"I WAS seeing all these women play professional footy out on the MCG when all I'd ever seen was male players."

Annie Lee recounts the moment she realised that her football aspirations could be more than just a pipedream.

From there, the hard work to make that dream a reality began.

Speaking to The Standard, Lee outlined the challenges of navigating her football pathway amongst a pandemic.

"It was pretty difficult I guess because one year we only played two games. It was hard because it was an important part of my life in hopes of getting drafted," she told The Standard.

 A big motivator throughout this period was her father Laurie, one of 12 siblings who grew up in Warrnambool and played for the Port Fairy Seagulls.

"I'd say, from when I started kicking the footy and then later getting into the more professional settings, about 90 per cent of our conversations was footy talk," she said.

"I'd always look to him and try and learn as much as I could from him. When I was starting to get noticed... I would always look at footage of my game and we'd go over what I could work on and what I did well. He helped me out so much."

Now 12 games in to her Navy Blue journey, having played all bar one game in season seven (due to illness), Lee still pinches herself that she’s able to pull on the guernsey of the club she supported growing up.

"I wish everyone could feel what I felt," she said.

"Me being a big Blues fan it was incredible."

The full interview covers Lee’s move to Edinburgh, growing up in Geelong, her family’s community ties to Port Fairy and much more. Read the full article here. 

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