Having been on an AFL list for five years, Fremantle’s Tom Sheridan has seen a lot of great footballers.
But there was one player from his junior days at Riddells Creek who stuck in his mind: Kate Darby.
A chance meeting between Sheridan and new Carlton women’s coach, Damian Keeping, who is originally from the Macedon Ranges, got them talking about Darby.
“He [Sheridan] is the same age as my brother,” Darby said last week.
“He said to Carlton, ‘I know a girl who played under-12s and under-14s who’s a good player; you should see if she’s still keen for a kick. They couldn’t believe they had to come to Perth to find out about someone who grew up in their own backyard.”
Carlton got in touch with Darby about eight weeks ago and she went down to the Blues for a session to show them what she could do.
Although Darby hadn’t played since under-14s, the Blues liked what they saw and drafted her at pick 126 in the inaugural AFL women’s draft.
The 25-year-old, who can play at either end of the ground, said being drafted was a dream come true.
“As a kid you dream of wanting to play AFL football,” she said. “After football, I played tennis [and coached], played cricket and basketball; a bit of everything.
“I only played school football, once or twice a year. I’ll give it a good crack and make the most of it. I owe Tommy a bit.”
Darby isn’t the only one in her family with football talent. Her brother, Matthew, was on Essendon’s VFL list this year.
“We were so excited when Matt made the VFL team for the Bombers, and now hopefully we’ll both get a crack next year. He didn’t play this year because of injury so hopefully we’ll both take to the field.”
Darby, who lives in Torquay, will have a familiar face with her at the Blues: Jess Kennedy, who played netball for several years at the Bombers was taken as a free agent selection by the Blues after the draft.
“[Jess] filled in for my cricket team a few times,” Darby said. “A photo was put up on the club’s Facebook of us together. Everyone at the club is right behind us …they’ve all been so supportive.”
