Ad Astra, December 2020

Leading the pack

NICOLE ROACHE, MARKETING MANAGER

Stephanie Williams left her home in Wagait Beach on the Cox Peninsula, just 8kms or a ferry trip from Darwin, aged 11. She left her mum and sister, for the opportunities an education down south presented. Little did she know that after three years at Worawa Aboriginal College in Healesville, that a Smith Family Scholarship would bring her to The Geelong College, and then to the Geelong Cats as the College’s first listed AFLW player.

Steph describes her childhood memories of football as mixed. While she loved kicking things, balls, plastic bottles, basically anything she could find on the ground, she hated what football stood for, in her mind.

“I loved all sport, but we never really had the time or money for all the sports that I wanted to play. My mum really didn’t want me to play footy because it’s so physical, and it wasn’t for girls, so I only really had the opportunity to play netball. I hated football; up north at the time all I could relate footy with was a lot of alcohol and a lot of violence. I also didn’t

have the good father role model to teach me about footy, so it felt male dominated and negative to me.”

It all changed when her friend invited her for a kick of the footy when she arrived at Worawa, where they had a girls’ footy team.

“My friend changed my whole view. When we were out kicking the footy, she told me I was good at it and asked me to be on the team, so I thought whatever and I did.”

From there Steph began to turn heads with her dashing game style and natural talent.

“Eventually I got really good and people noticed. I started playing in different teams in Victoria and the NT, playing a lot more and getting different opportunities. I found I loved it because of the sisterhood, looking after each other, celebrating each other and the big team environment. Also, I had a whole oval to run… I love running, especially running away from people, it’s very exhilarating. When the ball would go somewhere, I would pick it up and run with it. Sometimes a bit too far so people were telling me to bounce the ball, which I had to learn.”

In 2017 Steph was told that she should try mainstream schooling and encouraged to apply for scholarships,

and that there might be more opportunities for her football if she stayed in Victoria.

“They told me I should probably try to do the harder schoolwork in a mainstream school. They also said because I was good at footy, I should stay in Victoria.

“I put in heaps of different scholarship applications, in Adelaide, in Sydney, MLC, Pymble Ladies’ College and Wesley, basically any school you could think of. Some of them fell through and my mum wasn’t too fond of the purple colour, so she said maybe not Wesley.

“In December I got an offer from Geelong College! Out of all the options, for some reason, this was the school…

“Honestly, I didn’t think I would stay for even a week. It was daunting, totally different to what I was used to. I saw the flash uniform and I thought oh no, this school might be too flash for me, but I just moved past that and met all the lovely people.

“In my time here I think that’s what has really got me through, all the different people you meet. It’s been a good time. I’m getting a bit emotional now it’s almost over, but it’s been good.”

In her final year at College, Steph was the Mossgiel Captain, a Prefect and Captain of the Inaugural College AFLW team.

“I love it all, being a leader was good. I didn’t know if I could do it, but obviously I could! Being a part of the first girls’ footy team was awesome. I loved how it was some of the girls’ first time playing footy.

“In a few years, maybe one of them will say ‘Steph taught me to kick the footy.’

“It’s also good because it’s a real change for our school. With girls’ footy, football is a girls and boys sport at our school, just like it is everywhere else. It’s a good thing for the girls, they can choose to play footy if they want to.”

While at school Steph continued her football journey playing at St Joseph’s and for the Geelong Falcons, as well as making state teams for the NT. After her 2019 season was disrupted with injury, and she was devastated by the passing of her sister, Steph was unsure if footy was for her after all.

“I didn’t really play footy that much, I put on a bit of weight, I was eating a lot of cookies and getting a bit sad and I didn’t

know if footy was going to be my thing anymore.”

And then COVID-19 hit, and seasons, games and draft combines were cancelled, so Steph headed home for four months and decided to hit the training track, hard. In those last few games in Geelong, recruiters had noticed her and her form in the NT backed up what they saw.

“I played one game down at Kardinia Park for Joeys, I didn’t realise at the time, because of COVID-19, with everyone in their masks and in their cars, but a lot of the Cats people were there. They could also see footage from my NT games from last year, when I played pretty alright in some of them.

“In one game, I think it was just a fluke, I handballed it to myself and I kicked a goal. Everyone thought it was awesome and I was like, ‘it wasn’t supposed to happen, I was supposed to handball it to

It is a dream come true, I didn’t think it would ever happen and I’m still pinching myself.

one girl and then she ran away, so I had to get it back and kick the goal!’”

Fast forward to 6 October in the girls’ boarding house and a nervous Steph is watching a live stream of the draft, waiting for her name to be called, and hoping she will get to stay in her adopted home of Geelong.

“I kept thinking I hope they still want me because they were calling out all these other girls’ names. I thought what if they don’t want me, or if they don’t get me in time someone else might… or someone else might not…

“But then 27 came and I thought they might pick me and that it would be cool because I was born on the 27th of January. Then they said my name and I just started crying.

“It is a dream come true, I didn’t think it would ever happen and I’m still pinching myself. I think I will be for the next two years.”