And the momentum –  yes, another of those cliches – is undoubtedly swinging more women and girls away from the sidelines and on to the oval.

Whether elite or grassroots, playing, coaching or umpiring, the rise of women’s football has indeed become more than a game.

An estimated 1000 girls in this region now play football at school or club level.

For many, increased chances to take the field simply link into an existing interest.

“I’ve always been kicking a footy with Dad, since I was very young,” Alyce Parker, 15, of Cookardinia, said.

“We’re true Richmond supporters our whole family, we love our footy.”

Parker, a year 10 student at Billabong High School, helped her school team to victory in the AFL NSW/ACT open girls state final at Wagga last week.

Captain April Lieschke, Melanie Wright, Nakita Singe, Kyra Jackson and Isabelle Cottrell also stood out as Billabong defeated Hay in what coach Rachael Terlich called a high-standard decider.

“They’re great tacklers, their movement around the ground is excellent,” Terlich said.

“Probably their ball delivery is something that could be worked on but they all know the game very well.”

Parker, also an All-Australian representative, said she enjoyed the skills and physicality of football, which she found different to the other sports she played.

“With footy I just love the freedom to be able to run,” she said.

“You can grab that ball and you can go as far as you can.”

That potential distance has now increased with the recent launch of the AFL women’s league, described as a defining moment for Australian football.

North East youngsters don't have to look far for inspiration. Melbourne’s Daisy Pearce, originally from Bright, and Western Bulldogs’ Darcy Vescio, of Wangaratta, are already leading players.

AFL North East Border youth girls co-ordinator Craig Dent said the AFL’s promotion of the women's competition had produced a flow-on effect here.

The growing Youth Girls League had doubled in player numbers since last season, with more than 100 registered footballers.

At least two other teams are expected to join Wodonga Raiders, Lavington, Alpine Lions and Murray Felines in the league next season.

“You’re talking about an area that covers Corryong, Henty, Yarrawonga, Benalla, back up to Bright, Mt Beauty,” Dent said.

“There’s a lot of girls playing footy.

“What I think is really fantastic for our region, there have been a lot of girls playing under-age football in with the boys.”

At Lavington East Public School, more than 30 girls put their hands up to play in the Paul Kelly Cup, the largest AFL primary school competition in NSW and ACT, open to year 5 and 6 students.

The Lavington East girls team achieved its greatest success by winning the Southern NSW final, on Monday, and progressed to the state final at the Sydney Cricket Ground in August.

Coached by teachers Stuart Beveridge and Torrel Scullin and parent Gary McGrath, the team qualified through the Albury zone competition before winning its three matches at Wagga.

“What we were practising at training they really put into action in the games,” Beveridge said. “Particularly moving the ball forward - getting it out of the middle and moving it forward.

“They really knew what to do, the way that they linked up with each other and they used each other and worked as a team was probably the stand-out difference between the three teams on the day.

“A lot of them play netball, so they’re using their netball skills as well in the positioning and the marking.”

Beveridge said his players had been keen to practise every day and felt their Paul Kelly Cup experience could encourage the girls to play football outside school as well.

“It’s definitely getting easier for girls to find a game to play,” he said. “I think they're breaking down a lot of the barriers.”

The coach believed now could be an exciting time for the girls to join the sport given the new women’s league.

“Especially when they turn 18, five or six years down the track, it’s going to be really well established and it could be an avenue to pursue,” Beveridge said.

Such avenues aren’t just confined to playing the game.

Last weekend the Barnawartha and Tallangatta football clubs organised four women to umpire the under-14 football match, two from each club to carry out field and goal umpire duties.

Barnawartha’s Deb Star and Judy Raq took the whistle and flags respectively while Sandi Poulton and Suzette Kirk did the same for Tallangatta.

Barnawartha club umpire co-ordinator Tony Douglas started the project as a way of adding “another string to the bow” of the club’s valuable female volunteers.

“I personally feel it’s all about inclusion not exclusion, so we went ahead with it,” he said. “The idea being the ladies are umpiring, the gentlemen are umpiring, it really doesn’t matter (which).

“The people that are prepared to put themselves out so that especially the junior football gets played, they deserve our respect regardless.”

Field umpire Star agreed to umpire for the first time after the Barnawartha committee asked her to take part.

“I laughed, I thought it was bit of a joke to start off with,” she said.

But being a regular spectator she knew the rules and so decided to have a go, supported by an experienced club umpire.

“It came at the right time, now with the new women’s league, I thought it was a good opportunity then for females to look at the umpiring of footy,” Star said.

“It was quite wet, muddy and slippery, that was the hardest part but the kids were fantastic. The support from everyone was just amazing, I think that’s what made it.

“That’s probably why I’d do it again.”

Douglas hoped other clubs in Tallangatta and District Football League and elsewhere would follow their example.

“And I can’t see that as being anything but a good idea,” he said.

On the playing side, teenagers like Parker can now look forward to football providing as many elite opportunities for women as other sports. She encouraged other girls to give footy a go.

“Definitely follow your dreams,” Parker said. “Don’t let the idea of it being a boys’ sport stop you.”