By Casey Neill
AFLW star Libby Birch is moving the goal posts for Australian girls, releasing the first children’s book about female footballers.
The North Melbourne player’s great-grandfather pulled on the boots for AFL club St Kilda, so she grew up supporting the Saints.
Yet she still overlooked footy when it came to taking up a sport.
“I remember my dad saying, ‘you can’t play footy because there’s no elite level for girls’,” Libby said.
“So I fell in love with netball. I could actually see women playing on the bigger stage. That made it real for me.
“If I knew I could play football at the highest level…”
Writing Libby’s Footy Adventures is one way the physiotherapist is working to change this narrative for future generations.
A friend tried to buy a picture book for a footy-loving girl back in 2023 but could only find stories featuring male players, so Libby set about spotlighting a female footy star.
“Girls deserve to see themselves in stories where they’re not just participating, but leading, thriving, and being celebrated,” she said.
“I chose to write for children because that’s where confidence, identity, and belief really start to grow.
“This age group is full of imagination, energy and possibility – they’re just beginning to dream about who they are and what they might become.
“And sport, particularly footy, can play such a powerful role in shaping that journey.”
Libby said footy might become a lifelong passion or career for some kids.
“For others, it may simply be a joyful, grounding part of childhood – a place where they feel safe, free, and connected to others,” she said.
“That’s just as valuable.”
Libby worked closely with illustrator Robin Tatlow-Lord to shape not just how the book looked, but how it felt.
“Every young girl or woman’s body type is their own and has their own strength and power,” she said.
“W visually shows that, week in, week out.
“In the men’s comp, everyone looks the same. In W, you’ve got so many shapes and sizes and they all do incredibly amazing things on the football field.”
Libby’s talent on the netball court took her to the Victorian and Australian institutes of sport, and caught the eye of former AFLW player and current coach Daisy Pearce in 2016.
“She messaged me out of the blue to say ‘I’ve heard you’re an elite athlete and might be interested in playing footy’,” she said.
Libby had never even kicked a footy but eventually joined Daisy at her local club, the Darebin Falcons, to give the sport a go.
Daisy lent Libby her bright orange footy boots, which feature in the book.
“The moment I stepped into those boots, I felt part of something so much bigger than myself,” she said.
“I was in awe of what these amazing footy players had done and what they’d continued to push for, even though there was no elite level.
“That’s why the book’s dedicated to them.
“They fought for something they couldn’t even see.
“Today, we’ve got all these young girls that can have a full pathway into the AFLW.
“I’m really excited about where W can go going forward.”
The 27-year-old hasn’t missed a game since the inaugural season and has won three premierships with three different clubs.
“It’s been a wild ride. I’ve loved every minute of it,” she said.
