Young girls top field

By Gavin Staindl
IT has been a busy month for girls football at Hallam Senior College.
Three members of the college have just returned from representing Victoria at the AFL youth girl’s carnival only a week after visiting the AIS in Canberra and barely three weeks after claiming the state schoolgirls’ footy championships.
Riplee McLachlan, Chloe McMillan and Lauren Chalkley were all apart of the Big V side that came from behind to beat Western Australia by 15 points in the grand final at Craigieburn’s Highgate Reserve.
They were also part of the squad that was taken to Canberra and shown around the AIS.
“It was really good,” McLachlan said. “Like, the lectures were good for me and I learned how to manage what I eat and when to eat before and after sport … and I was able to use it during the national carnival too.”
And if all the tournaments and school work were not enough the trio will this week conduct various AFL clinics for over 200 primary schools students.
“It is pretty hard to combine the sport with school work,” McMillan said. “But I’m getting used to it now.”
But McLachlan, who has been asked to present a speech about the academy to Education Minister Bronwyn Pike next week, still prioritises her schoolwork over football “There is plenty of homework but the teachers are pretty good and they help me a lot,” McLachlan said.
“When we go away we get time to study and we sometimes use trainings to study … school does come first,” McLachlan said.
Brett Alexander, the girls’ football coach, said time management is crucial in getting the balance right between playing and studying.
“I have been doing study sessions on Wednesday afternoons instead of training and (we) are also doing some tutoring over the holiday,” Alexander said. “It is a very fine balancing act that involves a lot of time management,” he said.