REACHING new heights going from volleyball to football.

Footy was never on the cards for Jemma Stokes. It was only last year that she picked up a footy for the first time seeing the hype of the sport and the success of the AFLW.

Now wanting to give footy a try, Stokes went on a search and landed at the Parkside Spurs. In her first-ever season in footy, the 23-year-old won 'best first-year player'.

Now on a wave of belief and confidence, Stokes had her eye on joining the VFLW. She trialled for Williamstown and was successful. The 183cm ruck trained with them for three weeks in their pre-season prior to Christmas.

This was until she got a call from Carlton defence coach Christina ‘Polly’ Polatajko who had Stokes on her radar and wanted her to convert to the Navy Blue.

“‘Polly’ rang me and said ‘I might have an opportunity for you at Carlton. ‘Do you want to come down for a training?’,” Stokes said.

The immediate answer was yes.

“I love the club so much. I feel like we’re one big family,” she said.

“There's just so many support systems, everyone's so passionate and has your best interest at heart.”

The support came in handy this year after Stokes broke her pinky finger in six spots, requiring surgery to get three pins put in. It was a big emotional toll on Stokes as she had never been injured during a season before.

It’s difficult for Stokes to avoid using her hands during a game being a ruck but she felt confident in herself already having strong ball use with her hands thanks to football.

The best part for her is learning about structures, knowing where to be, how Carlton plays their brand and where to position herself to best help the team. 

As Stokes started playing footy, she was still playing volleyball and that was her focus.

“In volleyball, we do everything with our arms. I never grew up playing (footy), I grew up watching footy,” she said.

“My dad played footy at a local level, but I never went out and did Auskick or kick the footy or anything like that.”

Volleyball was Stokes’ life. She moved out of home at Lakes Entrance at just 17-years-old and moved to Canberra to train full-time at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS).

“I was (at the AIS) for 18 months and it was a pathway to try and get you overseas, whether that was college or as a pro in Europe for example to get better the Australian standard of volleyball,” she said.

Training under Shannon Windsor - who is the current head coach of the Canadian National Women’s team - Stokes was flying to Texas to Trinity Valley Community College on a full scholarship before she knew it. 

“The season got postponed from August to the next year in April. I knew I wanted to do nursing and I didn’t want to wait a whole another year to start my degree in Australia.

“I thought I’d just finish my studies online and then start studying in Australia.”

Playing a high level of sport can be difficult on the body let alone two sports. Stokes found it hard to cope with footy and volleyball commitments and decided to focus on volleyball. Once the season finished, footy became her number-one priority.

“I got to the end of the volleyball season for the state league and I just couldn't move. That's why I was prioritising volleyball and doing a bit of footy here and there,” she said.

“I decided this year to just give footy a red hot crack. I haven't played any volleyball this year so far.”

Being one of the fresh faces at Carlton this year, Stokes has been supported by co-captains Octavia Di Donato and Eliza Wood who were an integral part of Stokes’ journey to help find her footing in the footy world.

“I have felt throughout the season, almost imposter syndrome of 'what am I doing here? Do I really deserve this? I don't even know much about footy',” Stokes said.

Di Donato wanted to help Stokes as much as she could by doing extra drills at training and gym sessions ready for pre-season.

“This made me believe that I'm supposed to be here,” Stokes said.

“I've already done a lot in sport, but footy is such an exciting new thing in today's day and age but also for me to have a different challenge and see how far I can go with it all.”