FORMER AFL player and Bassendean resident Jan Cooper is part of the WA Museum’s Women in Sport project.

Curated by Kylie Elston and Monika Durrer, the project is a collection of stories and meaningful objects that represent the evolution of women’s sports.

Alongside other prominent sportswomen, Ms Cooper was interviewed and recorded about her life over the course of several sessions.

Ms Cooper shared her story of growing up near Bassendean Oval, where she cheered for Swan Districts and kicked a footy with her brothers.

She also donated an AFLW football that was used in the first AFLW game.

According to the WA Football Commission, WA was actually the first state to play any women’s football.

“It started in 1915 in Western Australia, and the very first Women’s League also started in the Goldfields in Kalgoorlie-Boulder in 1921,” Ms Cooper said.

When Ms Cooper first learned this, she was excited to uncover any documentation but was soon disappointed.

“My father had a great connection to one of the clubs that the women played for in 1921, and he made some inquiries to see whether they had any memorabilia about the women,” she said.

“We also reached out to the other three Kalgoorlie-Boulder-based clubs and there was nothing.

“Not one person could find a photograph, any information, newspaper cuttings, nothing.”

The history of women’s sport in WA has not been extensively recorded – something Ms Cooper hopes to see changed.

“It’s absolutely vital that we show the next generations the people who shaped the sport and what barriers they overcame so that we can provide some enlightenment to the people behind us coming through.”

As the AFL national manager of women’s and girls’ development, Ms Cooper helped to grow female participation from 16,000 in 2005 to 50,000 by 2017.

In 2018, she was appointed by the West Coast Eagles to assist the club’s entry into the AFLW competition.

As reported in Jan Cooper inducted into footy hall of fame (Echo News, September 15, 2023), Ms Cooper made history as the first woman to be inducted in the WA Football Hall of Fame.

However, despite her extensive career, Ms Cooper said her greatest achievement is quite simple.

“It would be easy to say AFLW, but to be perfectly honest, whilst I’m proud of it, that’s not the thing   I’m most proud of,” she said.

“I just get huge satisfaction when I walk past a park or an oval and see families – daughters, fathers, sons and mums – connecting through AFL.

“In my family, football has been a great vehicle for connecting through generations – there’s nothing like feeling that sense of tribal connection to a group of people when you’re all barracking for the same team.

“Knowing I contributed to that really makes my heart feel quite full.”

Learn more about the project here.