Young footballer hopes to don the purple Guernsey for next season’s AFL

By Emma Atkinson Aspiring teenage footballer Beatrice Devlyn, known as Bea, from the South Fremantle Women’s Football Club, is hoping to be drafted to the Fremantle Dockers Women’s AFL team next week. Eighteen-year-old Bea, who has now represented WA in state football five times in the past four years, started playing when she was just six years old. “I wanted to play when I was like five but they wouldn’t let me, so apparently, I don’t really remember but Mum said I cried and cried and then when the next year came around she rang the club again and they said yes [I could play] and that’s where it all started, “she said. Since beginning her career Bea has also been named the best and fairest player three years running at the South Fremantle Football Club and for the entirety of the WA Girls’ Youth competition. “Being involved in state competitions obviously got my name out there and because I’ve done quite well I’ve been in the forefront of people’s minds [for the draft], “she said. Bea has also been visiting local clubs to speak to and coach other young female footballers who want to eventually compete at a state or national level. “I’ve always wanted to do coaching and the girls were at the right age where you could have a laugh, but when it got down to it they knuckled down and did what they had to do, I really really enjoyed it,” said Bea. Kym Hart, the female representative for South Fremantle District Development, who has been working with Bea to help coach the younger footballers, said Bea has a good chance of being drafted. “Her skill level, her fitness level, her everything she’s off the chart,” said Mrs Hart. “This is an exciting time for female footballers and we really really hope that she gets to represent the state because she has the passion.”