Sunbury’s Sarah Lampard entered the inaugural AFL women’s draft thinking she was a slight chance of being selected.
After all she’d only played one season of football.
“It was hard to tell as there was so much good talent,” Lampard said. “I went to a talent search day earlier in the year run by Daisy Pearce and Darren Flanigan. I went really well and they asked me to join the state academy.
“The next day I was training with Daisy and Melissa Hickey. They suggested that I join a VFL team.”
She joined the VU Western Spurs under the tuition of women’s football legend Debbie Lee.
On Wednesday, Lampard’s name was called at pick 134 by the Melbourne Football Club.
Despite being one of the last players selected she didn’t give up hope of being picked.
“I’m just ecstatic, it still feels like a dream,” she said. “I was at home with my dad and brother. I knew there was a few more picks for the Victorian teams and I was hoping I was a chance.
“We had technical issues and it kept buffering. We had to wait to hear my name.
“We went nuts when we heard I’d been selected.”
Lampard will be reunited with Lee at the Demons, where Lee is women’s football operations manager. She’ll also be joined by three Spurs teammates Ainslie Kemp, Shelley Scott, Alyssa Mifsud who were all drafted.
“It’s great as you obviously know how they play,” Lampard said. “Debbie has been involved at Melbourne for a long time. It’s really exciting to have her involved.”
Making Lampard’s successful move into football more impressive, is she’s been juggling playing football and basketball this year.
Most weekend’s she would play football with the Spurs and then she would suit up for one sometimes two basketball games with the Sunbury Jets.
She was part of the Jets’ Big V division 1 championship side which when through the season undefeated.
“It’s been a couple of crazy months,” she said.
“There was a few clashes, about three or four games.
“It usually worked out and I would go from playing football straight to play basketball. I was lucky training didn’t clash.
“Some Mondays I would feel it a bit and my legs would be sore.”
Lampard said she would see how things went before deciding whether to focus on just one sport.
“They are pretty different sports and have different benefits.
“Football at present has better opportunities, but I’ll see how it goes.”
Picture Shawn Smits.
