The Women’s Footy Almanac 2018 Launch: What a night!

Western Bulldogs Premiership stars Hannah Scott and Bonnie Toogood attend the launch of The Women’s Footy Almanac 2018.

 

What a night!

 

On Tuesday, September 4 we officially launched The Women’s Footy Almanac 2018 at the North Fitzroy Arms.

 

It was a wonderful night where our writers were able to come together and see their words in print and hold the book in their hands for the first time. It was also a great crowd of friends and family, fellow Almanackers, our wonderful sponsors and fans of women’s footy.

 

John Harms, the heart behind the Almanac kicked off the evening introducing book to a packed room at the pub. Yvette Wroby, the soul of the book paid tribute to the writers, of which we have over forty in this year’s edition and our patrons and sponsors who made this book possible. Kate Burke from Think Agri, Michelle Brisbane from Ethical Investments and Sasha Lennon were all in attendance on the night.

 

Yvette Wroby, Hannah Scott, Kendra Heil, Bonnie Toogood and Kasey Symons

 

I had the honour of speaking to some very special guests and contributors to the book. The first of which was a thrill for me as I got to speak to Caulfield Bears Under 12 premiership key forward, Violet ‘Hoofa’ Dunn. We’ve followed the Bears’ season at The Footy Almanac all year and to see them go through the season undefeated and then take home the flag was so exciting. Violet wrote a piece about playing football that features in The Women’s Footy Almanac 2018.

 

‘It feels pretty cool, I’m quite proud of myself for achieving that.’ Violet said about having her writing appear in the book and is looking forward to writing more pieces for The Footy Almanac.

 

About her footy, Violet is passionate about the game she loves, ‘I like the team bond, that’s one of my favourite things about footy and just kicking a ball around and having fun and playing with my friends’

 

Hoofa then called up her Bears team mates to the stage and they sung their hearts out with a rendition of the Caulfield Bears theme song – sung to a familiar Carlton tune and they got the pub pumping!

 

The Premiers! The Caulfield Bears belt out their team song.

 

We were really excited to also have Western Bulldogs Premiership players Hannah Scott and Bonnie Toogood come along to the launch to chat to us about their amazing season. It was especially great to have Hannah Scott along as the cover star of The Women’s Footy Almanac 2018.

 

I asked her if she ever thought she’d have her picture on the cover of a book but Scott was all class in crediting her former Eastern Devils team mate and artist behind the cover, Kendra Heil.

 

‘No I definitely didn’t, I dreamt about playing footy! But luckily for me, Kenny (Kendra Heil) – I call her Kenny, she’s a good friend of mine, she can make anyone look good! But it’s amazing, and I’m so proud of her, she’s finally getting some recognition for how amazing she is.’

 

Did Hannah remember the moment that is now immortalised on the book’s cover?

 

‘I remembered thinking, ‘how did I end up walking off the ground, into the rooms with the cup in my hands? I remember thinking that was pretty lucky and I walked in and was just staring at it just thinking, how much beer are we going to fit in this? Turns out quite a lot!’

 

And we don’t doubt that for a second!

 

Kasey Symons speaks to Hannah Scott and Bonnie Toogood.

 

Kendra Heil spoke about the painting and how she chose this now iconic image from a photo, taken by AFL Media photographer Adam Trafford.

 

‘The typical shot is of the captain and the coach holding up the cup and I wanted to do something atypical and something different, and this shot really captures the raw emotion of the moment and especially with Scotty, she’s a very passionate player and person so that went hand in hand and as soon as I saw the photo I thought, ‘I have to paint this’.’

 

‘It’s pretty surreal and it’s really humbling,’ Kendra said about now having that painting as the front cover of a book.

 

The Artist and her Muse. Kendra Heil and Hannah Scott.

 

We finished the launch with another tune – everyone singing ‘Daughters of the West’ to celebrate the Bulldogs’ AFLW premiership and then it was time to party!

 

The multi-talented Michelle Brisbane performed with her band, The Houndlings to give the event some quality music. We had some great food, celebratory drinks and lots of laughs.

 

The Houndlings

 

There are so many people who contribute to making an event like this great. Our sponsors, the great staff at the North Fitzroy Arms, the writers and all who came, thank you. Thanks to Smokie and Jarrod for being on bookselling duty & Kirby Fenwick and Amy Conrad for taking lots of happy snaps.

 

The book is on sale through our online shop and if you are looking to purchase bulk copies for football clubs etc. please contact us at [email protected] and we can suit your needs.

 

Go Women’s Footy!

 

Future Caulfield Bears coach? Bonnie Toogood has the young Bears captivated.

 

About Kasey Symons

Kasey Symons a writer and PhD Candidate at Victoria University. Her research is focused on gendered issues in sports cultures (primarily AFL) at a fan level. Kasey is a born and raised Victorian who barracks for the West Coast Eagles and yes, she knows that is weird.

Comments

  1. It was a sensational night! Huge congrats to all involved, you can all collapse in a heap now (for a few days at least.)

  2. Yvette Wroby says

    Brilliant write up. Reading this as I am listening to Women’s Football radio live and it’s great coverage of the night. Great interviews with Kasey, Kirby Fenwick, Hannah Scott, Kendra Heil. Still buzzing from last night.

  3. Yvette Wroby says

    The podcast will be out tomorrow night. RSN Carnival 2

  4. It was simply wonderful to be a part of the night – hearing stories, sharing laughs, singing along to club songs – the best of footy and the best of the Footy Almanac family.

    Great work from the hosting trio with the most-io, Kasey, JTH and our patron saint Yvette, thanks for making it all come together.

  5. Such a great night! The girls were pumped afterwards and couldn’t stop talking about the book and also meeting and hanging out with AFLW stars!!!
    Thanks again, can not wait until next year!

  6. John Butler says

    Onya Kasey. I’m really sorry circumstances prevented me from attending.

    Congratulations to you and Yvette on all the effort you put into making this book happen. Also to JTH, who is always invaluable to all things Almanac. And a big thank you to the various sponsors who made it possible for us to get our various efforts into print.

    Long live The Footy Almanac!

  7. It was a great night and thanks to all the organisers. The book looks fantastic and went straight to the top of my reading pile.

  8. Hi Kasey,

    Thanks for your piece with details of the launch. Also my appreciation goes to you and Yvette for editing and publishing both online and in print, and organising the launch. I’m sad that I missed such a big night with you all.

    It would be great to listen to stories and interviews as well as sharing the joy of our achievements. I may have to find a way to move to Melbourne to be a true Almanac member and to close to the Saints and Bears.

    I have seen pictures of the launch on Facebook and find it seemed a massive night.

    Yvette, thanks for the info of the podcast? Where can I get the one? On their website or podcast on iPhone?

    Thanks

    Yoshi

  9. Yes, it was an excellent night. Always a great feeling. Many highlights. Having artists and subject together was pretty major. The singing of the Caulfield Bears song was brilliant- brought a tear to Percy’s eye. Thanks to all involved.

  10. Congratulations to everyone involved!
    Three of my five sisters said it was a great evening. Sorry I couldn’t be there.

  11. Phillip Dimitriadis says

    Congratulations Kasey, Yvette, JTH and all involved. Wonderful legacy being established at FA (and the NFA) for AFLW.
    Sorry I couldn’t make it this time. Looks like you had a great night. Well deserved. Cheers

  12. Great work Kasey, Yvette, and all.
    It was an excellent night.

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