Brown scores a place on State team

After months of training in the heat of the summer, Peel Thunder Birds player Kerrilee Brown has scored a place on the WA youth girls’ football team for the second year in a row.

The 15-year-old Hillman resident has proven her talent once again, this year making it into the State’s under-18s team in National Youth Girls AFL Championships, which will be held in Canberra in May.

Brown has played the Australian sport for the past 10 years and believes girls at just as capable at the hard-hitting game as boys.

“You’ve got to be pretty courageous — it’s actually really hard,” she said.

“It’s thought of as a manly sport, but it’s not — we are just as tough.”

She admitted being only 15 on the under-18s team was a challenge, but one she was prepared to tackle, having been a member of the winning under-16s last year.

“We won the championship in Darwin by five points last year,” Brown said.

“It was the first time WA won the interstate league against Victoria and Queensland.”

Brown said she would love to see the AFL board officially give women the chance to prove their strength and ability.

“I would like to see AFL embrace women and formalise a women’s competition,” she said.

“I do cop a lot from my brothers for playing the boys’ sport, but they’re proud of me.”

Brown said she was required to help fundraise with her teammates to reduce the $1900 interstate competition fees.

The competition runs from May 2 until May 10.