Charlie Ballard (born 23 July 1999) is a professional

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

Gold Coast Suns The Gold Coast Suns, officially the Gold Coast Football Club, are a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club is based on Queensland's Gold Coast, Queensland, Gold Coast in the ...

in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...

(AFL).

Early life

Charlie participated in the

Auskick Auskick is a program designed to teach the basic skills of Australian football to children aged between 5 and 12. Auskick is a non-contact variant of the sport. It began in Australia and is now a nationwide non-selective program. It has incre ...

program at

Mitcham, South Australia Mitcham, formerly known as Mitcham Village, is an inner-southern suburb of Adelaide in the City of Mitcham. History Created as a village separate from Adelaide known as "Mitcham Village", it was ancillary to a sheep station at Brown Hill Creek b ...

. Ballard played in their under-18 premiership for the

Sturt Football Club The Sturt Football Club, nicknamed The Double Blues, is a semi-professional Australian rules football club based in the suburb of Unley, South Australia, which plays in the South Australian National Football League. Founded in 1901 by the Stur ...

in the

SANFL The South Australian National Football League, or SANFL ( or ''S-A-N-F-L''), is an Australian rules football league based in the Australian state of South Australia. It is also the state's sports governing body, governing body for the sport. ...

as well as for Sacred Heart College. Standing 180cm at the time, Ballard averaged 18 disposals on the wing in the

2017 AFL Under 18 Championships The 2017 NAB AFL Under 18 Championships was the 22nd edition of the AFL Under 18 Championships. For the previous two decades, the Under-18 Championships had been split into two divisions – with traditional football regions Vic Metro, Vic Cou ...

, playing for South Australia. He ran 3.05 seconds in the sprint at the

AFL Draft Combine The AFL Draft Combine, formerly known as the AFL Draft Camp, is a gathering of prospective talent, where selected potential draftees display their athletic prowess and relevant Australian rules football skills. Over four days participants are req ...

, and was touted as a top-30 selection at the

2017 AFL draft The 2017 AFL draft consisted of the various periods where the 18 clubs in the Australian Football League (AFL) traded and recruited players following the completion of the 2017 AFL season. Additions to each club's playing list are not allowed ...

AFL career

Ballard was selected by with pick 42, their 3rd-round selection. He made his AFL debut in round 7 of the 2018 season, in the nine-point loss against the

Western Bulldogs The Western Bulldogs are a professional Australian rules football club based in the Melbourne suburb of Footscray. The club competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition. Originally named the Footscray F ...

at Mars Stadium. He kicked one goal on debut. Ballard's first game was praised by coach Stuart Dew, along with fellow debutant

Brayden Crossley Brayden Crossley (born 16 August 1999) is an Australian rules footballer and the current co-captain of the Southport Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL), serving alongside Jacob Dawson. He previously played for the Gold Coas ...

. Ballard played his 100th game in 2023. Following a successful 2024 season with the Suns, he signed a contract extension until the end of 2029. In round one of the 2025 season, Ballard suffered a ruptured

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation. In ...

in his left knee, subsequently ruling him for the rest of the season.

Statistics

: ''Statistics are correct to the end of 2024'' , - ,

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 ...

, , , , 31 , 11 , , 1 , , 2 , , 79 , , 34 , , 113 , , 39 , , 15 , , 0.1 , , 0.2 , , 7.2 , , 3.1 , , 10.3 , , 3.5 , , 1.4 , , 0 , - ,

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 ...

, , , , 10 , 21 , , 0 , , 1 , , 211 , , 63 , , 274 , , 111 , , 23 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 10.0 , , 3.0 , , 13.0 , , 5.3 , , 1.1 , , 0 , - ,

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 ...

, , , , 10 , 16 , , 0 , , 0 , , 114 , , 44 , , 158 , , 68 , , 13 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 7.1 , , 2.8 , , 9.9 , , 4.3 , , 0.8 , , 0 , - ,

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 ...

, , , , 10 , 21 , , 0 , , 0 , , 227 , , 61 , , 288 , , 140 , , 25 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 10.8 , , 2.9 , , 13.7 , , 6.7 , , 1.2 , , 3 , - ,

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

, , , , 10 , 18 , , 0 , , 1 , , 177 , , 49 , , 226 , , 109 , , 22 , , 0.0 , , 0.1 , , 8.7 , , 1.3 , , 10.0 , , 5.0 , , 1.7 , , 0 , - ,

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 ...

, , , , 10 , 23 , , 1 , , 0 , , 230 , , 63 , , 293 , , 142 , , 29 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 10.0 , , 2.7 , , 12.7 , , 6.2 , , 1.3 , , 0 , - ,

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 ...

, , , , 10 , 23 , , 1 , , 0 , , 184 , , 94 , , 278 , , 111 , , 28 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 8.0 , , 4.1 , , 12.1 , , 4.8 , , 1.2 , , , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 133 !! 3 !! 4 !! 1222 !! 408 !! 1630 !! 720 !! 155 !! 0.0 !! 0.0 !! 9.2 !! 3.1 !! 12.3 !! 5.4 !! 1.2 !! 3 Notes

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ballard, Charlie Australian rules footballers from South Australia Sturt Football Club players 1999 births Living people Gold Coast Football Club players People educated at Sacred Heart College (Adelaide) Australian people of English descent