Alicia Eva (born 2 April 1991) is an

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

er playing for the

Greater Western Sydney Giants The Greater Western Sydney Giants (officially the Greater Western Sydney Football Club and colloquially known as the GWS Giants or simply GWS or Giants) are a professional Australian rules football club based in Sydney Olympic Park which repres ...

in the

AFL Women's AFL Women's (AFLW) is Australia's national semi-professional Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules football competition for women's Australian rules football, female players. The 2017 AFL Women's season, first season of the l ...

(AFLW). She previously played for the

Collingwood Football Club The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed the Magpies or colloquially the Pies, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. ...

in 2017. Eva was selected in the AFL Women's All-Australian team and won the Gabrielle Trainor Medal in her first season at the Giants in 2018. She served as Greater Western Sydney captain from 2020 to 2023, and is Greater Western Sydney's games record holder with 68 games.

Early life

Eva grew up supporting the

Melbourne Football Club The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Demons or colloquially the Dees, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier comp ...

, and her favourite player was their former

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

David Neitz. Eva was forced to stop playing local football at the age of thirteen when she was no longer allowed to play alongside boys, and instead took up coaching. Eva played state league football with in the

VFL Women's VFL Women's (VFLW) is the major state-level women's Australian rules football league in Victoria (Australia), Victoria. The league initially comprised the six premier division clubs and the top four division 1 clubs from the now-defunct Victori ...

(VFLW).

AFL Women's career

Collingwood (2017)

Eva was drafted by with the club's seventh selection, fifty-fourth overall, in the

2016 AFL Women's draft The 2016 AFL Women's draft consisted of the various periods when the eight clubs in the AFL Women's competition recruited players prior to the competition's 2017 AFL Women's season, inaugural season in 2017. Draftees and signings over the peri ...

. She was appointed vice-captain at Collingwood in late January 2017. Eva made her debut in round 1, 2017, in the league's inaugural match at IKON Park against . She played in all seven of Collingwood's matches that season, kicking three goals and leading the club in both total and average disposals. At season's end she placed second in the club's best and fairest award. Eva was named in the All-Australian squad of 40 players, but did not make the final team.

Greater Western Sydney (2018–present)

In the May trading and signing period, Eva was traded to as part of a three-way trade involving the . Following her first season with the Giants, in which she played all seven games and ranked second in the competition for average kicks (13.7 per game) and third for tackles (52), Eva was selected on the wing in the 2018 AFL Women's All-Australian team and won the Gabrielle Trainor Medal as the Giants' best-and-fairest ahead of 2018 AFLW Players' Most Valuable Player Courtney Gum. In November 2019, after inaugural Greater Western Sydney captain Amanda Farrugia announced her sudden retirement, Eva was announced as the club's new captain. Leading into the 2020 season, ''womens.afl'' journalist Sarah Black named Eva at no. 30 on her list of the top 30 players in the AFLW. Eva missed an AFLW match for the first time in 2020, missing rounds 5 and 6 with a foot injury, before returning to play in Greater Western Sydney's semi-final loss against . Eva was named among Greater Western Sydney's best players in its win over in round 1 of the 2022 season; she also won the maximum ten coaches' votes and was selected in ''womens.afl''s Team of the Week for that round. In round 2, she was named among Greater Western Sydney's best players with a career-high 26 disposals in its loss to ; she polled eight coaches' votes and was also selected in ''womens.afl''s Team of the Week for that round. Eva was named Greater Western Sydney's best player in its loss to in round 3 and was among Greater Western Sydney's best players in every other match for the season, polling five coaches' votes in round 10.

Statistics

''Updated to the end of the 2024 season''. , - ,

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

, , , , 2 , 7 , , 3 , , 1 , , 63 , , 16 , , 79 , , 16 , , 31 , , 0.4 , , 0.1 , , 9.0 , , 2.3 , , 11.3 , , 2.3 , , 4.4 , , 0 , - ,

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

, , , , 2 , 7 , , 1 , , 1 , , 96 , , 29 , , 125 , , 10 , , 52 , , 0.1 , , 0.1 , , 13.7 , , 4.1 , , 17.9 , , 1.4 , , 7.4 , , 3 , - ,

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

, , , , 2 , 7 , , 2 , , 1 , , 90 , , 29 , , 119 , , 15 , , 20 , , 0.3 , , 0.1 , , 12.9 , , 4.1 , , 17.0 , , 2.1 , , 2.9 , , 5 , - ,

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

, , , , 2 , 5 , , 0 , , 2 , , 52 , , 23 , , 75 , , 10 , , 36 , , 0.0 , , 0.4 , , 10.4 , , 4.6 , , 15.0 , , 2.0 , , 7.2 , , 5 , - ,

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

, , , , 2 , 9 , , 1 , , 2 , , 108 , , 41 , , 149 , , 16 , , 38 , , 0.1 , , 0.2 , , 12.0 , , 4.6 , , 16.6 , , 1.8 , , 4.2 , , 1 , - , 2022 (S6) , , , , 2 , 10 , , 0 , , 1 , , 128 , , 51 , , 179 , , 22 , , 64 , , 0.0 , , 0.1 , , 12.8 , , 5.1 , , 17.9 , , 2.2 , , 6.4 , , 7 , - , 2022 (S7) , , , , 2 , 10 , , 0 , , 2 , , 108 , , 52 , , 160 , , 15 , , 41 , , 0.0 , , 0.2 , , 10.8 , , 5.2 , , 16.0 , , 1.5 , , 4.1 , , 3 , - ,

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

, , , , 2 , 9 , , 1 , , 1 , , 108 , , 44 , , 152 , , 14 , , 30 , , 0.1 , , 0.1 , , 12.0 , , 4.9 , , 16.9 , , 1.6 , , 3.3 , , 2 , - ,

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

, , , , 2 , 11 , , 7 , , 5 , , 81 , , 30 , , 111 , , 18 , , 58 , , 0.6 , , 0.5 , , 7.4 , , 2.7 , , 10.1 , , 1.7 , , 5.3 , , 0 , - class=sortbottom ! colspan=3 , Career ! 75 !! 16 !! 16 !! 833 !! 315 !! 1148 !! 136 !! 370 !! 0.2 !! 0.2 !! 11.1 !! 4.2 !! 15.3 !! 1.8 !! 4.9 !! 26

Coaching career

Eva coached the

Calder Cannons The Calder Cannons is an Australian rules football club from Melbourne, Australia. The club competes in the Talent League, the Victorian Statewide Under-18s competition, and fields squads in the Under-15s, Under-16s and Under-18s. The club was f ...

in the TAC Cup Girls competition in 2017, winning the competition's inaugural premiership, and led the NSW/ACT Youth Girls and Eastern Allies teams in the 2018 AFL Women's Under 18 Championships. She has served as a development coach of 's

North East Australian Football League The North East Australian Football League (NEAFL ) was an Australian rules football league in New South Wales, Queensland, the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory. The league was formed in November 2010, and its inaugural ...

(NEAFL) team since 2018. In September 2017, Eva was featured in the AFL Media series ''The Chase'', where she spoke about her initially limited playing opportunities in

women's Australian rules football Women's Australian rules football (in areas where it is popular, known simply as women's football or women's footy or women's AFL), is the female-only form of Australian rules football, generally with some modification to the laws of the game. ...

and her time in coaching prior to the creation of the AFL Women's, as well as her coaching aspirations post-playing. In April 2019, Eva received the inaugural AFLCA coaching pathway scholarship, including a 12-month mentorship by then- coach John Worsfold; she was enrolled in the second intake of the AFL Women's Coaching Academy later that year. She later completed a study tour in the United States at the end of the AFL season as part of her scholarship.

Honours and achievements

* Greater Western Sydney captain: 2020–2023 * Greater Western Sydney games record holder * AFL Women's All-Australian team:

* Gabrielle Trainor Medal: 2018 * Victoria representative honours in AFL Women's State of Origin: 2017

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Eva, Alicia Living people 1991 births Collingwood Football Club (AFLW) players Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Sportswomen from Victoria (state) Greater Western Sydney Giants (AFLW) players All-Australians (AFL Women's) Melbourne University Football Club (VFLW) players People educated at Sacré Cœur School Australian people of English descent