Emmerson Hitch’s first foray into football ended with a broken arm.
Not deterred, three years later when she discovered Melton Centrals had a girls side, she returned to the football field.
“I started playing when I was 12-13 with the boys for a bit and I broke my arm,” she said.
“Mum and dad wanted me to pick another sport and I played basketball for three years.
“When I heard that there was a Centrals girls side they said go for it.”
Unbeknown to Hitch, her talents were discovered by those at the Western Jets and she was invited to trial for the Jets girls team.
On the weekend, she was part of the inaugural Western Jets TAC Cup girls side.
“It’s absolutely amazing and a major honour,” she said. “I only just recently came back to football and had no idea. One day after work mum was like ‘have you checked your email and your Facebook’?
“There was an invitation to try out for the Jets. I went to every training and took so much out of it.”
Hitch, who plays mainly in the midfield, said the first goal was to perform for the Jets, and then possibly look at an AFLW career.
She would love to play with the Western Bulldogs, the club she has supported her whole life.
“It would be a dream to play in the AFLW, I couldn’t explain how much it would mean to me to be able to play for the Bulldogs.”
Hitch isn’t the only Centrals player to be selected for the Jets. Lachlan Phillips was selected in the under-16 squad.
This year was the first time he was asked to try out for the squad.
“It feels pretty good,” he said. “I’ve been playing football for about eight years and enjoy it heaps.”
Phillips, who plays both half-back and on the ball, said the focus was on improving his game.
“Hopefully I can have a better season than last year,” he said. “I’ve got three more games to go after already playing one practice match.
“We’ll have the state carnival on the holidays. Hopefully we can play well and I can get picked for more squads in the future.”
