From the young girl who simply liked sport to becoming a mainstay in the Gold Coast SUNS AFLW side – Georgia Clayden is the latest athlete to share her journey as part of the SUNS’ My Story, Our Story campaign.
On the verge of what will be her 25th AFLW appearance this Saturday against Geelong at People First Stadium, Clayden says it’s a path that wasn’t possible when she was a little girl and one she was put on throughout the COVID pandemic.
Having being ushered into netball as a young girl before going on to highly-successful netball and volleyball careers that included numerous representative honours, it wasn’t until the netball courts shut that the doors to the AFLW world opened.
“I think for me as a young girl growing up, I was always quite good at sport and it was kind of like ‘okay, you’re good at sport, go play netball’ – that was just kind of a known thing,” Clayden said.
“So I played netball and volleyball and I was lucky enough to go on a lot of junior Australian camps and trips.
“Through COVID in Canberra, the netball season was actually cancelled, and I was like ‘oh well, footy’s still running.’
“I loved playing footy at school, I could just never play because I was at that age group where girls weren’t really allowed to play.”
A product of Ainslie in her hometown Canberra, Clayden earned her way onto the SUNS AFLW as mature-age signings ahead of the 2022 AFLW Draft as a 27-year-old.
Not only would she go on to make her debut in the opening round of the following season, but she is yet to miss a single match since that day.
It’s given Clayden an opportunity to be the role model to the next generation that simply didn’t exist for her as a young girl.
“I played netball from a really young age and it just became completely natural where as with footy, even just starting a bit older, the actual skills and game was still quite new,” Clayden continued.
“You look at young girls growing up now and think ‘wow, if I had started footy 10 years earlier, what would I have been like?
“For me it comes down to the girls in the crowd that are watching us now and thinking that this can be them in the future. We couldn’t play growing up, and I just don’t know that if I was growing up now if I would have made the same decision… there’s just so much opportunity which is so exciting.
“Growing up, I was a girl in school that liked spot and that wasn’t really common.
“I was probably the only one of my friends that was like that whereas I just think nowadays, I look at schools and I think it’s different. I think girls are liking sport more and hopefully over the next couple of years, we’re seeing girls not dropping out as much through puberty and things like that.
“On the same token, I get so thankful for the women before me as well that have paved the way for us. I’m still here and able to live through it which is amazing and I’m very lucky as there are so many women older than me that didn’t get that chance.”
As part of the campaign, the public are encouraged tell their stories, not for the women they are today, but for the girls they once were.
To join the discussion, share your stories via the Gold Coast SUNS social media channels or by contacting the club via email at gcfcdigital@goldcoastfc.com.au.
