ATHLETIC top-age talent Indiana West was one of the top performers at the recent West Australian Preseason Testing. Recording the second fastest 20m sprint time of any WAFL Women’s player at the event, West clocked a time of 3.195 seconds, while also jumping 56cm in the standing vertical to also be second in that test. We spoke to her following the event.
Q: Indi, tell us about your footy journey?
IW: “I started playing footy about two years ago at a local level. I thought I’d just give it a go and I ended up playing straight into the women’s team and having quite a good season and getting picked up by the South West Development because I’m down in Bunbury.
“Went through that, played a couple of their development games and Swans were a bit interested in me and they said ‘come up to preseason, see how you find IT’. I came up and I ended up really, really loving it and just got put into the League team and thrown in the deep end just to see how I went and I feel like I did pretty well.”
Q: What do you consider some of your strengths?
IW: “I would say my speed definitely is a big one for me, and I think my vision at times and my kicking, like my efficiency throughout last season was pretty decent.”
Q: You clocked a sub-3.2-second 20m sprint here today, what was that like?
IW: “I was trying to get it, I remember on my second run I was one hundredth off, and I was like ‘I’ve got to get it’ and then the last one it was just kind of bit of a moment of silence just waiting to here it and then I got it, so I was pretty pumped with that.”
Q: What are some of the Improvements you would like to make in your game?
IW: “I would definitely like to improve on my fitness. That is definitely one of my weaker points in my game. As well as my overhead marking and my goalkicking. I go for goal but at times miss them.”
Q: Which players do you look up to at the elite level?
IW: “I would say Daisy Pearce and Kiara Bowers. Just with their physicality and their overall strength throughout the game.”
Q: Who has had the most individual influence on your career?
IW: “I would say probably my parents have a massive thing to do with (my career). As I’m from Bunbury I don’t have my licence, they would have to drive me up and we were doing a little bit of extra stuff down there so we didn’t have to spend a lot of extra money come up. I would say they’ve had a big part, as well as the two coaches that I’ve had with Ben and Adam Dance, they’re the biggest factors.”
Q: What are the 2024 goals you set for yourself?
IW: “Obviously my overall goal would be looking to try and get drafted by the end of the year, as well as trying to get Swan Districts into the finals this year like we did last year, and hopefully going a bit further than last season with that.”
