The WBAFC Family Fund will support the Club's babysitting program, which has been introduced in 2025 to support parents to remain connected to the club and maintain an active lifestlye. Care will be provided one training night per week and on matchdays to allow those with caring responsibilities the opportunity to continue to play and train. More often that not, caring responsibilities fall to mothers, so this project directly works to remove barriers to participation for women.

Thanks to pilot funding from the City of Melbourne, the program is currently operational. Some feedback from Westies kid and parents is below:

• “can I go again tomorrow??”
•  “no I don’t want to watch footy I’m having more fun in here”

• "After years of juggling kids as a solo parent at footy, I was sadly ready to hang up my boots. It felt like giving up something I love and need before I was ready. Removing such a huge barrier to allow me to play & my kids to be cared for seriously changes my brain & makes me a better parent and teammate."
• "Childcare at training has meant I could return to footy after six years, show my son that mom can do anything! and, share the sport I love with him. It’s a game changer for parents like me, and it says a lot about this club; it’s welcoming, progressive, and makes it easy for everyone to be part of the team."
• "Having a structured time to exercise where the kids are taken care of is so valuable. We would usually have to divide and conquer which heaps the kid effort onto one parent. Keeping active and social inclusion is crucial for everyone including sleep deprived parents. I had a client one Friday morning tell me I looked like I had good sleep the night before. I hadn’t (5h), it was after the first footy training I went to."