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ELLIE Hampson turned down an offer to join a Brisbane National Premier League soccer side to join the AFLW ranks.
She’d been playing the game her whole life and only started playing Aussie rules when she was 15 but when it came to the choice between the two, footy won.
The Townsville product first picked up a footy when then teacher, now Queensland female talent manager, Kath Newman asked her to be involved in her school side.
From humble beginnings as a fill-in for the Peninsula region footy side, the 18-year-old was soon playing for her region before she made the Suns academy and was selected for Queensland at the under-18 national championships.
“I was heavily into soccer and touch,” she said.
“My family was a league family and my brother played so that’s what we watched and we used to make jokes about AFL.
“When I pick things up, I liked to be the best at what I do and my aim was to be the best.”
When Hampson didn’t make the 2018 All Australian side at the national junior championships, her desire to be the best inspired her to choose Aussie rules over soccer and, from that point forward, dedicate her life to getting drafted.
“I went home to my parents and told them I wasn’t here to joke around and that it’s not social for me anymore and I wanted to play for a living,” she said.
“I had my time in soccer and I put my heart and soul into that. I realised what it felt like to miss out.
“I never really watched footy before then but I started watching it every weekend with my stepdad.
“It’s hard up north because
Get to know every Suns AFLW star ahead of Round 1 on February 8 Monday: Molly Ritson
THE fallout from Lee Vernon’s Broadbeach United exit continues, with the new Nerang coach taking the majority of the Dolphins’ Gold Coast Premier League squad with him to Glennon Park.
More than three months after his shock exit amid a fallout with president Mickey Doyle, Vernon will today lead Nerang in their first trial at home to NPL giants Brisbane City at 4pm. The Eagles squad coached by Dave Benigno last season has undergone a major there’s only a few of you, especially in women’s footy when the league is really small.
“I started doing my own training and heading down to the school with my stepdad and just kicking with him.”
From there, Hampson started flying between Brisbane and Townsville to play QAFLW football with the Coorparoo Kings, leading them to a premiership last year all while balancing her role as Year 12 school captain.
“It’s probably the most challenging thing I’ve done,” she said.
“It’s so hard to stay motivated in two things at once and switch between your footy brain and school brain. “I was always trying not to worry about my assignments when I was at footy training and then forcing myself not to watch footy tapes while I was at school.
“There was a three-month period where I wasn’t home for any longer than two days at a time.
“I’d get home, unpack my suitcase, wash my clothes then pack it again.
“I think it’ll help me coming into AFLW because I can take a step away.”
Hampson’s lifelong dream came to fruition when she became one of the first three players to be signed by the Suns.
In that moment, all the travel, sacrifice and her decision to forgo soccer became worth it as she hunts a Round 1 AFLW debut against the Giants in Sydney.
“It would be the most overwhelming and exciting news I’d receive,” Hampson said when asked about the prospect of a Round 1 debut.
“Whether I get picked or not, it’ll be something I’ll need more than two minutes to take in.” overhaul, with Broadbeach mainstays Shaun Robinson, Russell Miner and Justin Watmough headlining a group of more than 10 who have made the move to Nerang.
The Bulletin understands just a handful of players from last season’s squad remain at Broadbeach, with Japanese midfield weapon Tomoki Asakawa likely to head to Surfers Paradise and reunite with Damien Barker, who has taken up a role at Lex Bell Oval after co-coaching the Dolphins with
Vernon for six years. Benigno walked away from Nerang after one season, with injuries and bans marring a season in which the Eagles finished fifth.
Captain Tolga Yorulmaz is among those who have also left Nerang, who will also play trials against North Brisbane (January 18), Gold Coast United (January 21), Grange Thistle (February 1) and Buderim Wanderers (February 8).
Andy Robinson is the new head coach at Broadbeach.