{"id":39197,"date":"2018-08-23T17:25:09","date_gmt":"2018-08-23T06:25:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.afldraftcentral.com.au\/?p=39197"},"modified":"2018-08-23T17:42:33","modified_gmt":"2018-08-23T06:42:33","slug":"boles-dared-to-dream-then-followed-her-passion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/2018\/08\/23\/boles-dared-to-dream-then-followed-her-passion\/","title":{"rendered":"Boles dared to dream, then followed her passion"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

IT began as a dare from her uncle, but it did not take long for\u00a0Esther Boles<\/strong>\u00a0to fall in love with football.<\/p>\n

At first, it was the ability to \u201cpummel\u201d others into the ground, but then the AFL Women\u2019s took shape and so many footballers she had grown up watching and playing alongside in South Australia were suddenly on television. For the South Australian captain, the AFL Women\u2019s Under 18s Championships were a long way from her home town, but a realisation that all the hard work had paid off.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m originally from Port Augusta, so country town about 500km from Adelaide,\u201d Boles said. \u201cMy uncle just actually dared me to go to a training once and then went to one training and then the coach actually asked me to come back, and ever since then I\u2019ve been playing, so I was 12 with the boys. \u201cI originally played a bit of netball as most country girls do. \u201cBut I always found I was being told I was being too aggressive where this (football) was something you could pummel people into the ground, that was the aim of the game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Boles has carried that intensity at the ball carrier throughout her career, and thrives on the contested work. While she said she hoped to improve her decision making, she was glad how her skills had come along, thanks to those early experiences.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think tackling pressure is one of my strengths, but I think doing it with the boys right from a young age has helped with skills,\u201d Boles said. \u201cIt\u2019s a big part now. \u201cThe skills are never all that clean, but growing up and doing it with the boys has really helped and made it one of my strengths.\u201d<\/p>\n

The South Australian leader said the rise of women\u2019s football through the AFL Women\u2019s had effectively placed a carrot in front of all aspiring footballers and everyone was now doing everything in their power to achieve the dream of playing at the elite level.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that it\u2019s just so exciting,\u201d Boles said. \u201cI think playing for Morphettville Park back in Adelaide where 14 of those girls are now on TV and are now on little cards, and little kids know their name. \u201cThey just went from people who were just nobodies to people who are now somebodies. \u201cIt happened so quickly and it\u2019s so exciting. \u201cIt drives all of us girls, it\u2019s right in front of us and we know that it can happen with a bit of hard work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Committing to football was never easy work for Boles, who in her early years, took a 17-hour return bus trip just to play the game she loved. Now boarding in Adelaide \u2013 and she has since she was 15 \u2013 it is much easier to commit to training and games without the long distances. Boles said the belief that young girls could play AFL if they had the right mindset was huge for the junior players in South Australia.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it just shows that it\u2019s real,\u201d Boles said. \u201cI think that\u2019s the biggest thing. \u201cIt\u2019s proof right in front of our eyes, it\u2019s right there ready to grab it, you\u2019ve just got to put the hard yards in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Boles has certainly put the hard yards in, and the South Australian selectors agreed. They named her as captain for the AFL Women\u2019s Under 18 Championships, something she found a little strange at first, but has thrived on the responsibility.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve really liked it (captaincy),\u201d Boles said. \u201cI think it\u2019s been a pretty big journey. \u201cI\u2019ve been in this team since I was 14, so I\u2019ve gone from being the little kid that everyone yelled at, to being all of a sudden the kid that was yelling at them. \u201cIt was really good. \u201cThe SANFL has really helped with growing up and it\u2019s been a pretty good ride to be on.\u201d<\/p>\n

South Australia teamed up with Northern Territory to form the Central Allies for series two of the championships, something that added an extra dimension into the mix for Boles and her teammates.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s been actually really hard, a lot harder than I thought,\u201d Boles admitted. \u201cI think when we got here it was a little bit exciting. \u201cHitting the ground running on Monday, we all got caught by surprise. \u201cThose other teams have all been training together, they\u2019ve got game plans. \u201cWe had nothing. \u201cWe just had a structure we\u2019d learnt two hours before, we were chucked in the deep end. \u201cBut it meant players were able to shine and be able to show character, who could stand up in that sort of circumstance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Boles\u2019 passion for football is obvious. So much so, she wants to remain involved in any way she can, studying hard to ensure she has options once she finishes school.<\/p>\n

\u201c(I\u2019m) pretty big into school,\u201d she said. \u201cI hit the books pretty hard because obviously female football isn\u2019t something you can rest on. \u201cIt\u2019s not enough money, so I think a big thing for me is just sport in general. \u201cI love anything sport, anything to do with sport, umpiring. \u201cAnything, just the club, everything about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

One thing is for sure, as long as football is around, Esther Boles will not be too far away.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve thought a lot about that (career) this carnival,\u201d Boles said. \u201cWhether the draft comes off successful or not, but a big thing for me is I don\u2019t care if I\u2019m picked up or not picked up, I want to be involved in some way and become a coach, a line coach, a mentor, something. \u201cI think it\u2019s an exciting space to work in.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

IT began as a dare from her uncle, but it did not take long for\u00a0Esther Boles\u00a0to fall in love with football. At first, it was the ability to \u201cpummel\u201d others into the ground, but then the AFL Women\u2019s took shape and so many footballers she had grown up watching and playing alongside in South Australia […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":39221,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,3130,15,137],"tags":[5602,4973,234,1869],"class_list":["post-39197","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-south-australia","category-state-leagues","category-womens","tag-aflw-championships","tag-esther-boles","tag-south-australia","tag-under-18s"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39197","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/64"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39197"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39197\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39197"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39197"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39197"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}