LIAM PHILLIPS
SIX years ago, Miyu Endersby
tried ballet but found it “quite
boring”.
So she tried Auskick, and now the
Angaston Football Club youngster,
13, is one of the Barossa Valley’s
premier junior prospects.
“Ballet was quite boring – I wanted
to do a team sport where you
have teammates and can talk to people,”
Endersby said.
“I was the only girl on our under-
nine boys team, and in under-
nines and under-11s maybe the
teams we played would have one
girl, but it was pretty rare.
“What I liked about it was that
you could play no matter who you
are – there’s not really any boys in
netball – but in football nowadays
everyone is allowed to play.”
While Endersby has now been
with the under-13 girls team for a
couple of years, she said she still
loved playing with the boys on Saturdays
before suiting up for the girls
on Sundays.
“A lot of people said if I still play
with the boys while I can then it will
definitely help me improve, because
there’s so much to learn,” she said.
“The boys are great – they don’t
care that I’m a girl, they just go with
it and respect me as a team player.
“Playing with them has definitely
helped, because everyone in the
boys has a hunger for the ball. The
girls have hunger too, but at this age
it’s not like raging hunger that you
get in the boys.”
Since her first year in the girls’
team, where she had to wear an
armband telling the other girls not
to tackle her in training because she
was too young, and was only playing
a one quarter per game, Endersby
has grown into the best under-
13s player in the Barossa, Light
& Gawler Football Association.
She finished second in the league
in goals while playing in the ruck as
the biggest and strongest girl on the
Angaston team, dominated weekly
for a side that didn’t lose a game all
year, won best-on-ground in a dominant
grand final win and also made
the best players in the under-16s on
four occasions.
Since women’s football has
blown up in popularity in recent
years, Endersby said girls playing
footy had become commonplace.
“About half the girls at Angaston
play both football and netball now,”
she said.
“You can see the new girls join
the team and how much they improve
from the start of one season
to the next, and there’s more girls
joining all the time.
“I was really excited when the
women’s teams got started, and it’s
really great to be an original team
member of that.”
Miyu’s mum, Yuka, said she
didn’t know much about the game
at first, but she was more than happy
to support Miyu with whatever
she chose to do.
“Coming from Japan I didn’t
know anything about the sport itself,
but my husband used to play
and I would watch,” she said.
“She used to do ballet, but that’s
because I believe ballet is a kind of
starting point for all of the sports,
because I know it helped me with
my soccer when I was playing.
“It’s amazing to see her doing so
well, because I used to dream about
being on a professional sports pathway
myself when I was that age,
but she also is so talented that her
options are open.
“She plays the saxophone very
well, and she works hard academically
so she has a choice in whatever
future she would like to pursue.”
Yuka said Miyu’s hard work
plays a big part in her success, but
she also acknowledges Angaston’s
role in nurturing her talent.
“I want Miyu to keep appreciating
this environment that she’s in
and the opportunities she has,” she
said.
“The way this club accepted us,
and the way the coaches and families
and teammates have all treated
her and guided her along this path
is a big reason why she is having
success.
“We were very fortunate all of
these families have been so inclusive
and supportive, and now she
is in a position where she can take
advantage of that.”