Alicia Janz (born 25 May 1990) is a former

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 ...

and

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a rectangular court by two teams of seven players. The primary objective is to shoot a ball through the defender's goal ring while preventing the opposing team from shooting through their own. It is one of a ...

player who played 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 ...

competition and

ANZ Championship The ANZ Championship, also known as the Trans-Tasman Netball League, is a former netball league featuring teams from both Australia and New Zealand. Between 2008 and 2016, it was the top-level league in both countries. The competition was owned ...

Early life

Janz was born in

Katherine, Northern Territory Katherine is a town in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is situated on the Katherine River, after which it is named, southeast of Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin. The Northern Territory#Cities and towns, fourth largest settlement in ...

to a Papua New Guinean and

Torres Strait Islander Torres Strait Islanders ( ) are the Indigenous Melanesians, Melanesian people of the Torres Strait Islands, which are part of the state of Queensland, Australia. Ethnically distinct from the Aboriginal Australians, Aboriginal peoples of the res ...

mother and Australian father.MESSAGE FROM COLLEGIAN ALICIA JANZ (2007)
/ref> She is of Meriam Mer ancestry. Janz was raised in

Derby, Western Australia Derby ( ) is a town in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. At the 2016 census, Derby had a population of 3,325 with 47.2% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent. Along with Broome and Kununurra, it is one of only three town ...

where she was first introduced to Australian rules football, playing informally with other locals.Indigenous trailblazer's incredible journey from YouTubing rules to Competition Committee
by Sarah Burt for AFLW 22 February, 2022 She attended

Methodist Ladies' College, Perth Methodist Ladies' College, Perth (MLC Perth), is an independent, Uniting Church, day and boarding school for girls, in Claremont, a western suburb of Perth, Western Australia. Founded by the Methodist Church of Australia in 1907, MLC is ...

. Janz played

for both

West Coast Fever West Coast Fever is a professional Australian netball team based in Perth, Western Australia. Since 2017 they have played in Suncorp Super Netball. Between 2008 and 2016, they competed in the ANZ Championship. Between 1997 and 2007, as Pert ...

and

Western Sting The West Coast Fever reserves are an Australian netball team that represents Netball Western Australia in the Australian Netball League. As the Western Sting, the team was ANL champions in 2017. The Fever reserves are effectively the representat ...

. It wasn't until she moved to Melbourne in 2014 that she switched from netball to playing with the

Darebin Falcons The Darebin Women's Sports Club, nicknamed the Falcons, is a sports club based in the northern suburbs of Melbourne that is primarily notable for its women's Australian rules football, Australian rules football team which competes in the highest- ...

in the VWFL before moving back to Perth and playing with Swan Districts in the WAWFL.

AFLW Career

Janz was recruited by

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia located at the mouth of the Swan River (Western Australia), Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australi ...

as an injury replacement player during the 2017 season. She made her debut in the one point loss to Collingwood at

Rushton Park Rushton Park (also known as Lane Group Stadium under ground sponsorship arrangements) is an Australian rules football ground located in Mandurah, Western Australia. Having been in use as a football ground since the early 1960s, the ground is ...

in round five of the 2017 season. She played every match after her debut game to finish with three matches for the season. She was delisted at the end of the 2017 season. She returned to Fremantle's list in October through the

2017 AFL Women's draft The 2017 AFL Women's draft consisted of the various periods when the eight clubs in the AFL Women's competition could recruit players prior to the competition's 2018 AFL Women's season, 2018 season. As the previous season's player contracts wer ...

. In April 2019, Janz joining cross-town rivals West Coast for their inaugural season. Janz was delisted by the Eagles on 9 June 2021, after playing 6 games with the team throughout her career.

References

External links

* * 1990 births Living people Fremantle Football Club (AFLW) players Australian rules footballers from Western Australia Indigenous Australian players of Australian rules football 21st-century Indigenous Australian people Australian netball players 21st-century Australian sportswomen Netball players from Western Australia West Coast Fever players Western Sting players Australian Netball League players West Australian Netball League players {{AFL-bio-1990s-stub West Coast Eagles (AFLW) players Indigenous Australian netball players