Kerr,29,comes from a generation of women for whom a career in Australian rules was not an option. Instead,she became one of the greatest soccer players in the world and the most iconic Matilda,whose left calf muscle is a focus of national intrigue ahead of Monday night’s round of 16 world cup clash with Denmark. Imagine a parallel universe,though,in which there was an AFL pathway for girls in the mid-2000s when Kerr had to give up her favourite sport.
Peter Christie,the president of South Fremantle Football Club,remembers Kerr in her childhood hanging around the club when her father,Roger,coached their colts team in the WAFL under-18s. He said her natural ability had been evident and,looking back,it was a great shame Kerr had to give up footy,knowing what she could have been in the AFLW.
“She was always kicking the ball to someone,handballing to someone,catching the ball. She was just always on the periphery and,and it was like a little kid that was eager to get into the lolly shop. She was dead keen to be able to play,notwithstanding the age difference,” Christie said.
“Women’s footy sort of didn’t exist at that point in time. AFLW didn’t exist. We didn’t have any women’s teams and I’ve got no doubt,if she was born into this era with her hand-to-eye skills,she’d be a 200-game AFLW player,” he added. That it would take between 15 and 20 years to reach 200 games in AFLW (the league has promised the season will grow from its current length of 10 games plus finals),is a reminder of how far the AFL was from snaring Kerr.
Emma Swanson,captain of West Coast’s AFLW side,said the competition wasn’t ready for an athlete of Kerr’s calibre when it started in 2017,by which time she was already a Matildas star and about to debut for the Chicago Red Stars in the US National Women’s Soccer League.
Kerr occasionally used the Eagles’ training facilities during the team’s first year in the AFLW. Swanson said the West Coast players were star struck. “I was like,we’re not ready for her yet.”