By Nick Creely
As one of the most talented female footballers to come out of the South East Juniors, Beaconsfield and now Carlton AFLW youngster Georgia Gee is certainly creating plenty of excitement.
The 18-year-old winger, taken with the Blues’ pick 12 in the AFLW draft, has been a junior star since coming to the Eagles as a shy kid, and has also been involved in the Dandenong Stingrays and Victorian rep programs.
In the Round 1 clash against Collingwood, Gee made her debut in an eight-point victory in front of a monster crowd at Ikon Park, amassing five disposals and showing immense promise.
She explained just what it meant to play AFL football for the first time, and her emotions before the game.
“It was a massive privilege to pull the jersey on; before the game, I felt calm and collected, but I had a few nerves with such a big crowd watching, and it being my debut,” she said.
“But it was very exciting; I was very, very humbled to be out there, and if I could re-live that experience all over again, I would.”
Gee explained that her arrival into the big league has been a bit of an eye opener so far, but loves every minute of it as she builds towards something special with her teammates.
“It’s been a massive step up from what I was doing last year; it’s been such an exciting experience so far, playing alongside Darcy Vescio, Tayla Harris and other girls, they’ve been great role models and I can’t get enough of it,” she explained.
“It’s been pretty big (the step up) compared to the Stingrays; having the facilities Carlton have has been massive.
“The pace is also such a big up from youth girls and TAC level; because I’m small, the physicality was a big thing for me too, but I felt I adapted to it quite quickly and I’m hoping to get some more experience in.”
Drafted as a winger having electrified crowds with her speed and clean skills, Gee has been working at expanding her game in another area of the ground.
“It’s been different playing as a small forward, I haven’t really been on the wing so far this season; it’s definitely been a different experience playing around Darcy and Tayla and trying to get some score on the board,” she said.
“Obviously, it’s good using my speed and working around those guys; I’m looking forward to getting on the wing at some stage in my footy.
“But getting another position under my belt is important, and they want me to be able to rotate between midfield and forward, so that’s probably the main thing and goal for this season.”
As for her local community of Beaconsfield, Gee couldn’t be more grateful for their ongoing support.
“They’ve supported me the whole way, and I played my whole junior career with them; they’ve certainly been in contact with me, and wished me well and had a lot of them support me at the games,” she said.
“The community around here has been awesome, so I couldn’t be more thankful for everyone’s support.”
