Why Alyce Parker is the GWS Giants’ top pick for the season

Young AFL hopeful Alyce Parker has swapped life on the family farm in southern NSW for one on the field as the GWS Giants’ top recruit for the 2019 season.

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Young AFL hopeful Alyce Parker has swapped life on the family farm in southern NSW for one on the field as the GWS Giants’ top recruit for the 2019 season.

You were the GWS Giants’ top AFLW draft pick for 2018. How has that changed your life?

Not to sound clichéd but it was so surreal, particularly the day it was announced in Melbourne. It was on the same day I had a HSC exam back home in NSW.

I really shouldn’t have been there but I applied to be able to sit my exam at Melbourne High School and literally had a 25-minute turnaround from when the draft was announced to the start of my exam.

Alyce Parker was the top AFLW draft pick for 2018. Picture: AAP/Daniel Pockett

You must have been floating on a cloud after the draft. How did you manage to concentrate on your exam?

It was my agriculture exam and it was the hardest thing I have ever done. I was so excited but had to take a few deep breaths and get it done.

Speaking of agriculture, what was it like for you growing up on a farm?

The family farm is at Holbrook, about an hour north of the NSW/Victorian border and it’s a sheep and crop farm. From the time I could walk, I have been out every day following Dad around the farm. I absolutely love spending time there and being with my dog Bronte, it’s my happy place.

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So it must have been difficult to leave when you were drafted by the Giants?

It’s been a big challenge for me moving out of home after the HSC and setting up in Sydney. But my Mum’s from Sydney and we have a lot of family here. I was also lucky because (teammate) Erin McKinnon, who I’ve known for about five years, was looking to move in with someone. So we’re sharing an apartment. I really miss my Mum’s home cooking.

I imagine you were the sporty type at school?

I was, I probably played too much sport. At one stage I was playing seven different sports but luckily not all in the same season. I played footy, cricket, netball, basketball, tennis and did swimming, athletics and cross country for the school.

I hear that one year your parents clocked up 92,000km driving you and your two older sisters to different sporting events?

Yep, we’ve always been fortunate that our parents encouraged us to do as much as we wanted. I had friends whose parents would limit them to just a few sports or activities at a time.

Parker admits to being a fan of playing sport growing up. Picture: Jonathan Ng

Parker joins the Giants for the 2019 season. Picture: Quinn Rooney/Getty

Were you always destined for the AFL field?

For a long time it was all about swimming. I was in an elite squad by 13 or 14 and doing eight sessions in the pool and three in the gym every week. Before the nationals one year, my coach told me that if I wanted to get to the next level I had to up my training to 10 sessions a week. As I was travelling to Albury (which is just under an hour from home) to train, it was just physically impossible so my parents and I decided to give it up.

How did you swap your cossie for footy boots?

I got into AFL by a complete fluke. I was in Year 6 and kicking the ball around with the boys and my sports teacher, Mr Preston, saw me kick and said I should join the boys’ under 12 side. I was a bit daunted because I had never played the game and I was the only girl in the team. But in my first game I kicked four goals. And, of course, I fell in love with it.

Do you think AFL is still seen as just a boys’ sport?

No, not at all. I work part-time for AFL NSW running clinics, which means I go into schools to promote and develop the sport. Young girls have a lot of opportunities to get involved in all sports now. And since women’s AFL started screening on TV in 2016, there has been a spike in young girls watching and participating.