“WE’RE able to represent ourselves, represent the women who built women’s football and celebrate all people from all different backgrounds.”

This Friday the AFLW Blues will run out in their fourth annual Pride Game against the Western Bulldogs under Friday night lights.

For another year, newly minted Carlton leader Darcy Vescio designed the Pride guernsey in collaboration with the Carlton playing group.

Speaking to media on Tuesday morning, Vescio spoke about the meaning of this year’s guernsey and the growth of both the league and society through this ongoing tradition of inclusivity.

“This year I had the privilege of designing our jumper and I pretty much took the concepts and the values that the girls brought to me in the previous year and did another take on it,” Vescio said.

“What we’ve come up is with essentially like when you cut a tree and you see the growth rings: so it represents the growth we’ve taken year on year as a collective and also showing that we’re able to speak out more, we understand ourselves more and we feel more confident speaking publicly about the things that matter to us.

“The growth rings also look like ripples, so it’s like a ripple effect throughout the community from the work that we’re doing and the way we embrace ourselves.”

Friday night’s match will for the first time form part of a wider Pride Round in the AFLW, with each match celebrating inclusivity and gender diversity.

For Vescio, that tradition of acceptance and representation is part and parcel to strengthening the league as a whole.

“It’s meant an immense amount. Because we’re part of that community we’re representing people throughout the community and I think the strongest thing is to see yourself reflected in football,” she said.

“For a lot of people in the community to be able to watch AFLW and to be able to know that the girls can relate to them and know their struggles as well as celebrate all the identities is really important.

“it’s hard to sum up what it means, but I think to see yourself in AFL is really important.”