FAMILY MEMORY SPURS KAITLYN
BEFORE the first bounce on Saturday, Brisbane Lions star Kaitlyn Ashmore will take a moment to think of her Pa.
Her beloved grandfather, Lawrence Ashmore, was the one who pushed her towards AFL when she was in high school.
And while she eventually had to give away her promising athletics career to devote all her time and attention to football, that decision is one she will never regret.
On Saturday Ashmore will play in her second straight AFLW grand final with the Lions and it is games like these that she dedicates to her family, and her Pa.
The midfielder tragically lost her Pa in 2011 when he passed away due to a stroke.
He doesn’t know what she has achieved in the years since or how his love of AFL inspired her to make the game her priority.
But Ashmore says if it wasn’t for him, she wouldn’t be where she is today.
“I’d give it all to him and if I could say thanks, I would,” she said.
Originally from Melbourne, Ashmore will have all her family in attendance on Saturday when the Lions play the Bulldogs at Princes Park.