Tara Murray
Western Jets captain Charlotte Baskaran knows that she did everything she could this year to get picked in the AFLW draft.
Having been one of the standouts heading into this year, the Caroline Springs resident enhanced her draft prospects.
She led the Jets to their first NAB League premiership, while finishing second in the league best and fairest award and named captain of the team of the year.
Baskaran was also part of the Vic Metro squad and the AFLW national academy.
Speaking at last week’s AFLW draft combine, she said she was excited about what was to come in the coming months.
“It will be a dream come true,” she said of getting drafted.
“I’ve thought about this moment for years since I first started footy. It’s going to be the best thing ever.
“It’s a nervous wait, but it’s super exciting. I can’t wait. I’ll be doing as much as I can before the draft to get ready.”
Having been a keen netballer and state athletics champion, Baskaran turned to football when she was 16 and never looked back.
She said she loved everything about the sport.
“I loved netball and athletics too,” she said.
“When I started footy, I loved the team environment and the team aspect of it. I loved training and meeting a lot of new people. I decided to stick at footy and now I’m here.”
The Maribyrnong College student soon joined the Jets and was one of the stand out players in the competition.
She said it was bittersweet that her time at the Jets was coming to an end.
“I don’t think I could have done anything more this year,” she said. “I was really happy and to top it off with a premiership win at the Jets.
“I was at the Jets for quite a while. The west has always had a stigma that we weren’t necessarily the best and to cap it off winning the premiership was amazing.”
Since the end of the NAB League season, Baskaran has been flat out with her football commitments.
She was part of the national championships, before playing for the academy in an young guns game a couple of weeks ago.
An ankle injury in that game meant she couldn’t do the two-kilometre time trial at the combine.
“I was looking forward to running the two k, surprisingly,” she said.
“Now it’s about getting my ankle back to 100 per cent and doing rehab and a bit of upper body training.
“I’m still doing as much as I can and not lose any fitness. I want to keep that positive mindset.”
Baskaran said she had been speaking to AFLW clubs in recent weeks and was enjoying the process.
The year 12 student said she was keen to get started in the next stage of her football career.
“It’s pretty cool,” she said.
It’ll be about finding that balance is going to be very important but I think I can do that. I’m just looking forward to getting into a club.”
The draft will be held on June 29 with the AFLW season to start in August.
