A new women’s team from District 9 and 27’s Women’s Networking Groups are joining forces and hitting the running track to warm up for the upcoming Volunteer Fire Brigades Victoria State Firefighter Championships later this month.
Having both formed in 2018, the dedicated Women’s Networking Groups consists of more than 150 passionate members, with 100 in District 9 and 77 in District 27.
The Senior Urban and Senior Rural events will be held at Mooroopna Recreation Reserve on Saturday 23 March and Sunday 24 March.
Warragul brigade firefighter and District 9 and 27 Women’s Networking Group member Dani Watkins said the group of seven women were gearing up for the championships.
“Like most of the South East region, we have a Women’s Network in District 9 and 27,” she said.
“However, we decided to combine the two for the event because 27 is quite small.
“A couple of us decided we would put together a running team because it looked like a bit of fun.”
Ms Watkins said the team is working with assistance from Pearcedale Fire Brigade to get up to speed with the specifics of the events, training once a week or once a fortnight in the lead up to the state event.
“It has been really good to train with Pearcedale,” she said.
“We were essentially starting from scratch with no prior knowledge of any of the activities.
“We called them up and asked them if we could join them for a training session and they’ve been really accommodating since and have taught us so much.”
Fellow network member and Tanjil Fire Brigade firefighter Margaret ‘Maggs’ Harrison was quick to put her hand up to represent her brigade at the championships.
“When we met to discuss the State Firefighter Championships, I thought I may as well jump into the opportunity and give it a shot with the other women for the first time too,” she said.
“I’ve found training with Pearcedale to be enlightening.
“It’s been great to watch how they work together and understand how they work as a team.”
