The debut AFL Women's season was full of historic moments, right from the first bounce in front of a crowd of 25,000 people crammed into Princess Park to watch the first-ever match.
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Now that and every remarkable moment from the inaugural AFLW season has been memorialised in paper and ink as the first Women's Footy Almanac hits shelves.
A collection of essays written by friends, fans and fanatics, The Women's Footy Almanac acts as a social history of the season, giving lively and personal recounts of every game. The men's version has been published after every season since 2007.
Yvette Wroby, a die-hard St Kilda fan and executive editor, worked with John Harms and Stephanie Connell to create the book.
“When they announced the AFLW season I said 'We have to record this'," Ms Wroby says. "We thought we would capture the excitement and joy that seemed to be around so we called for writers and writers jumped on."
Ms Wroby says that almanac is an important marker for women's sport. "Can you imagine a girl walking into a store and being able to see girls and women on the front of a book about footy? Having a book out that is so approachable and so easy to read, it will be another way girls can get engaged."
Along with anecdotes and descriptions of each game the book shares stories of women moved by the AFLW. In the essay Hooked, Bonita Norman, 12, tells how her dreams of being an elite footballer now seem achievable.
In Women Kicking Goals, Anne Myers discusses her realisation that she actually likes football, once the hyper-masculine culture of men's AFL is removed.
Women's football administrator Leesa Catto spent thousands of hours helping get the AFLW off the ground. She hopes the book will help foster the same sense of community that exists in the men's game.
"It's a big community and I think [the book is] a good way to bring it all together… it's been a long time coming to get it to this acceptance level in footy, to get men and women to understand how good it is," she said.
The players are just as excited to have their first season documented, say Penny Cula-Reid, who played for Collingwood in the AFLW and co-captains VFL women's team the St Kilda Sharks.
"It's something that we can reflect on in a couple of years to come. We can actually re-live those moments or re-live that particular game."
Ms Cula-Ried says it's amazing to see people so passionate about documenting their stories.
"It is really nice that there are women out there, like Yvette, that support everything that we are doing, [who] want to get our stories out there and really pushing for women's sport."
Ms Wroby says she has high hopes for the Women's Almanac and has already began planning the 2018 edition.
