Ainslee Elliot notches up 150 game milestone
It’s not every day players take to the field for 150 games but this is exactly what Mona Vale’s Ainslee Elliot has achieved at the young age of 14.
The talented AFL junior, in her last season with the Pittwater Tigers, has reached a milestone only few have achieved before her.
With her standout purple boots drawing in the crowds when she first donned the Auskick kit on the North Shore at the age of four, Elliot has gone on to play a formidable role for a number of teams in her short junior career.
In 2004, Ainslee stepped up to Under 9s and at only seven years of age was the youngest player in her team. In the same year, Ainslee achieved her 50th game milestone.
After four years of playing up in an older age group, Ainslee joined her own aged team in 2008. Whilst it was difficult to leave a team she’d played with since Auskick, it didn’t take long before she settled into her new team, playing mostly in the forward line in the early days, before eventually finding her niche as a dependable backline player.
Ainslee’s strengths were her tackling, overhead marking and determination when the ball went to ground. She could always be relied upon to get in amongst the action at the bottom of the packs, often shooting a quick handball out to one of her teammates.
During her final two years, Ainslee became an integral member of the Tigers defence. Without a doubt, there are numerous opponents who will never forget copping a solid hip and shoulder from Ainslee that knocked them to the ground.
“Courageous”, “tenacious”, “Ms dependable”, “Ms one percenter”, “one hundred and ten percent effort” – all words used by her coaches over her ten year junior career and best summarises her playing style with the Pittwater Tigers. Attributes every coach admires in their players and teams.
In 2010, her last season with the Pittwater Tigers Under 14s, Ainslee played her 150th game; a milestone reached by few players in the club or competition. Achieving this significant milestone seems a fitting finish to the end of her AFL career with the Pittwater Tigers in the Sydney Harbour, Greater Sydney Juniors AFL competition.
