In Australia GrassRoots football is the largest participant sport of all the 4 codes with thousands of clubs registered through the various State & Territory federations. Many of the clubs that gave our international players their starts are still thriving entities, but sadly many have gone by the wayside over time, for club football as we know it today bears no resemblance to that which our first internationals grew up with. For most early players football began in the under 14's, with clubs usually supporting an U16 & U18 side before players progressed to 1st or 2nd grade. Junior women's football really only came into being in a rudimentary form nationally in the late 80's, Though pockets existed in each state the numbers of female participants were small by today's standards. The boom in The Women's game began in the new millenium and the number of clubs represented is a fair reflection of that.