Nearly 200 girls from across Adelaide got a taste of what it is like to play on Football Park on Thursday when they took part in the inaugural Crows Cup Carnival.

Coordinated by AFL Women’s footballer Chelsea Randall, who is part of the Crows’ community education team, the Year 5-7 Carnival featured special guests Erin Phillips, Monique Hollick and Jessica Sedunary from the Crows women’s team.

Participants took part in a modified competition as well as having the opportunity to get autographs and some guidance from the Crows players.

Randall said that the Carnival had been developed as part of the Club’s drive and commitment to engaging and increasing girls’ participation in football in SA.

“We want to be the Club of choice for girls and women who want to get involved with football, whether that’s as a participant, administrator or fan,” Randall said.

“There’s been huge growth in the number of girls interested in playing footy in the last 12 months and we were blown away by the response we received from schools.

“It was so positive we decided to develop a second Carnival for secondary school students.

“It’s been a great success and we look forward to making it an annual event.”

The Pines were undefeated in Division One and Brahma Lodge topped Division Two.

The AFL recently announced that women and girls now represent 27 per cent of total football participation across all competitions and programs and the AFL expects this to grow as the AFL Women's competition becomes firmly entrenched in the Australian sporting landscape.

Nationally, total female participation is up 19% on last year, female community club teams are up 56% and the number of girls playing Auskick is up 21%.

The Club will host the second Carnival next Thursday, December 8, for secondary school girls.