AS a young girl growing up in Alice Springs, Charlotte Birch dreamed of going to university and playing AFL football.
But it wasn’t until she moved to Adelaide and joined the Port Adelaide Football Club’s newest academy that her dreams became a real possibility.
Charlotte is among 29 year 11 and 12 students from across South Australia and the Northern Territory in the first intake of the Port Adelaide Women’s Aboriginal AFL Academy.
The program started last month but was launched today with a breakfast at Alberton Oval.
“When a teacher told me about it I thought it sounded really interesting and I wanted to be involved in it,” the 16-year-old said.
“I think the education side of the Academy will be greatly beneficial for the future, but I just love football so that’s what got me involved in it.
“I think the program gives us more exposure to playing at a higher level and we get to see the facilities and the people at Port Adelaide.”
Charlotte moved to Adelaide in 2014 to complete her schooling at Immanuel College and the year 12 student fell in love again with the game she enjoyed so much as a child.
“I played in the Auskick when I was younger and then I stopped playing for a while because my Mum wouldn’t let me because she thought it was too rough,” the ruck/forward said.
“And we actually didn’t have a girls’ competition in Alice Springs.
“But when I moved here to Adelaide, a few of my friends were trying out for the KickStart South Australia team and I made that team, so I started playing from there.
“Now I’m playing for West Adelaide and my school team as well.”
The Women’s Aboriginal AFL Academy is an Australian-first program which follows the success of Port Adelaide’s Aboriginal AFL Academy for young men over the past four years.
Participants complete a Certificate III in Fitness which provides 100 SACE credits while they hone their football skills.
Port Adelaide’s Director of Aboriginal Programs Paul Vandenbergh said the Academy is the latest addition to the club’s suite of industry-leading programs for Aboriginal students, which focus on providing a quality educational experience for participants.
“We always knew football would be popular in the female Aboriginal community, we just had to create the pathway and platform," he said.
“What we learned in the boys’ academy we’ve been able to transition to the girls and hopefully we are able to get some good educational outcomes.”
Port Adelaide’s Aboriginal AFL Academy has achieved a 94% completion rate in its four years with four players drafted by AFL Clubs including Wayne Milera (Adelaide), Kym Lebois (Carlton), Tyson Stengle (Richmond) and Brandan Parfitt (Geelong).
Mr Vandenbergh said there had been a lot of interest in the Women’s
He said he hoped some of the girls would be drafted by teams in the SANFL Women’s League or by teams in the AFLW, but he stressed that was not a priority.
“I can absolutely see some talented young footballers in this program and absolutely I can see some of them getting drafted.
“But what is more exciting for us is that we are actually helping build some really strong young women to become leaders in the community and we feel this program empowers them and gives them all sorts of opportunities they otherwise wouldn’t have had.
"We would love to see some of the girls progress to the AFLW, and hopefully represent Port Adelaide when we get a license, but the education portion of our program is our priority.”
Charlotte is now focussed on completing her year 12 studies and working towards being drafted into the AFLW when she is old enough.
“I aspire to be a player in the AFLW but in the
“I’m going to finish off year 12 and
The Women’s Aboriginal AFL Academy is supported by the South Australian Aboriginal Sports Training Academy, the Department for Education and Child Development, the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet and Energy Australia.
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