Ararat Storm footballer Georgia Clarke continued her football pathway when she attended the AFL Women’s Academy high performance camp in Melbourne earlier this month.
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The promising young footballer was one of 33 players selected for the academy and attended the final camp of the program which included training sessions and team bonding activities across the three days.
Academy Coach Aasta O’Connor said the program has helped Clarke improve both on and off the field.
“Georgia has really developed both as a footballer and a person through the Academy and if she continues to work hard she will have a very bright future in women’s football,” she said.
Storm football director David Nicholson has seen the 16-year-old grow her game since joining the club.
He said she is a very selfless footballer and has benefitted from the program greatly.
“What she does has always been to the benefit for the team,” he said.
“Probably her fitness and skills have come up a bit but the way she plays has not really changed as a result of being in the academy program.”
...if she continues to work hard she will have a very bright future in women’s football
- Aasta O'Connor
Clarke is a level one member of the academy which means it is her first year involved.
Next year if she is selected, she will be level two ahead of being draft eligible for the 2019 AFLW season.
Nicholson said he is expecting Clarke to pass on the things she has learnt to her teammates at the Storm this year.
“Because she has been doing Rebels stuff and the academy, she has not been at Storm training much but now all that stuff is finished, I am expecting all those Rebels girls to pass on a lot of information – especially Georgia,” he said.
The Storm will start its Ballarat Football League Youth Girls’ premiership defence against East Point at Great Western Oval on Sunday April 30.
