Steph kicking goals
This article first appeared in the Tumut & Adelong Times
By Kirsty Roche
Brimming with natural talent, enthusiasm and the will to help others, the ex-McAuley Catholic Central School and Tumut High School student’s sporting prowess has flourished since moving to Sydney three years ago to attend St Scholastica’s College for years 11 and 12.
Keen to participate in any sport on offer and involved in soccer, oz-tag and touch footy throughout school, last year when one of the AFL teams in the Youth Girls competition was short of players, Steph laced up her boots, ran onto the oval and has not looked back.
She played out the season with Drummoyne before moving into the senior ranks this year, pulling on the Sydney University Bombers jersey.
The 19-year-old’s love for sport and rapid development into one of the rising stars of women’s AFL has also helped catapult Steph into her current role within the AFL.
In her first year of a two-year traineeship with AFL NSW/ACT as a Development Officer, based at Moore Park, Steph is living the dream.
“I love Sydney and I love my job,” Steph said.
“What I like about AFL is that it incorporates a lot of different sport skills into one game.”It is not a case of go easy because it is girls playing; it’s full contact and it is good.”
Originally applying for the development officer in Canberra, Steph’s appointment at the Sydney office is opening door upon door of career opportunities for the young sportswoman.
Next year Steph will step up into more of an administration role and study business management as well.
For the moment, though, she happily heads out to a couple of schools each weekday to run hour-long clinics with school children.
Her youthful appearance and down-to-earth nature help the young AFL players identify with her, and she is receiving plenty of encouragement for the role she is playing within the organisation.
“It is good fun going into the schools,” Steph said.
“The students are so enthusiastic; I love it. I am aiming to close the gap between the boys and girls both playing and am receiving positive feedback from the schools about it as well.
“The women’s game is growing, it’s getting bigger.”
Steph plays in the division one category of the women’s six-team Sydney league. A second division also operates within the competition, with interest in both growing.
Whilst Steph’s focus is predominantly fixed on AFL at the moment, she recently signed up with North Sydney for the rugby union sevens competition.
“I guess I’m pretty busy with sport,” Steph said with a laugh.
“We train twice a week for AFL plus general fitness.”
The smooth transition for Steph into Aussie Rules has seen her develop the polished skills of handballing, kicking and bouncing the ball on the run along with tackling with little fuss.
In only her second competitive season in the game, Steph has those in charge sitting up and taking notice.
After each round of games in all the senior divisions, a rising star is nominated. At season’s end an overall rising star of the year award will be presented after the votes are accumulated.
Steph is in the running for this award as she was named Sydney Women’s AFL Round 5 Rising Star nominee.
Three weeks ago she was also part of the NSW team that competed at the National Championships in Cairns.
Although her team was outclassed in the division one pool, she loved the experience and is grateful for the opportunity to compete at such a high level.
Besides working full-time with AFL, Steph is a supervisor at St Scholastica’s College and coaches a couple of teams for her school.
Her natural athleticism, readiness to become involved, ability to read the game and confident ball handling skills point to a long and successful future in the national game.
