AFTER years of playing with the boys, Poppy Stockwell is excited she will get the chance to play for WA as part of an all-girls football team.
The Year 9 Roleystone Community College student was one of 24 female footballers selected to the WA U15 squad for a national carnival in Adelaide next month.
It will be the second time Poppy has pulled on the black and gold after she also represented WA in 2017.
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READ NOWA member of the Roleystone Tigers for the last seven years, Poppy said playing in boys teams for six of those years had helped her develop her skills on the field.
“I’m really excited to be in the WA team again and to get the opportunity to play with my teammates from last year,” she said.
“I think we will do well, as our teamwork on the field has really improved.
“Some of us have experience from last year, so hopefully that will help us perform at a high level too.”
With a number of AFLW stars making the U15 team in previous years, including Caitlyn Edwards, Brianna Green and Sabrina Frederick-Traub, Poppy said selection had provided an exciting opportunity for her and her teammates.
“It’s really exciting to see the new AFLW league and seeing the current players doing well gives me hope that one day I can follow in their footsteps if I continue to work hard at my footy skills,” she said.
“I would love to make it to the AFLW one day and play for a West Australian team.”
While not in the travelling team, Byford Secondary College’s Taylah Cruttenden, John Wollaston Anglican Community School’s Eliza Mitchell, Kelmscott Senior High School’s Kloe Taylor, Cecil Andrews College’s Sarah and Sophie Winmar and John Calvin Christian College’s Ainsley Fokkema have been selected to the development squad as injury replacements if needed.
Huntingdale Primary School’s Cooper Moore was also selected to WA’s Boys U12 football team travelling to Canberra in August.
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