SWFL women’s 2022: 19-year-old Charli Wicksteed a multi-sport talent making a name for herself across WA

19-year-old Charli Wicksteed is a multi-sport talent who is making a name for herself across the State. The SWFL women’s young gun was named best on ground for the WA Country Football League in their match on June 24 — an honour which came less than a week after she was named fairest and best of hockey’s division one CBH women’s country championships. Wicksteed was awarded best on ground for the WACFL in their two-point loss to the Perth Football League, 2.17 (29) to 4.3 (27). The 19-year-old said it was a great experience to test herself against the best of Perth’s amateur women’s competition alongside the best women’s country footballers in WA. “It was a really good experience playing with a good bunch of girls who have never really met,” she said. “We got together, played as a team. “It was a really good experience and great to play against higher-level opposition in good, hard footy.” In the SWFL, Wicksteed is already a star of the competition, and has been named in the best players in all but one of her 10 matches so far this season. The classy midfielder recently joined Donnybrook after leaving South Bunbury alongside former Tigers captain Bethany Bond. Wicksteed said she had been welcomed with open arms since joining the Dons and was thrilled to have slotted into one of the best young midfields in the competition. “It is really good, they are a really good bunch of girls and the club has been very welcoming and the girls have been too,” she said. “It is hard coming into a new team, they have been playing all year, but it is good they have been so accommodating to us new girls coming in. “I have been playing against them, so it is really cool to be able to play with those high quality players that I am not used to playing with and have only played against.” The 19-year-old said she had always had a liking for football and would play in the backyard and schoolyard, but did not begin playing football formally until 2019. A talented sportsperson, Wicksteed represented WA in several underage hockey sides and still plays for Associates in the SWHL. The young star said she knew she would soon have to choose which sport she wanted to pursue and that her heart currently lied with football.