WESTERN Australia (WA) Under 18 representative, Taylor Pescud was never accustomed to a team sport as a child.

Coming from a horse riding background, Pescud was used to being on her own in the sport. But once she picked up a football, she didn’t look back.

“I really loved playing a team sport,” Pescud said. “Coming from riding, you were on your own. “I really loved the social aspect of the sport, I really loved working as a team and just the game itself. “It’s high-paced, it goes 360 degrees, it’s just really fun.”

The 17 year-old is a late-comer to the game, having started in 2016. While admitting she was always interested, it took interest from her Physical Education teacher to actually get her to play the sport competitively.

“I got into footy because one of my school teachers at school saw me playing in the school games and told me to try out for state 15s,” she said. “I thought about it for a while and I decided I would go down and I went down, I made the team and that’s where everything started. “My brother plays footy so I was always interested but I used to ride horses so that sort of took up all my time but after I played state 15s, it all went from there and I’ve been playing footy since.”

Going straight into state football is not easy, but Pescud has been thriving. She featured in WA’s Under 18 team in the AFL Women’s Under 18 Championships and played her role well. But having only played football for two years, Pescud would like to finesse her basic skills.

“In terms of improvement, I’ve had to work a lot on skills and stuff like kicking because I came to the sport so late, I was further behind some of the girls that have been playing the sport since they were much younger so they already mastered like the basic skills,” she said.

Despite this, Pescud identified her hard-working ethic as one of her main attributes, highlighting her desire to be the best football player she can be.

“In terms of strength, it’s probably sort of my drive and work ethic,” the WA representative said. “I worked really hard to try and get my skills to where everyone my age is and just like attack on the ball. “I really like a hard contest so I go in whenever I can.”

But Pescud is not always a hard-nut like she is on the football field. Away from football, she takes time to enjoy her surroundings.

“I love walking my dog or just taking time to listen to music and go for walks, and just really take it as a time to destress with so much that’s going on this year with Year 12,” the 17 year-old said. “ (I take) as much time as I can just to make sure my wellbeing’s good.”

Being in Year 12, Pescud has thought about her career after she finishes school. While she admits university is where she aims to go, she is still putting lots of her energy into football.

“I definitely have plans to go to uni and work towards something there whether it’s sort of business or something more science-based,” she said. “But further than that, I haven’t got too much planned, I’m just working on footy at the moment.”

With her mind set on football, AFL Women’s is of course is at the forefront for Pescud.

´(I’m) really hoping I can take it all the way,” the 17 year-old said. “I’m just happy playing footy. “If I don’t get there, it’s not the end of the world but I think we’re really lucky with the opportunities we’re being presented at the moment. “We’re at the best time to make it.”