Former Norwood and Sturt footballer Ellen Maple to be recognised with an annual medal in her honour

Former Norwood and Sturt footballer Ellen Maple, who died last year after a car crash, will be recognised with an annual medal named in her honour.

Sturt and Norwood will remember former teammate Ellen Maple, who died after a car accident last year, with a medal named in her honour. Leah Cutting (Norwood co-captain) and Caitlyn Swanson (Sturt co-captain) holding photos of Maple. Picture: AAP/Roy VanDerVegt

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Former Norwood and Sturt footballer Ellen Maple will be recognised with an annual medal in her honour.

A panel will award the Ellen Maple Medal to the most courageous and determined player in games between the Redlegs and Double Blues, including their meeting at Unley this Saturday.

Maple, who played in Norwood’s 2017 premiership then crossed to Sturt last season, died after her car crashed into a Stobie pole at Glengowrie in April 2018.

She was 22.

Ellen Maple in action for Sturt last year. Picture Deb Curtis

Maple’s twin sister, Tess, still plays for Sturt.

Double Blues co-captain Caitlyn Swanson said it was great to recognise Maple, who she described as a very courageous player.

“She backed into that many packs and took that many hits,” Swanson, 24, said.

“It was our inaugural year and we had a lot of young kids (at the club), so there were 15, 16 year olds experiencing the death of a really close mate.

“I was trying to stay strong for them.

“It will be really nice for both clubs to have something every year to remember her, and the medal is a really great initiative.”

Twins Tess and Ellen Maple. Picture: Supplied

Maple, a Mount Lofty product, won the Adelaide Footy League’s division two Players’ Player award in 2016, as the most respected among her peers.

The next year she kicked the first goal of the SANFLW competition as a Redleg.

Norwood co-captain Leah Cutting said the tragedy hit players hard and they wanted to keep Maple’s memory alive.

Redlegs and Sturt players will wear yellow armbands this Saturday mark a year since her death.

“Losing Ellen has been tough, not only as a playing group, but as a football community in general,” Cutting, 27, said.

“But I think it’s a great opportunity this weekend to celebrate and remember a life that was lost too soon.”

The Redlegs’ other co-captain, Bek McMahon, remains close to the Maple family and misses her teammate.

“(Maple) was very much an in-and-under player … that’s why she wore a helmet because she was pretty good at putting her head over the footy,” McMahon, 30, said.

“I think the best thing about Ellen was her heart.

“We really miss her smile.”

McMahon said Maple’s parents, Brett and Jane, were likely to be asked to present the medal.