Farrar on path to a career in football
KITARA Farrar has seen life on the tools and while she enjoyed her time as an apprentice cabinet maker, a job kicking a footy every day sounds much more enticing for the South Cairns junior.
The talented Far North teenager was with her AFL Women’s Academy teammates for season 2019 earlier this month at Canberra’s Australian Institute of Sport.
Farrar finished her high school studies in 2018 and after completing two years as an apprentice chippie, will now trade the tools for the footy and will relocate to the Gold Coast for a job working with AFL Queensland.
The move and her time with the AFL Women’s Academy is all part of a plan for her working towards being part of the AFLW this time next year.
That is when the best and fairest player in the local AFL Cairns Women’s competition is eligible to be drafted into AFLW, and the same year the Gold Coast Suns enter the competition.
“It is kind of all set up for me on the Coast. I am looking forward to it,” the smiling teenager said from Canberra.
“If I was to continue cabinet making, it would not be best for my footy with injuries and my body, so I am looking forward to working for AFL Queensland.
“I loved cabinet making, and the company that I was with, EK Design Kitchens, did not treat me differently because I was a girl. They taught me everything the blokes knew in the shed.”
But, as many footballers are finding out these days, having a job once your athletic career is finished is vital, with Farrar more than set up for her postAFLW career.
AFLW talent manager Aasta O’Connor is confident the Cutters product will be a positive influence in the community, regardless of where her footy takes her.
“Off the field, Kitara is a really Advisory group which has representatives from AFLW clubs and AFL state bodies.
The first of three camps was held at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra from December 16.
The players will also join AFLW club training sessions throughout the pre-season. mature woman and she understands what it takes to be the best athlete she can be,” O’Connor said.
“The way she conducts herself in the group, we only have praise for her; she is an amazing young person that will do really special things with her life, on and off the field.
“We try and really push the balance for players, because it can get really full-on through Year 12 for these girls.”
Ten Queenslanders, including Farrar, have taken the next step towards a spot on an AFL Women’s list after being selected in the AFL Women’s Academy for season 2019.
“They are helping develop me into the best footballer that I can be,” Farrar said.
“That goes for on-field and off-field stuff.”
When she does relocate to the Gold Coast, Farrar will play for Bond University in the QWAFL for 2019 as well as for the Suns in the second winter series, before they enter the AFLW the following season. selection process. Like many companies, AFL teams get potential players to take personality tests to get a good idea of who they are, what behaviours are dominant, and try to assess their characters.
Unlike ordinary companies though, AFL teams have extensive scouting reports on their prospects, and the assessments are used to confirm what teams already know, as well as to deepen their understanding of the players.
Financially, it’s a massive investment for clubs to draft a player, so it makes sense to determine if a player is going to be the right fit firstly and secondly become a long-term player. Every year, more than 1500 players nominate for the draft, yet just over 100 are taken. It’s a very competitive sport and there are very few players who have the opportunity to progress through to the AFL ranks, so they must work very hard to achieve it. David Arnfield is the founder of Queensland Elite Sports Training based in Cairns.