Sophie Li (born 31 March 1988) is a retired

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. She 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 ...

(AFLW) for Carlton and for

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

Early life

Li was born in

, to parents from Hong KongAFLPA multicultural map
/ref> and grew up supporting

Adelaide Football Club The Adelaide Football Club, nicknamed the Crows, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Adelaide, South Australia that was founded in 1990. The Crows have fielded a men's team in the Australian Football League (AFL) since 199 ...

from a young age. She played

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

, and

Gaelic football Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...

before starting to play Australian rules football in 2015.

State football

In 2017, Li had an exceptional season with Norwood in the SANFL Women's League (SANFLW). She helped Norwood beat

North Adelaide North Adelaide is a predominantly residential precinct (Australia), precinct and suburb of the City of Adelaide in South Australia, situated north of the River Torrens and within the Adelaide Park Lands. Laid out in a grid plan in three section ...

in the Grand Final at

Unley Oval Unley Oval is a multi-use, community owned stadium in Unley, an inner southern suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It is a popular community recreation oval and greenspace and is used for lower-grade South Australian Grade Cricket League mat ...

, winning the

best on ground Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporatio ...

award winning 23 disposals and kicking two goals. Her performance in the season earned her the runner-up for the

Best and Fairest In Australian sport, the best and fairest award recognises the player(s) adjudged to have had the best performance in a game or over a season for a given sporting club or competition. The awards are sometimes dependent on not receiving a suspensi ...

award, shared with North Adelaide's Chloe Scheer. In October 2017, she played with

Adelaide University Adelaide University is a planned public university, public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 2024, it will combine the University of Adelaide, the third-oldest university in Australia, and the University of ...

, helping them claim the Adelaide Footy League premiership and won the club's best and fairest award.

AFL Women's career

Carlton

Li was drafted by Carlton with their second selection and twenty-eighth overall in 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 ...

. Carlton's coach,

Damien Keeping Damien Keeping (born 25 May 1972) is an Australian rules football coach who served as the head coach of the Carlton Football Club in its first two seasons in the AFL Women's competition (AFLW), from 2017 to 2018. Coaching career Beginnings Aft ...

, said that she "is a prolific ball winner and will be an asset to our midfield". She chose to wear the number 35 guernsey as a tribute to

Patrick Dangerfield Patrick Dangerfield (born 5 April 1990) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Geelong Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He previously played for the Adelaide Football Club from 2008 to 2015. He has s ...

, who she models her game on. She made her debut in the eight point win against Collingwood at Ikon Park in the opening round of the 2018 season. Li appeared in every game of her debut season, but chose to leave Carlton so she could return to her home state with her partner and for her work, even after re-signing for the

2019 season Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number) * One of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (1987 film), a 1987 science fiction film * '' 19-Nineteen'', a 2009 South Korean film * '' Dici ...

. Carlton received the forty-second pick in the 2018 AFL Women's draft as compensation, but were disappointed to lose her, with Nicole Graves, Carlton's General Manager of Women's Football, saying "Soph is a terrific player and person so we'll be sad to see her go, but we understand her decision and reasoning behind wanting to return to Adelaide".

Adelaide

Li joined

in September 2018, so that she could return to her work as a

paramedic A paramedic is a healthcare professional trained in the medical model, whose main role has historically been to respond to emergency calls for medical help outside of a hospital. Paramedics work as part of the emergency medical services (EMS), ...

in Adelaide. She made her debut for Adelaide against

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 ...

Norwood Oval Norwood Oval (currently known as Coopers Stadium due to sponsorship from the Adelaide-based Coopers Brewery) is a suburban oval in the western end of Norwood, South Australia, Norwood, an inner eastern suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. The ...

in the opening round of the

. She helped Adelaide claim their second premiership, playing every match in the season and helping beat her former club Carlton at

Adelaide Oval The Adelaide Oval is a stadium in Adelaide in the state of South Australia. It is located in the Adelaide Parklands, parklands. The venue is predominantly used for cricket and Australian rules football, but has also played host to rugby league, ...

in the

Grand Final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Synonymous with a championship game in North Ameri ...

on her birthday. In July 2020, Li announced her retirement from the AFLW.

Personal life

She works in Adelaide as a

. Li refers to herself as gay.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Li, Sophie 1988 births Living people Carlton Football Club (AFLW) players Australian rules footballers from South Australia Adelaide Football Club (AFLW) players Australian lesbian sportswomen LGBTQ players of Australian rules football