Lauren Ahrens part of an ever-growing list of PBC State High School graduates to reach the top level of Australian rules

There wasn’t a pathway for males to reach the AFL at Palm Beach Currumbin State High School when Lauren Ahrens was a student – let alone one for females. Now she has become the next in an ever-growing list of graduates from the school to make it to the sport’s top level.

THERE wasn’t a pathway for males to reach the AFL at Palm Beach Currumbin State High School when Lauren Ahrens was a student – let alone one for females.

Now she has become the next in an ever-growing list of graduates from the school to make it to the sport’s top level.

Some of her fellow PBC peers to have donned the Suns colours are Jesse Joyce, Max Spencer, Brad Scheer, Brayden Crossley, Jacob Dawson, Jacob Heron.

Ahrens left her Coolangatta home to pursue life in Victoria and has now returned to help guide the city’s first AFLW team in the Gold Coast Suns during their inaugural season.

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“I’m very excited. I’m really keen to start playing. The pre-season has been challenging but also really good. We are really ready to start playing now,” Ahrens said.

The key defender, who can play across any area of the backline, shifted to Victoria to study, completing a master’s degree in teacher while also discovering a love of football.

She played for Melbourne University, St Kilda and Essendon’s VFLW side and was one of Gold Coast’s priority signings for 2020.

“I started playing footy around 2017 or 2018, just as the women’s game was getting pretty big,” Ahrens said of her transition into Australian rules.

Lauren Ahrens. Suns AFLW players at all-in media day. Picture: Tim Marsden

“My partner he was playing and I said I wanted to play as well.

“I came up and did some coaching experience at my school at PBC and one of the teachers there encouraged me to have a real crack.

“One thing led to another and I ended up playing VFLW not long after and ended up on the Gold Coast.”

“I was always dreamt of doing it and I always jealous of the boys because they had their NRL pathways and I always wished I could do something like that.

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“They didn’t have anything in place at that time. We were hardly able to play a round-robin.”

Ahrens said she hoped her old school mates would help pack out Metricon Stadium as Gold Coast prepare for their first AFLW season, beginning with a fixture against GWS in NSW on February 8 before playing in their first home game against Richmond on February 15.

“I have been getting a lot of school mates reaching out asking if they can come watch,” Ahrens said.

“It’s cool to know in such a rugby league dominated area that those mates are starting to watch AFL as well.”

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