How This NAB AFLW Star Balances Life on a Farm as an Elite Athlete

Footy and farming might seem like an odd pairing to most, but to GWS GIANTS player Alyce Parker, it makes perfect sense. The NAB AFLW star, who spent her childhood in regional NSW, has struck a perfect balance between her career at the elite level and life on her family farm.

Born and raised on a property in Cookardinia, about halfway between Sydney and Melbourne, Parker fondly points to the farm as a source of joy growing up.

“It’s my favourite place on earth, for sure, we have a family farm 15 minutes out of Holbrook, [it has] been there for a few generations,” she said.

“I grew up pretty much following Dad around the farm, as soon as I could start walking, I was certainly annoying him — if I couldn’t do something, I was watching his every move to try and learn.”

Alongside her tutelage on the farm, Parker attended school at Holbrook Public and then Billabong High, and jumped at every sporting opportunity her education offered up. Despite often having to mix it with the boys, the youngster enjoyed the experience, finding a sense of purpose and belonging in the rural sporting environment.

“I did have a very positive experience growing up playing sport. Typically, in the country it’s quite natural to have, I guess, the ‘dinosaurs’ or the older generation that aren’t used to females playing sport,” Parker reflected.

“There were certainly times where I was the only girl running around in a boys’ team and you know, that can raise eyebrows, but no one ever questioned what did, I was fully supported… I never questioned what I did based on how I was treated and that’s probably the most healthy environment you can grow up in.”

For Parker, footy was down the lower end of her list of chosen sports — at one point participating in seven different sporting disciplines — swimming, tennis, netball, cricket, soccer, athletics and football. Swimming was her competitive focus and saw Parker racing at a national level; but at school, she spent her lunch breaks with mates mucking around with a footy.

“From about Year 3, I remember, I’d be standing in the goal square with all the Year Six boys bombing in torps and kicking goals. I certainly put myself in the firing line but that was my earliest exposure and probably the best way to get thrown into it,” Parker recalled.

Little did Parker realise, whilst ‘running amuck and learning how to kick’ with the older boys, her teachers had noticed their student’s raw talent and enthusiasm for the game.

“I still remember the conversation, [my teacher] walked up one day and said, ‘How do you feel about playing in the boys team?’. I literally said, ‘Absolutely not!’ — I was terrified, I didn’t want to; but to his credit he stuck with it and kept asking me and eventually I came around,’ Parker laughed.

“I played my first game when I was 11, in Year Six, with the boys’ team for the Tony Lockett Shield at Holbrook Oval. I think I kicked four goals in that game — I still wasn’t across all of the rules, but just played on absolute instinct. From that moment I realised that this was a sport that I absolutely loved, so I took every opportunity that came.”

And plenty came her way. Alongside her footy with Thurgoona Football Club and 4-year stint representing NSW/ACT; in 2017 and 2018 Parker also featured in the then NAB AFLW U18 Championships, playing for the Eastern Allies. She earned not one, but two U18 All-Australian accolades and multiple State MVP awards. Despite her early success, Parker wasn’t convinced that playing at the elite level was for her.

“I loved my footy. I was playing for NSW, was playing for a club, playing the National Academy and enjoying it; but I just wasn’t sure if I wanted to do AFLW,” Parker reflected.

“I did have a few other sports I was playing at the time, and I wanted to keep playing sports that I enjoyed, so I didn’t want to stop anything any earlier than I had to … I did have to be fully convinced of what AFLW was going to look like for me, and where was it heading in terms of professionalism — [it was] still building.”

After a weighing up the extremely difficult decision to give away a decade-long competitive swimming career, Parker made the call to focus solely on footy. It helped that there were some familiar faces already playing in the AFLW, peers and coaches from her time in State representative pathways.

“Back in 2018, there were only eight teams in the competition, so I was just leaving my decision until I pretty much had to. For me, the door that opened was the New South Wales ACT AFL pathway and we had [AFLW players] Alicia Eva and Nicola Barr come in as coaches,” said Parker.

“From the moment I met them and being coached by them — I just was so drawn to that type of person and athlete, and I thought if I’m going to meet more people like this, then I want to be an AFLW player.”

Three months later, the talented youngster was drafted to GWS, at pick 12 in the 2018 national draft. Parker credits her background in swimming to her grounded approach in that first preseason — not just how it had prepared her physically, but also mentally — with the player confidently debuting against the Brisbane Lions in Week 1 of the 2019 NAB AFLW Season. Parker recalls the moment fondly.

“I try and remind myself of how I actually felt when I walked in the doors, and a great example is with Amanda Farrugia … the first time running out she was next to me, we were playing up in Brisbane against the Lions, and I remember she said, ‘you’ll never forget how you felt listening to the team song as you run out for your first game’. And, yeah, it was very true — I’ve never forgotten that moment,” said Parker.

Whilst those early memories of footy at the elite level sit well with the GIANTS star, Parker also flags that the move to Sydney to play AFLW remains one of the biggest challenges that she has undertaken.

“Moving to Sydney was by far, and to this day, the biggest challenge I’ve ever had. I was in a way terrified it was going to take away that other half of myself,” she says of her life at home on the farm.

“I loved the journey, and I love the challenge it gives me, but I also realise that there is a whole other side to me as a person. I have this huge passion, and it certainly comes from my parents. Mum did an ag-science degree and teaches science and agriculture in high school and dad’s obviously been a farmer his entire life, so I’ve inherited that passion for agriculture.”

Parker notes from ‘day one’ at GWS, the club have been ‘incredibly supportive and understanding’ of who she is as a whole person — both the footballer and the farmer. When she isn’t deep into the AFLW season, the talented footballer can be found back on the farm, throwing herself into whatever challenges her daily work presents.

“Every day is different. Every week is different. As I get older, I realise that is so much of why I love it as an occupation — there are challenges thrown left, right and centre, but you’re stimulated by different things every single day, and I love that. It certainly keeps you busy!” she said.

Parker is also making plans for her future post-footy — currently studying a Bachelor of Agricultural Business Management, part-time. Juggling her study around her footy career has been made easier by the support of both her club and the university.

When considering how the overlap of footy and farming have given her an advantage, Parker flags that her experiences have led to a maturity and perspective beyond her young age.

“As I get older, I realise it’s so much of the way I’ve been brought up and things I experienced at a young age. You don’t get that resilience if you don’t go through adversity or challenges; so, seeing my parents go through effects of drought or flooding on the farm, it certainly makes you understand the world a lot sooner,” she reflected.

“I really don’t take things for granted now — you pay every bit of respect and attention to what’s in front of you.”

This valuable perspective was put to use in the recent offseason, when Parker copped some intense media attention during the league’s Trade and Sign period. Coming out of contract meant that there was plenty of interest in where the star would land next, but for Parker — often highlighted as a ‘loyal club person’ — it was simple, stay with the club that supported her as a ‘human’.

“It was an experience last year, and I’m so grateful to have gone through it. It was natural for me to come out of contract — I couldn’t have been happier with my decision.,” Parker said of the media moment.

“I love this club so much, not just [because they] support me as a human, but they’re fantastic in terms of my experience — just listening and giving me every opportunity to be in the best environment that I want to be in — for myself, as a person and as a player. That’s what the club have created. And the attention was, in a way, a good experience for me to grow … if anything, the lesson it taught me is to actually back myself.”

With Week 3 of the 2024 NAB AFLW season already underway, and a win and a loss under her team’s belt; Parker is keen to capture more on-field success and to build on the connection and culture that keeps her coming back to the GIANTS.

“[The culture] is so much a part of the reason why I never wanted to leave … it’s quite natural to get sucked into the business side of things, and yes, we play footy, but we’re there to win and if you’re not winning, well you’ve got to do something about that,” she said.

“But the GIANTS have always fostered the nature of looking after the person first and supporting them — and the result of that, is getting the best player that they can.”