St Bedes/Mentone Tigers AFC wishes to advise that the club will not be fielding a Senior Women’s team in the 2026 VAFA season.
This has been a difficult decision, and one made reluctantly, due to depleted player numbers and the resulting inability to sustain a competitive and viable team for the upcoming year.
It comes after a power of work was done in the off-season to keep together a group of Tigers who were at the core of a successful period for the women’s program in recent years.
Since debuting in the inaugural 2017 VAFA Women’s competition, the Tigers Women’s program has enjoyed remarkable success both on and off the field.
The introduction of a Reserves side in 2019 marked another exciting step forward. By 2021, both teams were playing finals for the first time, setting the stage for a 2022 season that clubs dream of — a historic Seniors and Reserves double Premiership. It remains one of the greatest days in our program’s history. The Reserves continued their dominance, securing a second consecutive premiership in 2023.
Across the years, we’ve been led by passionate coaches and strong leaders, supported by loyal family and friends, backed by sponsors, we’ve celebrated outstanding individual performances — including multiple league Best and Fairest winners — and, most importantly, formed lifelong friendships through playing footy for the Tigers.
The club remains committed to supporting women’s football and the emergence of two junior girls teams taking the field in 2026 is not just encouraging for the future, but also evidence of the impact the senior women’s program had.
We hope and expect this is a short-term setback.
The club will continue to work towards rebuilding player numbers with the aim of re-establishing a Senior Women’s team in the near future.
We would encourage all Tiger supporters to remain connected to the club and get behind all SBMT Senior and junior teams across the 2026 season.