It's appropriate that a junior AFL coach who has inspired so much enthusiasm in her players has been captured in a photograph doing just that, the image going viral as sports lovers celebrate its sheer joy.
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The photograph was taken by Luke Hickey of his wife Eugenie, coach of the Thunder team in the Tuggeranong Valley Under 10 girls AFL competition and his nine-year-old niece Alyssa Keeffe, celebrating after the little girl scored a goal.
Luke, who each week takes photos for the players and their families, also caught another magical shot in 2019 when he captured a Weston Creek U10s player mid-game tying up the shoelace of her opposition player for Tuggeranong, in a perfect display of sportsmanship - or sportsgirlship.
He entered his latest image of Eugenie and Alyssa in the AFL's Footy Focus competition for photographs from community footy. It's already been featured on socials by everyone from AFL Women's to the Capital Chemist Group.
Dad-of-two Luke said he was just happy the photograph had inspired so much joy and perfectly captured a young player's delight in the game.
"This is Alyssa's second season and she's gotten much better in terms of getting the footy and being involved but she's always doing something off the ball - handstands or dancing or staring off into the distance," Luke said, with a laugh.
"And after a goal she's always doing these exuberant high fives, so I always watch for her and with that one, got the timing right luckily."
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The love for the image is a perfect send-off for Eugenie, who coached her last game on the weekend after five years of fostering a love of footy in more than 50 girls across the time.
"All I've done is cry all day. I've loved it," she said, after her final game.
"The girls have encouraged me, too, when I didn't want to get out of bed on a cold Sunday morning.
"The goal was always to make girls love footy. That was it.
"You've got your superstars and then you've got the shy, quiet ones who are afraid to go near the ball and by the end of the season, they're in the pack fighting for the ball. It's amazing."
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Megan Doherty
I like telling local stories and celebrating Canberra. Email: megan.doherty@canberratimes.com.au
I like telling local stories and celebrating Canberra. Email: megan.doherty@canberratimes.com.au
