with emerging male and female talent in Victoria as well as across the NSW/ACT female pathway over recent years.

She will also continue her work within the AFL program at the club as a line coach for the VFL team.

Smith - who was recently accepted into the BHP Women's Coaching Academy program - has been as Assistant with the Allies in AFL NSW/ACT’s female development program and is currently the Head of Women's Football and Women's Premier Co-Coach at Macquarie University FC.

The 23-year-old will complete her level three coaching course through the program.

Hetherington also brings a wealth of coaching experience to the program as a level two accredited coach who coached Diamond Creek in the VFLW in 2016 and has been as Assistant coach in the GIANTS’ winter series program.

The 36-year-old studied sports coaching and administration at Deakin University in Melbourne.

Loynes is a qualified teacher who has worked as a PE teacher for the past 11 years and will now help apply her skills to developing footballers.

Parker has also worked within the NSW/ACT pathway with the Under-16 and Under-18 female programs alongside Eva and Smith.

GIANTS Head of Women’s Football Briana Harvey said the club was pleased to be able to integrate current players into the development of future footballers.

“It’s really exciting to have five players of the calibre of these women committed to helping to develop the next generation of female footballers,” Harvey said.

“Female football in NSW and the ACT is growing at an extraordinary rate but we know that our programs are still quite young so we have to continue to invest in quality support and coaching.

“The GIANTS are proud to have been part of the NAB AFL Women’s competition since the inaugural season and part of that decision was to commit to growing the game for future generations.”

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