AFLW Dreamtime Academy in action as 7NEWS travel to Alice Springs to experience it
It was hard not to be mesmerised by those women. Athletic wonders and they work regular jobs during the day to then knock off to hit the rehearsal studio for gruelling kick-line and split jump training at night (I'm sore just thinking about it).
Watch the Dreamtime Academy in action in the video below as 7NEWS travel to Alice Springs
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I felt a sense of loss once the show ended, until I was reminded that we need not look all the way to Dallas to find a group of female athletes dominating on and off the professional sports field.
The AFLW kicked off on Thursday night and a more inspiring group of athletes you simply will not find.
Like the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders, many of them work nine to five's as lawyers, tradies, physios and teachers before lacing up the boots and belting out some of the toughest, most compelling and competitive football you'll see.
Many of them, like Sydney Swan Lulu Pullar, are also using what little spare time they do have to give back to the community.
A doctor, Pullar spent part of the off season working in the Alice Springs emergency department and quickly fell in love with the town and its footy mad residents.
Realising opportunities for female footballers were slim in the Top End she resolved to do something to help - and built the Dreamtime Academy.
Roping in Hawks stars Kaitlyn Ashmore and Emily Bates, Crows forward Elouise Jones, Brisbane powerhouses Ally Anderson and Courtney Hodder and Sydney Swans debutante Sarah Steele Park, Pullar this year facilitated a series of high-performance footy camps for Indigenous and non-Indigenous female players in Alice Springs.
The girls weren't paid for their time and the trip wasn't arranged by the league or really publicised at all. They did it simply to pay forward all the joy and fulfilment they've received from the game.
None of the women will tell you about all the wonderful things they're doing off field. Heck, they barely have the time. So, allow me.
7NEWS travelled with the players to capture the Dreamtime Academy in action so you can see for yourself the kind of mark they're leaving.
If you're half as moved as I was, I implore you to pick a team and get behind them as they belt it out on the field this AFLW season.
I won't demean them by calling them Australia's Sweethearts, they're far more than that. I reckon Australia's Heroes has a much nicer ring to it.
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